There is currently a big push from some Cyber Security/Commercials, and Agencies such as the CIA, who are promoting the fight against, what we now call Fake News – but my thoughts here are ‘proceed with caution’.
So – What if I were to tell you that around three decades ago there was a high profile kidnap, in which the authorities insisted they did not know where the victim was being held – what if you were to learn that the public message was flawed and misinformed, for a number of reasons, ranging from the performance and capabilities of technology of the day, through to other related political associations – just a thought.
We need to remember that Fake News, AKA Disinformation, is a tool that is used by the press, international agencies on both sides of the pre-cold war fence, and of course not forgetting politicians.
The danger of branding an article as Fake News, or Disinformation may be a matter of public redacting the truth from a seat of authority – to silence the small voices, and above all to manage the message in plain-sight to the advantage of the publisher.
So, when you see a topic discredited and Fake of Misinformed, think again, look beyond what you are being told and keep an inquisitive mind – George Orwell wrote and published 1984 in 1949. All I am asking is take care when you sip that sweet and sticky Victory Gin yiu are being served.
John is the Principle at Shadow-Intelligence (Si), partnering with PALISCOPE, BreachAware and iStorage. He is a Visiting Professor at the School of Science and Technology, Nottingham, Trent University (NTU) and holds the appointment of Editor in Chief for the International Journal of Cyber Forensics and Advanced Threat Investigations (CFATI). For the last decade he has delivered training courses in the Middle, and Far East to Commercial, Industrial, the Financial Services Sector, and Military Agencies, including the UAE, US, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia (KL), Singapore, Argentina, and Sao Paulo
He served in the Royal Air Force 22 years’, specialising in Counterintelligence, working with UK Agencies such as GCHQ/CESG, and others in the fields of SIGINT, COMINT and Satellite Communications, holding appointments such as System ITSO for a CIA SCIF.
In the commercials sectors of IT/Cyber he has worked for/with Logica, Bae, T5, GM, Experian, Betfair, Palace of Westminster, House of Lords/Commons, TSol (Treasury Solicitors) and provided Consultancy to the Saudi Arabian MOD, TRA (Telecommunications Authority (Dubai) and the Military Academy of Malaysia (KL) on SOC, CSIRT, Digital Forensics and OSINT. Within the last 5 years he has focused on Geopolitics, with global expertise around the UAE and Russia, Anti-Terrorist Operations (ATO), Cyber-Warfare, Dezinformatsiya (Disinformation) and Maskirovka (Military Deception).
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