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Modulating Trust

Social trust – trust in other people and institutions – is critical to the DCDI problem set. But trust is not always beneficial. Although trust in technology can facilitate economic transactions, it can also diminish our capacity for skepticism. Consumers tend to prefer to use technologies that they trust, and sellers and developers of technology find more success when there is more trust in their systems. Yet trust placed too freely in technologies can also generate vulnerabilities for those same consumers–to identity theft, to addiction, to misinformation, and to fraud.

attention, cognition, DCDI, democracy, fraud, Geopolitics of Technology, misinformation, social trust, trust

October 27, 2022

Exploiting Emotions

Digital systems exploit and manipulate emotions by design. Emotions prompt people to use digital tools, engage with content, products, and services, respond to advertisements, stay on or return to digital platforms, and even take action offline as a result of online experience. The design of the digital environment, especially its visual nature, also heightens user emotions, often creating an addictive cycle. Because emotions affect how we process, engage with, and often act upon information, they play a central role in the relationship between digital tools and democracy.

addictive, attention, cognition, DCDI, democracy, Geopolitics of Technology, memory, networks, reasoning, social

October 27, 2022

Rewired: How digital technologies shape cognition and democracy

The Digital Cognition & Democracy Initiative is investigating how digital technologies affect human cognition, and what those effects mean for democracy. Rewired by Leah Walker examines different key themes that have emerged in our DCDI research and working meetings with coalition members. This series is meant to illustrate the depth of the digitally influenced cognition problem, and illuminate how we are thinking about these issues.

attention, cognition, critical thinking, DCDI, democracy, emotions, friction, Geopolitics of Technology, information overload, memory, reasoning, trust

October 27, 2022

In the News, Podcasts

Philip Reiner on Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications

Philip Reiner joined Gus Docker, host of the Future of Life Institute podcast, to talk about how nuclear command and control systems work, how they might fail, and what can be done to improve them.

Innovation and Catastrophic Risk, NC3

October 6, 2022

Forecasting the AI and Nuclear Landscape

This report, the product of a partnership between IST and Metaculus, aims to assess the risks of escalation between the U.S. and China, including by the integration of AI into NC3.

AI, China, command, communications, control, Innovation and Catastrophic Risk, nuclear

September 21, 2022

In the News, Podcast

The Truth about Ransomware (and How to Stop It)

Megan Stifel joins the podcast "The Internet of Threats" with host Eric Greenwald to discuss the current and future state of ransomware, what small- and medium-sized businesses can do to fight ransomware, and whether tactics like regulation and insurance actually help or hurt the fight against ransomware.

blueprint, cyber insurance, cybersecurity, Ransomware, RTF, SMEs

September 8, 2022

Ransomware Task Force: Doubling Down

Progress Report, Report

Ransomware Task Force: Doubling Down

While the U.S. government and its partners made great strides in combating ransomware in 2023, attacks have only increased. Of the 48 recommendations made in the original RTF Report, our assessment remains unchanged from a year ago: only 24 have seen significant progress.

cybersecurity, Ransomware, ransom payments, incident reporting

Information Sharing in the Ransomware Payment Ecosystem: Exploring the Delta Between Best Practices and Existing Mechanisms

Information Sharing in the Ransomware Payment Ecosystem: Exploring the Delta Between Best Practices and Existing Mechanisms

IST's latest report pulls from a recent attack scenario exercise performed by the Ransomware Task Force's Payments Working Group, comparing the results to information sharing case studies including the Hive disruption operation, the Emotet botnet takedown, and the Colonial Pipeline ransom recovery.

cybersecurity, Ransomware, ransom payments, Colonial Pipeline, Emotet, Hive

Testimony: Held for Ransom: How Ransomware Endangers Our Financial System

Testimony: Held for Ransom: How Ransomware Endangers Our Financial System

On April 16, 2024, Chief Strategy Officer Megan Stifel testified before the House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions for a hearing entitled, "Held for Ransom: How Ransomware Endangers Our Financial System."

Ransomware, ransom payments, financial services

Roadmap to Potential Prohibition of Ransomware Payments

Roadmap to Potential Prohibition of Ransomware Payments

The Ransomware Task Force Co-Chairs present a roadmap to potential prohibition of ransomware payments with 16 milestones that, if pursued concurrently by government and the private sector, could reduce the need for a prohibition of ransomware payments in the first place or facilitate its eventual imposition.

Ransomware, ransom payments, roadmap