cyber threat http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/ en Disrupting digital harms in Central Asia http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/blog/disrupting-digital-harms-central-asia <span>Disrupting digital harms in Central Asia</span> <div class="field field--name-field-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p><strong>Disrupting digital harms in Central Asia</strong></p> <p>Robert Muggah and Rafal Rohozinski </p> <p>Central Asia is the staging ground for a new digital Great Game. The key players include Russia, China, Europe, and the US, along with a rash of Central Asian actors. What happens there has implications not just for the region, but the future of the Internet. One of the reasons why Central Asia’s assuming more strategic importance is because of the digital transformation occurring across the region. Their digitalization is part of a deeper historical commitment to technology-driven modernization stretching back to the twentieth century Soviet Union. Today, the region is registering a dramatic increase in internet roll-out, mobile broadband connections and social media users.</p> <img alt="Centro Asia" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e1a430ed-8d0f-4122-b33b-483f5e1954d2" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Central%20Asia%20_0.jpg" class="align-center" /><p class="text-align-center">Central Asia (<a href="https://picryl.com/media/major-ethnic-groups-in-central-asia">Public Domai</a>n – <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain/">Creative Commons</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/choose/zero/">CC0</a>)</p> <p>Central Asia’s digitalization is generating opportunities, but also risks. The onboarding of Central Asians is occurring amidst a complex backdrop of top-down secular authoritarianism, bottom-up agitation for more progressive democracticization and a contest between moderate and hardline Islam. Digital transformation, then, could accelerate digital authoritarianism. Indeed, there is a real push from China, Russia and the US to shape the wider technology environment, with profound implications for the future of civic freedoms and digital rights. And as more Central Asians go online, their exposure to digital harms, including violent extremism, is increasing.</p> <p>New <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/11/11/online-extremism-central-asia-islamic-state-terrorism/">SecDev Group-led research</a> is shining a light on the scope, scale and dynamics of online violent extremism across Central Asia. For one, while persistent, violent extremist actors have a modest online footprint: a small number of entities are disproportionately responsible for a high proportion of harmful content. Related, extremist groups are using third party networks to amplify their reach and moving between platforms to avoid take-downs. What’s more, their appeals are linked to regional grievances, from Afghanistan and Syria to Muslim grievances in France and the treatment of Uyghurs in China.</p> <p>A managed risk approach is critical to prevent, disrupt and reduce online violent extremism in Central Asia. Too often, interventions are narrowly targeted, having comparatively limited impact and potentially making the problem worse. The spread of violent extremism is connected fundamentally to wider geopolitical, regional and domestic factors such as the continued repression of minorities in Xinjiang and the impending withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan. These tensions will continue to stoke grievances and serve as a focal for radicalization. Ultimately, intervention strategies must account for these political realities in their design.</p> <p>While appealing, police-led interventions and platform-led strategies focused on taking down content will not successfully deter online violent extremism. To the contrary: they can potentially incentivize extremist groups to move to more obscure platforms and adapt their strategies, generating new challenges. Interventions designed to disrupt online extremist groups and remove radical content need to be mindful of the unintended consequences of aggressive take-downs. For example, overzealous efforts can <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/have-press-freedoms-improved-in-central-asia/">undermine media independence</a>, ramp-up indiscriminate surveillance and trigger anti-terrorist legislation and operations that curb rights.