Manipulated: Inside the Cyberwar to Hijack Elections and Distort the Truth

by Theresa Payton

Cybersecurity expert Theresa Payton tells battlefront stories from the global war being conducted through clicks, swipes, internet access, technical backdoors and massive espionage schemes. She investigates the cyberwarriors who are planning tomorrow's attacks, weaving a fascinating yet bone-chilling tale of Artificial Intelligent mutations carrying out attacks without human intervention, "deepfake" videos that look real to the naked eye, and chatbots that beget other chatbots. Finally, Payton offers readers telltale signs that their most fundamental beliefs are being meddled with and actions they can take or demand that corporations and elected officials must take before it is too late.

Payton reveals:


How digital voting machines, voting online, and automatic registration may boost turnout but make us more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
How trolls from Russia and other nations actively stroke discord among Americans in falsely-generated controversies over race relations, vaccinations, fracking, and other social issues.
Whether what we have uncovered from the Mueller investigation so far is only what they wanted us to know.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

208 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2020

Reviews

[Lauren D'Souza · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you, like me, are somewhat terrified and also uneducated about the prospect of foreign nations hacking and hijacking our elections, this is the book for you to read. Payton is a cybersecurity expert and has been working in the field for decades, long before "fake news" and "Russian bots" were even a thing. She knows her stuff, and she vows to give you the truth about the problem, give you tools on how to spot manipulation, and tell you what you can do to combat election fraud. I would highly recommend pairing this read with The Reality Game: How the Next Wave of Technology Will Break the Truth, which focuses more on "fake news" and propaganda broadly rather than just as it relates to elections and politics (although the two are intimately intertwined).

There are three things that set this book apart in my mind.

First, Payton acknowledges that believing in all of this may make you sound like a conspiracy theorist, and indeed, it does often seem that the more you know about the truth, the bigger your tin hat gets. However, she emphasizes the fact that foreign governments meddling in our elections and the elections of other democracies is not really driven by a conservative or liberal ideology, and not by wanting Americans to believe one certain thing. For example, the Russian Internet Research Agency was shown to be behind many "anti-vax" memes and content - but why would Russia care if we vaccinate our babies or not? The answer is that they really don't - in fact, Russia's vaccination rate is just about 100%, Payton writes - rather, they're trying to sow seeds of uncertainty in our institutions and authority figures that we've long trusted and who tell us what is best. These foreign nations and bad actors want us to become unstable: "[They] seek to divide you from your loved ones on social and political issues. They want to muddy the waters—distort the truth. Confusion breeds suspicion and mistrust. And if you mistrust your institutions, those institutions destabilize. And once they topple, guess who's left standing? [...] The endgame is to make you doubt everything you believe—which leaves you open to believing anything."

The second is the true breadth of fakery that is really possible, and how truly easy most of it is. After reading this book, you'll start to see bots and fake accounts everywhere. For small payments, bad actors can create verified Facebook pages with millions of likes and views; they can create entirely fake profiles, each with their own VPN, to simulate the activity and life of a real person. They can create fake press releases that look totally real, even manufacturing "citizen-written" government petitions. Another major reason for all of this manipulation is the simple fact that there is a ton of money in it. Again, it's not so much about the specific ideology as it is about one ideology raking it in a lot more for whoever is behind the fake news. When Payton interviewed some Macedonian hackers and asked why they're so pro-Trump, they responded, "'We don't work for Trump or Russia. We work for money. It's all about the money.' They would post stories about all of the Democratic and Republican candidates. They didn't care about making winners or losers. It was all about earning money for clicks. However, when they checked what made them real revenue, it was positive press on Sanders, negative press on Hillary, and positive press on Trump."

Lastly, Payton presents a fascinating interview with a real-life hacker, who she names Hacker X, getting him to divulge many of the intimate details of how he worked, who (vaguely) funded him, what he did, and what the results of his work were. I think this is one of the most interesting parts of the book - although at times it feels stranger than fiction - so I won't reveal any more about that; you'll just have to pick it up.

