As cyber connectivity increases, foreign actors have been able to exploit vulnerabilities on smartphones, computers, and the digital infrastructure that supports them to undermine democracies. Probing and penetrating computer networks and connected systems allows malign actors to surreptitiously steal, alter, and collect data, damaging citizens’ privacy and disrupting organizational and institutional processes in democracies. Find ASD’s work on cybersecurity on this page.
Interference Matters
How Government Agencies Can Signal Trust Online Using .Gov Domain Names
Introductory Video: Iran’s Authoritarian Playbook
ASD Middle East Fellow Ariane Tabatabai gives readers a short introduction to her recently released report Iran's Authoritarian Playbook: The Tactics, Doctrine, and Objectives behind Iran’s Influence Operations. In one of the first comprehensive di [...]
Iran’s Authoritarian Playbook: The Tactics, Doctrine, and Objectives behind Iran’s Influence Operations
Introduction According to a 2013 indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice, hackers backed by a foreign power gained access to the controls of the Bowman Avenue Dam, a small dam in the New York City suburb of Rye, New York. Cyberattacks on inf [...]
Clint Watts on Deepfakes and American Democracy in the Washington Post
ASD Non-Resident Fellow Clint Watts co-authored a piece on deepfakes and their impact on American democracy with Tim Hwang of the University of Texas at Austin in the Washington Post. [...]
Jennifer Gurev and David Levine on Holding Safe Elections Under Coronavirus
ASD Junior Fellow Jennifer Gurev and Elections Integrity Fellow David Levine discuss election integrity during the threat of coronavirus, and explore examples like the elections in Poland and the cyber attacks in North Macedonia. [...]
Zack Cooper and Bret Schafer Discuss Election Preparedness at The City Club of Cleveland
ASD Director Zack Cooper and Media and Digital Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer joined Girma Parris of Case Western Reserve University on a panel at The City Club of Cleveland to discuss the United States' disinformation and election security prep [...]
Laura Rosenberger Discusses Progress Made Since 2016 on CFR’s Why It Matters Podcast
ASD Director Laura Rosenberger sat down with Gabrielle Sierra of the Council on Foreign Relations to discuss efforts the United States has taken since 2016 to secure the integrity of our political system on CFR's Why It Matters Podcast. [...]
Laura Rosenberger Discusses Making Cyberspace Safe for Democracy on the ‘Deep Dish Podcast’
ASD Director Laura Rosenberger joined Stanford University’s Jacob Helberg to discuss digital interference, misinformation, and data privacy within the lens of geopolitics on the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' "Deep Dish Podcast." [...]
Laura Rosenberger on Protecting the Digital Landscape and our Elections at the Aspen Institute
ASD Director Laura Rosenberger joined Renee DiResta of the Stanford Internet Observatory at the Aspen Institute to discuss the intersection between the digital landscape and safeguarding the integrity of our elections. [...]
Lindsay Gorman and Karen Kornbluh in NBC Think: China tries to push U.S. tech companies around in Hong Kong. Here’s how to push back.
To counter authoritarian information manipulation and control, the United States needs to support free expression and harness innovation through organizations like the Open Tech Fund, Emerging Technologies Fellow Lindsay Gorman and Karen Kornbluh, d [...]
Laura Rosenberger on the National Security Implications of the Twitter Hack on CNN
The hijack of several high-profile Twitter feeds raises concern:could America's adversaries crash markets, ruin elections, or start a war with fake tweets? Director Laura Rosenberger discussed CNN to discuss these concerns. [...]
David Levine and Bret Schafer on Social Media and Foreign Interference on the 2020 Elections at the Secure Elections Network
Elections Integrity Fellow David Levine and Media and Digital Disinformation Fellow Bret Schafer discuss social media and foreign interference in the upcoming 2020 election in an online discussion with the Secure Elections Network. [...]
A Note on Coming Updates to the Authoritarian Interference Tracker
The Alliance for Securing Democracy’s Authoritarian Interference Tracker maps and catalogs over 400 instances of Russian state-sponsored efforts to undermine democracy in over 40 countries. The Tracker documents five tools authoritarian regimes use [...]