Journal Entry #10: Review the article “Social Cybersecurity An Emerging National Security Requirement” by Lt. Col David M. Beskow and Kathleen M. Carley and write a journal entry summarizing a response to the article on social cybersecurity

The article “Social Cybersecurity: An Emerging National Security Requirement” highlights the importance of social cybersecurity and how the digital world has evolved into platforms where anyone can spread disinformation that significantly influences national security. My response to the article is that people must conduct their own fact-checking because most information is now distributed at the user level, not at the journalist’s level. This could be written in the educational systems, like learning to identify fake news, threads, and propaganda. We must learn that our borders are not the same online, and other countries can affect what we do, how we act, and whom we vote for if we are not paying attention. This malicious form of fake news is best highlighted in the 2016 election. Investigations showed that American politics were heavily preyed upon by outside forces (i.e., Russia) to add confusion and distrust into the election system. Russia was able to conduct this with minimal effort and used social media platforms to push fake news.   

Additionally, those creating the policies must address better ways to identify fake news. They could also conduct public awareness campaigns to keep people informed and deter them from consuming disinformation. As mentioned, there are ways to discard bots or phony news accounts that spread disinformation. However, based on the graph depicted in the article, computer bots were just as likely as human behavior, if not more, during an election in Sweden. This demonstrates the importance of governments, organizations, and individuals needing to take this seriously, and together we can take action to protect our nation against cyber threats.

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