Covert Contact Terrorists and Technology Levi West, Director of Terrorism Studies at Charles Sturt University in Canberra, returns to look at how terrorists leverage (or don’t) emerging apps and platforms ranging from social media, to encryption, to cryptocurrencies.
Information Warfare Rise of the Politibots In June (which seems far more distant than it really is) I spent some time at Jigsaw (The Google-formed incubator focused on tackling tough global security issues) contibuting to critical discussions about bots.
Covert Contact Propaganda, Influence, and Disruption A look at recent developments in the social media component of the investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. election and what the evidence says about our ability (or inability) to identify and address modern propaganda.
Updates The Facebook Experiment I’ve never really committed to making Blogs of War available on Facebook. There’s been a page there for years and it has seen the occasional update but it has been largely
Updates Less is More: Tweaking the Tweets If you’ve followed @blogsofwar on Twitter for long you know that it’s not uncommon for me to experiment with content and the way that it’s delivered. At times the feed
Covert Contact Why Daesh's Social Media Campaign is a Massive Failure In episode 7 of the Covert Contact podcast I’m pushing back at the notion that Daesh’s social media use is going to be a significant driver in their long-term success. The
Covert Contact Intelligence Failures, eDiplomacy, and Agent Storm In episode one of the Covert Contact podcast I am looking at the notion of intelligence failures and why they’re often more complicated than they seem – or not failures at all. I’
Terrorism A Different Kind of Veteran: Thoughts on Countering Australian Jihadis from Clint Arizmendi and John W. Little Dr. Clint Arizmendi is a researcher in the Emerging Threats and Opportunities section of the Directorate of Future Land Warfare. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect those of
Technology PBS NewsHour and Blogs of War Twitter Chat on Social Media and Warfare The nice folks at PBS @NewsHour asked me and @PJTobia to spend an hour discussing the topic with them on Twitter. "Social media can be used to circulate true information in the
ISIS Jihadists Go for the Lulz I don’t seek out media appearances but last week was a busy one for me. I was interviewed by CBS News, BBC World Service, Jonathan Green of Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Sunday
ISIS Social Media and Warfare: Till Death Us Do Part Alexander Trowbridge was kind enough to interview me for his piece on ISIS’ use of social media. I think he did a great job of capturing what is interesting about this group’s
Technology The CIA (Finally) Joins Twitter The U.S. Intelligence Community has had one toe (OK a few toes) in the social media pool for some time now but this launch really could represent a significant change in the
Russia 65 Diplomats, Journalists, Spies, and Professors Who Will Help You Make Sense of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine *The usual disclaimers apply. This is not a complete list (it’s not even my complete list) and many informative accounts are not listed here. And of course I am not endorsing every
Guest Posts Security and Defence Accounts in Australia (and the Asia Pacific) You Should be Following on Twitter Natalie Sambhi is an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and editor of ASPI’s blog The Strategist. Natalie’s research interests include Indonesia and Southeast Asian security. She has previously
Intelligence The Former CIA Officers, Analysts, Intelligence Agencies and Professionals You Should Be Following on Twitter Following spies on Twitter can be a dicey proposition. For every legitimate account there are hundreds, if not thousands, of imposters. Many of the fakes are obvious but others are expertly crafted and
Terrorism Talking Tech, Social, and Security with White Canvas Group Founders Jon Iadonisi and Tim Newberry Jon Iadonisi is the founder of White Canvas Group and leads the innovation and application of new products and solutions for all clients. He blends over 15 years of diverse experience in computer
Terrorism Phillip Smyth on Syria Phillip Smyth is a researcher specializing in Lebanon, Syria, and the broader Middle Eastern affairs. He travels regularly to the region and has been published by a number of publications including the American
Interviews Ethics and Security in the Age of Ubiquitous Media with Dr. Rebecca Johnson Dr. Rebecca Johnson is Associate Professor of National Security Affairs at Marine Corps University’s Command and Staff College. Prior to joining the faculty in 2009, she taught at The Georgetown Public Policy
Interviews A Gentle Reminder About Security and Social Media for Security Cleared Professionals Social Media use by security cleared professional creates obvious risks that are mostly well managed by the thousands of professionals who use it day in and day out. And we are thrilled that
