conference paper
The Role Of Disinformation, Propaganda And Active Measures In Cyber Warfare. Noname(057)16 Travels To Italy
Abstract
Disinformation is the hidden and intentional attempt to convey false and biased information aimed at changing the behavior of the recipient. Propaganda, on the other hand, openly addresses the public by emphasizing some information and omitting others with the aim of creating consensus around the object of communication. When we talk about the differences between disinformation and propaganda, the emphasis is therefore on intentionality, the level of transparency and public acceptance. Generally we distinguish disinformation from misinformation or bad information, and we attribute the latter to the biases and errors of those who convey it. However, it is the same concept of information, "putting into a shape", which makes us understand that information is always the final product of a subjective process of retrieval, selection, and communication of a piece of data or a factual event. In addition, its reception, and the effects it produces, is always the product of a negotiation process that concerns the issuer and the recipient of the same. From here it follows that "truthfulness"as an objective quality of information does not exist. Perceived truth is always the fruit of a process of convergence of perceptions and cognitions shaped by experience, culture, and the environment. This perception can be manipulated through misinformation. It is precisely here that the specialists of Active Measures come in, aimed at manipulating the behavior of an individual, a group, a nation, with the tools of cybernetic disinformation and computational propaganda. In this paper we will try to describe how cyberattacks, disinformation, propaganda and misinformation proceed together presenting a case wich illustrates the modus operandi of a group of hackers dedicated to disinformation and propaganda in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict: the NoName(057)16 collective. Copyright © 2024 for this paper by its authors.
Author keywords
cognitive warfare, disinformation, information, manipulation of perceptions, misinformation, propaganda