</p> <p>Several Central Asian governments are actively exploring ways to adopt more stringent surveillance and censorship laws and to make use of artificial intelligence and other intrusive surveillance technologies ostensibly to “fight terrorism.” There is a danger that digital transformation and smart city initiatives could lead to indiscriminate surveillance, with dangerous implications for civic and human rights. What is needed now more than ever are approaches that do not focus reservedly on violent extremism, but rather emphasize the prevention and reduction of digital harms. European and US partners have a key role to play here, not least in strengthening inclusive digital transformation, promoting independent and high quality online media and bolstering digital literacy.</p> <p>One way to disrupt the risks of digital harms is by applying lessons from public health. This begins by continuously diagnosing the online threats, mitigating risk factors, reinforcing protective factors, and testing out measures to evaluate their outcomes. The US, Europe, and multilateral organizations can work with Central Asian public authorities, social media platforms and representatives of civil society to double down on inclusive digital transformation that simultaneously manages digital harms and short circuits the transition towards digital authoritarianism. This will require applying a wide range of measures in partnership with gatekeepers—trusted brokers—to deliver safer and secure online environments.</p> <p><strong>For Additional Reading</strong></p> <p>Rafal Rohozinski and Robert Muggah, “<a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2021/06/central-asias-growing-internet-carries-new-risks-violence">Central Asia’s Growing Internet Carries New Risks of Violence</a>.” <em>United States Institute of Peace</em>. 15 June 2021. </p> <p>Kumar Bekbolotov, Robert Muggah, and Rafal Rohozinski, “<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/11/11/online-extremism-central-asia-islamic-state-terrorism/">Jihadist Networks Dig In on Social Media Across Central Asia</a>.” <em>Foreign Policy</em>, 11 November 2020.</p> <p> </p> </div> <span><span>ZFTWARNING</span></span> <span>Mon, 06/21/2021 - 7:52pm</span> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="node-readmore"><a href="/index.php/blog/disrupting-digital-harms-central-asia" rel="tag" title="Disrupting digital harms in Central Asia" hreflang="en">Read more<span class="visually-hidden"> about Disrupting digital harms in Central Asia</span></a></li><li class="comment-comments"><a href="/index.php/blog/disrupting-digital-harms-central-asia#comments" title="Jump to the first comment." hreflang="en">3 comments</a></li><li class="comment-new-comments"><a href="/index.php/taxonomy/term/419/feed" class="hidden" title="Jump to the first new comment." data-history-node-last-comment-timestamp="1673877685" data-history-node-field-name="comment"></a></li><li class="comment-forbidden"></li><li></li></ul> Mon, 21 Jun 2021 23:52:59 +0000 ZFTWARNING 139663 at http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com Exploring the digital jihadist underground on the Onion Router (TOR) http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/exploring-digital-jihadist-underground-onion-router-tor <span>Exploring the digital jihadist underground on the Onion Router (TOR)</span> <span><span>ZFTWARNING</span></span> <span>Sun, 05/30/2021 - 12:58am</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item">The emergence of the dark web at the beginning of the 21st century is considered to be one of the most significant developments in the history of the digital revolution. What was initially perceived as an experimental and legitimate response to the increased government control over the Internet in time has become a source of a broad spectrum of computer-related crimes. This was mostly caused by the fact that the Onion Router (TOR), Invisible Internet Project (I2P), Freenet or—more recently—ZeroNet provide users with a set of tools enabling anonymous and safe communication. Cybercriminal underground quickly realized that these technologies substantially facilitate the exchange of illicit goods, services, and content. Effectively, the dark web has become an online communication layer known not for the freedom of speech but rather for popular drug markets, firearm vendors, leaked databases, or illegal pornography.</div> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="node-readmore"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/exploring-digital-jihadist-underground-onion-router-tor" rel="tag" title="Exploring the digital jihadist underground on the Onion Router (TOR)" hreflang="en">Read more<span class="visually-hidden"> about Exploring the digital jihadist underground on the Onion Router (TOR)</span></a></li><li class="comment-comments"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/exploring-digital-jihadist-underground-onion-router-tor#comments" title="Jump to the first comment." hreflang="en">8 comments</a></li><li class="comment-new-comments"><a href="/index.php/taxonomy/term/419/feed" class="hidden" title="Jump to the first