Influence Attacks – Using Social Media Platforms for Malicious Purposes
The power of influence has now moved well beyond just getting folks to like a picture on Instagram or a cooking show on YouTube. Influence can now be weaponized and used to manipulate a narrative that could have national implications. The nation state attackers of the world are aware of this and are actively engaged in leveraging these seemingly innocuous social engagement systems as part of their attack strategy.
In this chapter, we will discuss some of the lesser known methods of influence attacks that are active today. In this analysis, we will detail some very real attacks that have already taken place and provide examples of the impact that these approaches can have on the populace:
- What has changed within the cyber warfare landscape as part of the evolution of attack vectors using social media platforms.
- What has already happened to show the power that influence attacks...