Cyber ​​research warns of synthetic content targeting elections

New cybersecurity findings suggest Russian-linked digital interference remains a constant threat ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, highlighting the ‘Operation Overload’ group, which uses both phishing campaigns and artificial intelligence tools generative to stimulate electoral disinformation.

In a report released Wednesday, Recorded Future, a cybersecurity intelligence firm, shared information uncovered by its internal threat research group, Insikt Group, which focused on the tactics used by Operation Overload to promote disinformation, especially targeting media organizations and research. institutions

“Based on documented email campaigns and social media spam, Operation Overload almost certainly prioritized media organizations, fact-checkers and researchers as its primary targets,” the report said. “By overwhelming their investigative resources, the operation aims to prevent them from discrediting Russian disinformation and expects these organizations to inadvertently report on its content, thereby injecting malign narratives into mainstream political discourse through trusted parties.”

The primary vehicles Operation Overload uses to push its content are email campaigns and coordinated and automated inauthentic behavior (the synchronized use of bot social media accounts to circulate information) with the goal of overwhelming recipients with error data checking resources.

Spam campaigns ask journalists and researchers to verify inauthentic content and fake fact-checking resources. Recorded Future also said that actors linked to Operation Overload “almost certainly” take advantage of generative AI, meaning voiceovers and fabricated images, to make their content appear legitimate.

Operation Overload has a documented history of impersonating media and research institutions and amplifying such materials via social media. A notable example is the group’s ongoing activity on Telegram, a messaging platform with strong privacy and encryption but lax content moderation protocols.

Operation Overload latches onto a variety of cultural narratives in the US to exacerbate ongoing political and social divisions, a prominent tactic among Russia-linked cyber actors. As the 2024 presidential election approaches, Insikt Group says it expects Operation Overload to continue spreading more fake content and impersonating legitimate organizations.

“Operation Overload will almost certainly continue to impersonate legitimate news organizations, likely expanding the entities it targets to include local news organizations and major network affiliates,” the report said.

Mitigation efforts recommended by the report focus on monitoring social media channels that may contain Operation Overload synthetic content, strengthening authentication measures, engaging in information sharing with the larger community, and disclosing publicly the possibility of a certain brand being impersonated by the actors of Operation Overload.