On Thu, Mar 17, 2011 at 10:17 PM, Paul Ferguson <[email protected]> wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > Via The Guardian. > > [snip] > > The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate > social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter by using fake online > personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American > propaganda. > > A Californian corporation has been awarded a contract with United States > Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US armed operations in the Middle > East and Central Asia, to develop what is described as an "online persona > management service" that will allow one US serviceman or woman to control > up to 10 separate identities based all over the world. This seems to be a popular topic. The Air Force was talking with HBGary Federal for the same. See http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/black-ops-how-hbgary-wrote-backdoors-and-rootkits-for-the-government.ars (page 4).
> The project has been likened by web experts to China's attempts to control > and restrict free speech on the internet. Critics are likely to complain > that it will allow the US military to create a false consensus in online > conversations, crowd out unwelcome opinions and smother commentaries or > reports that do not correspond with its own objectives. "The personas would appear to come from all over the world, ... and influence public opinion in pro-US directions." (from ars technica article). > The discovery that the US military is developing false online personalities > – known to users of social media as "sock puppets" – could also > encourage other governments, private companies and non-government > organisations to do the same. "Could" or "Are"? > More: > http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-ne > tworks > [SNIP] _______________________________________________ Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.
