ASD contributes long and short form research products and analysis to inform and engage our audience on a range of issues related to malign foreign interference. In addition, we develop policy recommendations and strategies to close vulnerabilities and safeguard institutions from authoritarian threats.
Securing Democracy Dispatch
News and Commentary Platforms move against U.S. actors engaging in inauthentic social media behavior: Americans on both the left and the right have begun to mimic the Russian playbook by creating fake accounts on Facebook and Twitter to promote “fa [...]
Key Takeaways from the Kremlin’s Recent Interference Offensive
On October 4, officials in the Netherlands and U.K. revealed a joint counterintelligence operation that led to the arrest and expulsion of four Russian military intelligence (GRU) officers in April for attempting to hack the Organization for the Pro [...]
Foreign Funding Threats to the EU’s 2019 Elections
The European Union fears that foreign interference could mar the European Parliament elections in May 2019, but leaders have thus far failed to address a major vulnerability, namely that foreign money can flow unimpeded into campaigns in a number of [...]
Securing Democracy Dispatch
News and Commentary Russian GRU officers attempted to hack organization investigating the Skripal poisoning: On October 4, the Netherlands announced that it expelled four Russian military intelligence directorate (GRU) officers in April for attempt [...]
Securing Democracy Dispatch
News and Commentary Russian hacking group launches powerful new cyber weapon: Fancy Bear, a hacking group linked to Russia’s military intelligence agency (GRU), has developed a powerful new cyber weapon that resists conventional counter-methods. Th [...]
Securing Democracy Dispatch
News and Commentary White House unveils national cyber strategy to deter foreign adversaries: On September 20, the Trump administration announced a new cyber strategy, which outlines how the administration will approach cybersecurity and deter and [...]
Kremlin Containment: Moscow’s Ongoing Asymmetric Attempts to Obstruct NATO Enlargement
In July, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) revealed that Ivan Savvidi, a Russian oligarch with close ties to the Kremlin, was actively funding politicians and protestors in Macedonia to spark unrest over the country’s Sept [...]
Securing Democracy Dispatch
News and Commentary President Trump signs Executive Order on investigating and imposing sanctions for election interference: On September 12, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) to clarify and streamline the process of detecting and sanc [...]
Europe Needs Money Laundering Penalties That Hurt
The Netherlands Public Prosecution Service announced on September 4 that ING Bank, the country’s largest financial institution, had reached a settlement worth the equivalent of $900 million for money laundering violations committed between 20 [...]
Securing Democracy Dispatch
News and Commentary In Senate hearing, Twitter and Facebook executives admit to mistakes, while Google is conspicuously absent: Facebook COO Sharyl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey appeared in front of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligenc [...]
Sweden — Preparing for the Wolf, not Crying Wolf: Anticipating and Tracking Influence Operations in Advance of Sweden’s 2018 General Elections
Since early 2017, the Swedish government has been training citizens, media, and civil services to be on alert for foreign influence operations, especially from the Russian government, aimed at undermining the September 9 parliamentary elections. Thi [...]
Tech Companies Must Do More to Secure U.S. Elections from Authoritarian Interference
With only two months until the November midterms, Silicon Valley’s efforts to secure our elections from authoritarian interference have been more talk than action. Recent steps by several tech companies to uncover and expose interference operations [...]