new comment." data-history-node-last-comment-timestamp="1667785644" data-history-node-field-name="comment"></a></li><li class="comment-forbidden"></li><li></li></ul> Sun, 30 May 2021 04:58:09 +0000 ZFTWARNING 139579 at http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com False Flags During Times of Geopolitical Conflict – The Right Time to Strike http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/false-flags-during-times-geopolitical-conflict-right-time-strike <span>False Flags During Times of Geopolitical Conflict – The Right Time to Strike</span> <span><span>SWJED</span></span> <span>Wed, 03/11/2020 - 8:18am</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item">The question of attribution has always remained a murky effort, largely because of the difficulty in proving direct links between the activity and a specific state, but it appears that over the past few years the threshold for that rigor has significantly decreased.</div> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="node-readmore"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/false-flags-during-times-geopolitical-conflict-right-time-strike" rel="tag" title="False Flags During Times of Geopolitical Conflict – The Right Time to Strike" hreflang="en">Read more<span class="visually-hidden"> about False Flags During Times of Geopolitical Conflict – The Right Time to Strike</span></a></li><li class="comment-comments"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/false-flags-during-times-geopolitical-conflict-right-time-strike#comments" title="Jump to the first comment." hreflang="en">1 comment</a></li><li class="comment-new-comments"><a href="/index.php/taxonomy/term/419/feed" class="hidden" title="Jump to the first new comment." data-history-node-last-comment-timestamp="1632478834" data-history-node-field-name="comment"></a></li><li class="comment-forbidden"></li><li></li></ul> Wed, 11 Mar 2020 12:18:59 +0000 SWJED 136066 at http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com Cyberwar to Kinetic War: 2020 Election and the Possibility of Cyber-Attack on Critical Infrastructure on the United States http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/cyberwar-kinetic-war-2020-election-and-possibility-cyber-attack-critical-infrastructure <span>Cyberwar to Kinetic War: 2020 Election and the Possibility of Cyber-Attack on Critical Infrastructure on the United States</span> <span><span>SWJED</span></span> <span>Wed, 01/29/2020 - 12:26am</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item">The current possibility of the United States walking into a trap of a kinetic war is exceptionally likely, given the conditions that will be enumerated here, and the historical pattern of the US reacting to surprise attacks with the force of a giant rudely awakened from a deep slumber is not ahistorical. The Election of 2016 was a sure indicator of one phase of election manipulation.</div> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="node-readmore"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/cyberwar-kinetic-war-2020-election-and-possibility-cyber-attack-critical-infrastructure" rel="tag" title="Cyberwar to Kinetic War: 2020 Election and the Possibility of Cyber-Attack on Critical Infrastructure on the United States" hreflang="en">Read more<span class="visually-hidden"> about Cyberwar to Kinetic War: 2020 Election and the Possibility of Cyber-Attack on Critical Infrastructure on the United States</span></a></li><li class="comment-comments"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/cyberwar-kinetic-war-2020-election-and-possibility-cyber-attack-critical-infrastructure#comments" title="Jump to the first comment." hreflang="en">1 comment</a></li><li class="comment-new-comments"><a href="/index.php/taxonomy/term/419/feed" class="hidden" title="Jump to the first new comment." data-history-node-last-comment-timestamp="1632483147" data-history-node-field-name="comment"></a></li><li class="comment-forbidden"></li><li></li></ul> Wed, 29 Jan 2020 05:26:21 +0000 SWJED 132766 at http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com Challenging Snowden: Spycraft, Ethics, and Amendments http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/challenging-snowden-spycraft-ethics-and-amendments <span>Challenging Snowden: Spycraft, Ethics, and Amendments</span> <span><span>SWJED</span></span> <span>Thu, 01/23/2020 - 12:32am</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item">Is it ethical for the country’s intelligence agencies to exploit nearly every known wireless communication modality in favor of U.S. policies and interests even though it could potentially involve spying on countless American citizens in violation of the Fourth Amendment? Edward Snowden utilized principles of ethical decision making, but faulty logic resulted in a treasonous act with longstanding damage to U.S. intelligence operations and foreign diplomacy.