Security News

Putin's pro-Trump trolls accuse Harris of poaching rhinos
2024-10-25 01:30

Plus: Iran's IRGC probes election-related websites in swing states Russian, Iranian, and Chinese trolls are all ramping up their US election disinformation efforts ahead of November 5, but – aside...

Uncle Sam puts $10M bounty on Russian troll farm Rybar
2024-10-18 01:00

Propaganda op focuses on anti-West narratives to meddle with elections The US has placed a $10 million bounty on Russian media network Rybar and a number of its key staffers following alleged...

Spamouflage trolls pretend to be American patriots on X, TikTok ahead of US presidential election
2024-09-03 18:15

No, Abbey is not really a "pure patriotic girl" Spamouflage, the Beijing-linked trolls known for spreading fake news about American politics, is back with new accounts on X and TikTok that claim...

Who uses LLM prompt injection attacks IRL? Mostly unscrupulous job seekers, jokesters and trolls
2024-08-13 10:46

Despite worries about criminals using prompt injection to trick large language models into leaking sensitive data or performing other destructive actions, most of these types of AI shenanigans come from job seekers trying to get their resumes past automated HR screeners - and people protesting generative AI for various reasons, according to Russian security biz Kaspersky. Prompt injection happens when a user feeds a model with a particular input intended to force the LLM to ignore its prior instructions and do something it's not supposed to do.

Kimsuky's New Golang Stealer 'Troll' and 'GoBear' Backdoor Target South Korea
2024-02-08 06:53

The North Korea-linked nation-state actor known as Kimsuky is suspected of using a previously undocumented Golang-based information stealer called Troll Stealer. The malware steals "SSH,...

Meta reckons China's troll farms could learn proper OpSec from Russia's fake news crews
2023-08-30 00:58

Claims to have taken down two colossal networks, with 'Secondary Infektion' schooling 'Spamouflage' Russia appears to be "better" at running online trolling campaigns aimed at pushing its...

US alleges China created troll army that tried to have dissidents booted from Zoom
2023-04-18 04:37

"In the two schemes, the defendants created and used fake social media accounts to harass and intimidate PRC dissidents residing abroad," states the Department's announcement of the charges. The DoJ alleges the Group ran a troll farm that "Created thousands of fake online personas on social media sites, including Twitter, to target Chinese dissidents through online harassment and threats."

Google, YouTube ban election trolls ahead of US midterms
2022-09-02 23:26

Google and its YouTube subsidiary have joined other social media networks pledging to keep the 2022 US midterm elections safe and free from Russian trolls - and anyone else spewing democracy-damaging disinformation - by taking down such content. The election strategies follow Google's move to ban MAGA message-board Truth Social from its Play store until the app removes content that incites violence.

Twitter, Meta kill hundreds of pro-Western troll accounts
2022-08-25 15:00

Well known for an abundance of anti-western troll accounts and propaganda, Twitter and Meta are reporting that they've taken down nearly 200 accounts that, for the past five years, have been amplifying pro-Western messages in the Middle East and Central Asia. Stanford Internet Observatory and Graphika, a social media analytics company, have published a report based on data from Meta and Twitter, in which they describe their findings as "The most extensive case of covert pro-Western on social media to be reviewed and analyzed by open-source researchers to date."

Feds put $10m bounty on Putin pal accused of bankrolling US election troll farm
2022-07-29 19:39

The Feds have put up a $10 million reward for information about foreign interference in US elections in general, and more specifically a Russian oligarch and close friend of President Vladimir Putin accused of funding an organization that meddled in the 2016 presidential elections. The bounty, offered through the US Department of State's Rewards for Justice program, specifically seeks intel on Russia's Internet Research Agency, businessman Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, and any "Linked Russian entities and associates for their engagement in US election interference."