Thank you to Rowman and Littlefield for the ARC - I highly recommend reading this short but fascinating book on a topic we should all be more educated on.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book completely changed my view on the authenticity of social media. It's well documented, now, post-Mueller Report and Senate Relations Report(s), that foreign agents, some working ideologically on behalf of governments, many working solely for pay (it's their job!), manipulate social media platforms through bots and trolling in order to influence and destabilize public opinion around critical political issues, including and especially, democratic elections. This social engineering comes in addition to many other cyber-related attacks on government and the public, but may be the most insidious. Payton's book is a trove of insider information that she hopes will be a bullhorn-volume call to action. One particularly compelling chapter includes a confidential interview with a hired American operative who generated a misinformation campaign prior to the 2016 election. As another reviewer pointed out as well, Peyton's non-partisan stance is commendable, and frankly, refreshing. The style of the book, though, often detracts from the factual presentation of materials. Payton's rhetoric straddles hyperbole, and some of the sources cited should be considered dubious at best. Inexplicably, Wikipedia, the famous online crowdsourced encyclopedia, is used several times for footnote citations, even in a work cautioning against the catalog of falsified and manipulated online information. In one instance, she cites a web cache of Google user content (chapter 2, footnote 41)! And Payton concludes the chapters with baffling fictionalized accounts of cyber security incidents and trends, and their hypothetical ramifications for American society. These bizarre insertions end with ominous disclaimers such as "dramatization of actual events" (p. 21, p. 74, and p. 86--but all uncited, so the "actual events" can never be discovered), or my favorite, "This is fiction... for now" (p. 42, p. 112, p. 141). These lapses in editorial judgement detract significantly from an otherwise compelling work, at times making the book a tool of the very thing that it cautions against: manipulation.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a bit tough to figure out the audience to which this is aimed. There's a general rule in cyber-security to avoid focusing on FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) and this book includes plenty of those. On the other hand, it does offer clear instructions at the end that suggest a path forward both individually and collectively.

As somebody who knows a thing or two about the field, I still learned, or at least more thoroughly incorporated, a few of the ideas into my general thinking. Most specifically, the fact that the forces of chaos literally don't care which side you are on just so long as your emotions get dragged into political decision-making leads one to question even more closely the idea that there are forces of good and evil on social networks. The end result becomes, to quote the early-'80s Matthew Broderick "thriller" Wargames, the only way to win is not to play.

Still, an awful lot of the remedies prescribed feel like wishful thinking until some sort of political action is created[1], and so the sense of helplessness engendered by the book is a bit of a downer when all is said and done.
__________________________

[1] Or in an even better world, if we could depoliticize the entire subject and agree that election and other interference by non-US nation-state actors is bad.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book looks at who, and what, is behind the huge rise in online "fake news." The author places most of the blame on Russia; China, Iran and North Korea are certainly involved, but Russia is behind the vast majority of the nonsense on social media. Their object is not just to influence American elections, but to create conflict and hatred among Americans over elections, fracking, vaccinations and race relations.

Is there anything the average American can do about it? Facebook and Twitter have ways to flag posts as fake news. If you find something that obviously fits, don't be afraid to use them. Get in the habit of visiting fact check sites like factcheck.org and politifact.com. Don't just automatically pass along an incendiary post; think about it. Does it come from a reputable news organization? Can you go to that organization's website to see the original video? Is it clickbait, like "You won't believe what ( ) just said!"?

This book deserves more than 5 stars. It is very interesting and eye-opening and easy to understand. It is also highly recommended.

[Melissa Summitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me on the edge of my seat from the start with the author's almost whispered prologue where she divulges that she is what many considers a conspiracy theorist, through the amazingly chilling chapter of secrets with Hacker X, and all the way to the end game - informing us how to spot when we're being manipulated and how to report fake news and manipulation campaigns to the appropriate authorities.

For those who already fear power brokers attempting to control what you hear and see as well as determining what you think, this book will provide evidence to support those fears. If you think that there isn't a war for your thoughts, this book may change your mind.

Whether you want your worst fears confirmed or you just want to better assess what's real and what isn't in the 24/7/365 onslaught of information, take the time to read this book, or listen to the audio version which is read by the author herself.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book with insightful and timely analysis, completely non-partisan. I highly recommend reading this one, especially prior to the 2020 US general election.

[Rebecca Goza · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a cybersecurity professional as well. This book is non partisan and reflects on data to understand common attack methods. It helps us guard against these social attacks.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book based on 24h news flashes, and not much documentation. Emotions sold as reason.

[Anne Yurik · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are screwed!

[Alexandria Avona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thorough work. It's just disgusting the lows people will stoop to.