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Arkansas officials work to combat disinformation tactics during elections

As we head into Election Day, we're keeping an eye on some factors that are working to fight against disinformation and the possibility of cybersecurity attacks.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Now that Election Day is upon us, officials in Arkansas and across the nation have been working to put voters at ease after news of cyberattacks and disinformation have been circulating ahead of the elections.

According to Merriam-Webster, disinformation is defined as being false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.

"We explain to our clients that a lot of times the attackers are really trying to elicit fear, urgency, and authority," said Chris Wright, the co-founder of Sullivan Wright Technologies.

Cybersecurity and disinformation tactics during elections come from what officials call "threat actors." These actors are said to follow a goal of providing information on all platforms to not give you news or inform you.

Wright explained how these attacks during elections can come in many forms— emphasizing that threat actors deliberately feed misinformation for the sake of scaring voters.

"We mostly see it in an email from our standpoint, because we're protecting businesses. So we do filtering of our client emails to filter out phishing and spam and stuff like that," he described.

Here's a look at what officials say could be used as disinformation tactics including:

  • Social media posts or ads
  • Phone calls
  • Some television shows 

Wright also explained how countries like Russia, China, and Iran have played key roles in this for years stating that they all follow similar initiatives.

"Disrupt, disrupt, disrupt," Wright said.  "That's all they're trying to do. They're just back there with wrenches and they're throwing them in the gears, every gear they can find they're throwing a wrench into that."

For decades, officials have kept an eye on protecting election infrastructure to combat cyberattacks and disinformation.

Here in Arkansas, officials are using a few ways to hone in on these tactics.

While we have not received reports from any Arkansas officials about election threats, a recent report by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said "Russian influence actors manufactured a recent video that falsely depicted individuals claiming to be from Haiti and voting illegally in multiple counties in Georgia." 

To read the complete release, please click here.  

Ultimately, officials say it comes down to taking extra measures to ensure the information you receive is trustworthy and real.

   

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