</div> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="node-readmore"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/challenging-snowden-spycraft-ethics-and-amendments" rel="tag" title="Challenging Snowden: Spycraft, Ethics, and Amendments" hreflang="en">Read more<span class="visually-hidden"> about Challenging Snowden: Spycraft, Ethics, and Amendments</span></a></li><li class="comment-comments"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/challenging-snowden-spycraft-ethics-and-amendments#comments" title="Jump to the first comment." hreflang="en">3 comments</a></li><li class="comment-new-comments"><a href="/index.php/taxonomy/term/419/feed" class="hidden" title="Jump to the first new comment." data-history-node-last-comment-timestamp="1632483459" data-history-node-field-name="comment"></a></li><li class="comment-forbidden"></li><li></li></ul> Thu, 23 Jan 2020 05:32:14 +0000 SWJED 132179 at http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com Controlling Cognitive Domains http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/controlling-cognitive-domains <span>Controlling Cognitive Domains</span> <span><span>SWJED</span></span> <span>Sat, 08/24/2019 - 3:52pm</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item">What is now categorized as the “cognitive domain” includes areas of influence in all sectors of society. Cognitive domain(s) should not be restricted to influence and information operations, social engineering and ‘winning hearts and minds’ approaches, but expanded to include all areas where ideological attacks are possible. </div> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="node-readmore"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/controlling-cognitive-domains" rel="tag" title="Controlling Cognitive Domains" hreflang="en">Read more<span class="visually-hidden"> about Controlling Cognitive Domains</span></a></li><li class="comment-comments"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/controlling-cognitive-domains#comments" title="Jump to the first comment." hreflang="en">1 comment</a></li><li class="comment-new-comments"><a href="/index.php/taxonomy/term/419/feed" class="hidden" title="Jump to the first new comment." data-history-node-last-comment-timestamp="1632571427" data-history-node-field-name="comment"></a></li><li class="comment-forbidden"></li><li></li></ul> Sat, 24 Aug 2019 19:52:45 +0000 SWJED 124320 at http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com Destination Atlanta: Ransomware Lessons for Municipalities and Law Enforcement http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/destination-atlanta-ransomware-lessons-municipalities-and-law-enforcement <span>Destination Atlanta: Ransomware Lessons for Municipalities and Law Enforcement</span> <span><span>SWJED</span></span> <span>Fri, 08/23/2019 - 4:29pm</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item">The rise of ransomware as an attack vector has continued to thrive and appears focused on those municipalities and law enforcement agencies with limited resources and unchecked system vulnerabilities. Of major concern are the evidentiary losses and reduction in consumer confidence within these governmental organizations requiring a new focus and financial expenditures to mitigate these attacks from occurring in the future.</div> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="node-readmore"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/destination-atlanta-ransomware-lessons-municipalities-and-law-enforcement" rel="tag" title="Destination Atlanta: Ransomware Lessons for Municipalities and Law Enforcement" hreflang="en">Read more<span class="visually-hidden"> about Destination Atlanta: Ransomware Lessons for Municipalities and Law Enforcement</span></a></li><li class="comment-comments"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/destination-atlanta-ransomware-lessons-municipalities-and-law-enforcement#comments" title="Jump to the first comment." hreflang="en">1 comment</a></li><li class="comment-new-comments"><a href="/index.php/taxonomy/term/419/feed" class="hidden" title="Jump to the first new comment." data-history-node-last-comment-timestamp="1632571450" data-history-node-field-name="comment"></a></li><li class="comment-forbidden"></li><li></li></ul> Fri, 23 Aug 2019 20:29:00 +0000 SWJED 124291 at http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com Beyond Twitter: The Emergence of the Cyber-Presidency and Small Cyber Wars http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/beyond-twitter-emergence-cyber-presidency-and-small-cyber-wars <article data-history-node-id="123297" role="article" class="article teaser clearfix"> <h2> <a