The Cybersecurity 202: The Facebook ad dump shows the true sophistication of Russia’s influence operation

The following article by Derek Hawkins was posted on the Washington Post website May 11, 2018:

Facebook ads linked to Russia’s election interference efforts are displayed during a House Intelligence Committee hearing in November 2017. Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

The massive trove of Facebook ads House Intelligence Committee Democrats released Tuesday provides a stunning look into the true sophistication of the Russian government’s digital operations during the presidential election.

We’ve already heard a lot from the U.S. intelligence community about the hacking operation Russian intelligence services carried out against Democratic party computer networks to influence the election in favor of then-candidate Donald Trump.

But this is the first time we have a swath of empirical and visual evidence of Russia’s disinformation campaign, in the form of more than 3,000 incredibly specific and inflammatory ads purchased by an Internet troll farm sponsored by the Kremlin. Continue reading “The Cybersecurity 202: The Facebook ad dump shows the true sophistication of Russia’s influence operation”