Archive

2022

Towards a Stronger Ukrainian Media Ecosystem

As Russian troops and military equipment surged on the border with Ukraine in 2021, IST used data gathered by VAST-OSINT Technologies to identify emerging narratives in Russian and Ukrainian across Ukraine’s media ecosystem. IST was able to pinpoint the origins of Russian disinformation narratives before they became mainstream and to provide timely insights to counter those narratives.

disinformation, media ecosystem, Russia, Ukraine

December 14, 2022

In the News, Op-ed

Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital must win over Silicon Valley

In December, the United States Department of Defense established the Office of Strategic Capital to build out the U.S.’s strategic advantage in technology and industry by partnering with private capital. In an op-ed for Defense News, IST’s Leah Walker and Alexa W. caution that the office’s success hinges on acceptance in Silicon Valley and innovation hubs across the country.

DOD, innovation ecosystem, Office of Strategic Capital

December 13, 2022

DOD Establishes the Office of Strategic Capital

On Thursday, December 1, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin established the Office of Strategic Capital (OSC), defining it as an “organization that will help build an enduring technological advantage by partnering with private capital providers.”

DOD, innovation ecosystem, Office of Strategic Capital

December 7, 2022

To the Point of Failure: Identifying Failure Points for Crisis Communications Systems

Crisis communication systems can fail in a variety of ways. To shed light on the many different failures that degrade and undermine such systems, this report identifies four categories of pathways to failure: operational failures, adversarial failures, accidental failures and institutional failures. Each category is made up of specific types of failures, investigated in further detail in the following sections of this report.

NC3, nuclear crisis communications, nuclear risk reduction, points of failure

November 30, 2022

Mapping the Ransomware Payment Ecosystem: A Comprehensive Visualization of the Process and Participants

Central to our ability to mitigate the threat of ransomware is the development of a common understanding of the actors, stakeholders, processes, and information, both required for and produced during the ransomware payment process. Yet, when we began this work, such a picture did not exist. We undertook this effort to fill that gap.

mapping, ransom payments, Ransomware, visualization

November 15, 2022

Plan maestro de defensa contra los programas de secuestro

En respuesta a la acción 3.1.1 del Informe del Grupo de Trabajo sobre Programas de Secuestro, en la cual se exhorta a las organizaciones de ciberseguridad a establecer un marco claro y accionable para la mitigación, la respuesta y la recuperación ante programas de secuestro, el Grupo de Trabajo encargado de elaborar un plan de defensa contra los programas de secuestro formuló un plan maestro que abarca un subconjunto de salvaguardias esenciales de ciberhigiene seleccionadas de los controles críticos de seguridad del Centro para la Seguridad de Internet (CIS Controls®) v8.

Blueprint for Ransomware Defense, cyber attacks, defense, Future of Digital Security, Ransomware, RTF

November 10, 2022

In the News, Op-ed

Democracy Gone Digital: The Election Season Online

In an op-ed for Tech Policy Press, Zoë Brammer and Philip Reiner sound the alarm based on our Digital Cognition and Democracy Initiative (DCDI) research. We need to help voters grapple with information overload and unnaturally immersive experience provoked by digital tools, they urge.

DCDI, democracy, digital cognition, election manipulation

November 7, 2022

Cyber Incident Reporting Framework

The Framework lays out a set of model reporting formats the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) could use as the foundation for the cyber incident reporting.

CIRCIA, cyber, cybersecurity, incident reporting, Ransomware

November 3, 2022

Cyber incident reporting isn’t the problem — ignorance is

In an op-ed for The Hill, IST's Chief Strategy Officer Megan Stifel and Cyber Threat Alliance's President & CEO Michael Daniel make the case for reporting cyber incidents.

CIRCIA, CISA, incident reporting, Ransomware

November 2, 2022

Digital Tools, Cognition, and Democracy: A Review of the Literature

This literature review supports a series examining the effects digital technologies have on the following cognitive processes: "Memory," "Attention," and "Reasoning." The broader report series includes three additional papers looking at some of the society-level cognitive and democratic impacts of technology, titled: "Modulating Trust," "Shortcutting Critical Thinking," and "Exploiting Emotions."

attention, cognition, DCDI, democracy, emotions, Geopolitics of Technology, memory, reasoning, social

October 27, 2022

Reasoning: How digital technologies influence decision making and judgment

This report provides a working definition of reasoning, narrowing the scope of the discussion to judgment and decision making. We identify three aspects of digital technology that exert significant impacts on reasoning: user experience design, gamification, and search engines. Examples include social media platforms, gamified platforms like Robinhood, and search engines like Google and Wikipedia. Key findings include:

cognition, DCDI, decision making, democracy, gamification, Geopolitics of Technology, judgment, reasoning, search engines, user experience design

October 27, 2022

Attention: How digital technologies influence what we notice, what we focus on, and how we learn

This report examines the impact that technology has on the cognitive function of attention. It provides a working definition of attention within a cognitive science context, including the distinction between overt and covert attention. It summarizes findings that elucidate how attention is affected by the passive and active consumption of technology.

attention, cognition, critical thinking, DCDI, democracy, emotions, gamification, Geopolitics of Technology, memory, reasoning

October 27, 2022

Memory: How digital technologies influence cognitive information storage

Memory is foundational to cognition. It enables individuals to operate with certain assumptions about truth based on prior validated beliefs. Memory informs individual decision making, reasoning, and problem solving. There are also significant societal implications rooted in memory function. Individual memories, collectively and cumulatively, inform the development of “national memory,” which in turn influences “the construction of a democratic culture and collective identity.” This report provides a working definition of memory and focuses especially on long-term memory.

bias, cognition, DCDI, democracy, Geopolitics of Technology, GPS effect, manipulation, memory, trust

October 27, 2022

Shortcutting Critical Thinking

The scale, accuracy, and speed of digital technologies make them particularly effective at activating the very emotions that influence and undermine critical thinking. Not only do digital technologies have the ability to inflame those emotions, but they often are designed to do so, as those very emotions drive engagement, use, and consumer spending.

attention, cognition, critical thinking, DCDI, democracy, emotions, Geopolitics of Technology, reasoning

October 27, 2022

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