href="/jrnl/art/beyond-twitter-emergence-cyber-presidency-and-small-cyber-wars" rel="bookmark"><span>Beyond Twitter: The Emergence of the Cyber-Presidency and Small Cyber Wars</span> </a> </h2> <footer> <article> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="masquerade.callbacks:renderCacheLink" arguments="0=4" token="2JcDkyvoNdz7AbcUTZXDTgfSvABuLH-TUc0jYOzfCs0"></drupal-render-placeholder></article> <div class="author"> <span>Sun, 07/14/2019 - 12:17am</span> </div> </footer> <div class="content"> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item">When cyberwarfare is the top defensive policy for the Pentagon, including the protection of critical infrastructure from a catastrophic cyber-attack, the Commander-in-Chief should strategically avoid social media if at all possible.</div> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="node-readmore"><a href="/jrnl/art/beyond-twitter-emergence-cyber-presidency-and-small-cyber-wars" rel="tag" title="Beyond Twitter: The Emergence of the Cyber-Presidency and Small Cyber Wars" hreflang="en">Read more<span class="visually-hidden"> about Beyond Twitter: The Emergence of the Cyber-Presidency and Small Cyber Wars</span></a></li><li class="comment-forbidden"></li><li></li></ul> <h2>About the Author(s)</h2> <div class="views-element-container form-group"></div> </div> </article> Sun, 14 Jul 2019 04:17:24 +0000 SWJED 123297 at http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com The Advent of the “Digital Mercenaries” http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/advent-digital-mercenaries <span>The Advent of the “Digital Mercenaries”</span> <span><span>SWJED</span></span> <span>Sat, 03/30/2019 - 3:08am</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item">Modern day “condottieri”, a new type of modern “soldiers of fortune”, is emerging center stage. Namely, the ascent of a new breed, one that could be best described as “digital mercenaries”. The advent of these new professionals is of no less importance than their “traditional” counterparts who provide muscle and boots on the ground in distant and difficult environments. </div> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="node-readmore"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/advent-digital-mercenaries" rel="tag" title="The Advent of the “Digital Mercenaries”" hreflang="en">Read more<span class="visually-hidden"> about The Advent of the “Digital Mercenaries”</span></a></li><li class="comment-comments"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/advent-digital-mercenaries#comments" title="Jump to the first comment." hreflang="en">1 comment</a></li><li class="comment-new-comments"><a href="/index.php/taxonomy/term/419/feed" class="hidden" title="Jump to the first new comment." data-history-node-last-comment-timestamp="1640711596" data-history-node-field-name="comment"></a></li><li class="comment-forbidden"></li><li></li></ul> Sat, 30 Mar 2019 07:08:46 +0000 SWJED 118482 at http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com Cyber Offensive Operations: Is There a Digital Delta Force? http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/cyber-offensive-operations-there-digital-delta-force <span>Cyber Offensive Operations: Is There a Digital Delta Force? </span> <span><span>SWJED</span></span> <span>Mon, 10/08/2018 - 7:04am</span> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item">As cyber-attacks become more frequent and cause more damage, the US government and the vast majority of private and commercial companies dig deeper into a defensive posture. Offensive cyber operations do not happen, except for maybe a few confidential US military or government (NSA) operations that cannot be confirmed or denied. Over 90 percent of the internet, including the massive amounts of data the travel through it; belong to non-government entities that so far are unable to punch back against their attackers.</div> <ul class="links inline list-inline"><li class="node-readmore"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/cyber-offensive-operations-there-digital-delta-force" rel="tag" title="Cyber Offensive Operations: Is There a Digital Delta Force? " hreflang="en">Read more<span class="visually-hidden"> about Cyber Offensive Operations: Is There a Digital Delta Force? </span></a></li><li class="comment-comments"><a href="/index.php/jrnl/art/cyber-offensive-operations-there-digital-delta-force#comments" title="Jump to the first comment." hreflang="en">1 comment</a></li><li class="comment-new-comments"><a href="/index.php/taxonomy/term/419/feed" class="hidden" title="Jump to the first new comment." data-history-node-last-comment-timestamp="1675496598" data-history-node-field-name="comment"></a></li><li class="comment-forbidden"></li><li></li></ul> Mon, 08 Oct 2018 11:04:06 +0000 SWJED 107046 at http://archive.smallwarsjournal.com