CISO Tradecraft® #270 - And What is Truth?
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Feb 3, 2026 They explore how disinformation, deepfakes, and cyber deception deliberately erode trust online. Historical and modern deception tactics are compared, from wartime operations to bot farms and synthetic media. The conversation covers state tools like propaganda and censorship, hybrid amplification methods, and practical defenses such as verification strategies and tabletop drills.
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WWII Deception Examples
- G Mark Hardy recounts WWII deception operations like the corpse briefcase and inflatable tanks to show pre-digital complexity.
- Those schemes required people, money, and control of observation to succeed.
State Control Shapes Collective Truth
- State actors combine official media, censorship, surveillance, and counter-narratives to control what people accept as truth.
- Institutional capacity to shape information flow makes modern deception systemic, not just accidental.
Amplification Multiplies Falsehoods
- Amplification uses bots, troll farms, and sockpuppet accounts to massively increase a message's reach and plausibility.
- Private fronts like the IRA provide plausible deniability while exploiting social divisions.
