A collective approach to documenting the supply chain of disinformation
Together with EU DisinfoLab, Viginum, Cassini, the Auswärtiges Amt, the EEAS and the DFRLab, we decided that it was time to organise our shared knowledge for the benefit of the community, using the Viginum-developed Information Manipulation Set (IMS) framework.
For years, we’ve been documenting disinformation campaigns such as Operation Overload, the Pravda network and Doppelgänger. So did other members of the counter-disinformation community. But what if we adopted a joint approach to documenting, attributing and responding to these operations?
Together with EU DisinfoLab, VIGINUM, CASSINI, the German Federal Foreign Office, the European External Action Service and the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), in a very European moment, we decided that it was time to organise our shared knowledge for the benefit of the community. Using VIGINUM’s Information Manipulation Set (IMS) framework, we analysed five key IMSs (Doppelgänger, Media Brands/RRN, Undercut, Storm-1516 and Overload) and were able to clarify the ecosystem behind these disinformation campaigns.
A deeper look into well-documented FIMI
To support this research, we supplied data and analysis from our investigations into Operation Overload and the Pravda network as a documentary basis. We then applied the IMS framework to these data sets and concluded that this abstraction layer is highly relevant for researching, documenting and technically attributing disinformation campaigns.
Thanks to this approach, we were able to identify FIMI’s vulnerabilities and points of failure ; to provide a more comprehensive understanding of these attacks ; and, finally, to generate new insights into the response landscape. All of these factors make the IMS framework a fertile ground for formulating new strategic responses. Bearing this experience in mind, we wholeheartedly support the use of the IMS framework in future research.
On 22 January, the EU DisinfoLab will also present the findings in a private webinar for professionals working in the field.
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