Information Warfare Watch No. 40

RUSSIAN MALIGN ACTORS EXPLOIT UKRAINIAN WAR ANXIETY...
Google's Threat Analysis Group has confirmed a Russian influence and espionage campaign aimed at Android and Window users. The effort, dubbed "Civil Defense," operates a website under the same name and claims to be a free software program to help potential Ukrainian conscripts avoid military recruiters. The campaign attempts to navigate victims to the "Civil Defense" website, which advertises software programs that, when installed, result in malware delivery chains. The website also encourages users to disable Google Play Protect, the function used to prevent harmful downloads and viruses.

At the same time, "Civil Defense" also operates an influence campaign designed to "undermine Ukraine's wider mobilization and military recruitment efforts," Google says. Like other Russian disinformation programs, the Civil Defense website and affiliated Telegram channel are filled with anti-mobilization content. In at least one instance, a video shared by the group was later shared by the Russian Embassy in South Africa on X, formerly known as Twitter. (Google Cloud blog, October 28, 2024)

...AS LONDON TARGETS RUSSIAN DISINFO ACTORS
The United Kingdom has sanctioned a number of Russian disinformation agencies, including the Social Design Agency (SDA), for attempting to destabilize Ukraine and its democracy. "[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is so desperate to undermine European support for Ukraine he is now resorting to clumsy, ineffective efforts to try and stoke unrest," British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said. The SDA, which is operated and funded directly by the Russian state, attempted to stir protests in six European states this year. The SDA, along with public relations firm Structura National Technologies, are responsible for the online network known as Doppelganger, which "plagues social media with fake posts, counterfeit documents and deepfake material" in an attempt to undermine democracy in Europe. (gov.uk, October 28, 2024)

THE HAMAS-AL-JAZEERA CONNECTION
Since the start of Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip last year, Al-Jazeera – the Qatari-funded media colossus – has emerged as a major player, helping to platform Hamas officials and other extremists as well as to stoke anti-Israel sentiment on the Arab "street." As it turns out, however, the channel's tilt runs far deeper than just programming. Israel's military is claiming to have definitive proof that at least six of the network's journalists have been operating on behalf of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller extremist faction active in the Gaza Strip. The journalists were allegedly named in Hamas documents recovered by the IDF during combat operations in the Gaza Strip, with the papers detailing the training, telephone numbers and salaries of the individuals in question.

The linkage is deeply significant. "The IDF claims that their work with the terror groups and in Al Jazeera allowed them to spearhead propaganda efforts against Israel, specifically over the controversial operations in northern Gaza," the New York Post reports. (New York Post, October 23, 2024)

AN ENDURING ISIS PROPAGANDA THREAT
U.S. officials say that the Islamic State's Afghanistan affiliate, ISIS-K, has stepped up recruitment efforts this year. The group has reportedly released a high volume of articles and videos in an attempt to recruit from Muslim diaspora communities across the West. The group, responsible for an August 2021 bombing outside the Kabul airport that left nearly 200 dead, as well as the more recent May 2024 assault on the Crocus Concert Hall in Moscow, has branded itself online as "the only true and pure Islamist militant organization fighting against governments in the region and hostile foreign influences from adversaries such as the United States." The sophisticated online propaganda campaign is intended to influence Muslims to commit terrorist attacks in Europe and the U.S. (NBC News, October 20, 2024)