Has it really been nearly 15 years since Stephen Colbert brought ‘truthiness’ into our lives?
“It used to be, everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. But that's not the case anymore. Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything. It's certainty…” ~ Stephen Colbert, AV Club, 01.25.06
The 2016 Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year was post-truth. 2017 Term of the Year by the Collins English Dictionary was Fake News.
“Only in today's modern age can you hate your neighbor but love someone posting something in Germany that you don't even know…” ~ Clint Watts, 07.15.08
Distorting the truth is not just about elections; it’s a global issue. It’s a war against our minds. Making us not know who or what to believe, manipulating us to create a vacuum and make you feel like you don’t trust reputable sources of information.
It’s about all social issues. It impacts all countries. But the motivations behind it are not what you think. Reporters and traditional news media are at risk, elections are at risk, so let’s talk about why. Let’s see if we can help you get all learned-up on spotting manipulation campaigns and how to report them. And as an added bonus, we’ll even tell you how to avoid being a victim of one.
This week on the InSecurity Podcast, Matt Stephenson welcomes three-time defending champion, Fortalice CEO and former White House CIO Theresa Payton back to the show. We add a wrinkle this week by also inviting Doug Citizen, an undisclosed “regular person” who is a small business owner, voter and someone who genuinely cares about the present and future of his country.
This isn’t about politics; this is about the mechanics of elections and government. Don’t get it twisted - this is more important than ever before.
About Theresa Payton
Theresa Payton (@TrackerPayton) is President and CEO of Fortalice Solutions, former White House CIO, star of the CBS hit show Hunted, and best-selling author of the book Privacy in the Age of Big Data.
Payton is one of the nation’s most respected authorities on information security, cybercrime, fraud mitigation, and security technology implementation.
As White House Chief Information Officer at the Executive Office of the President from 2006 to 2008, Payton administered the information technology enterprise for the President and 3,000 staff members.
Theresa founded Fortalice in 2008 and lends her expertise to government and private sector organizations to help them improve their information technology systems. In 2010, Security Magazine named her one of the top 25 Most Influential People in Security.
Theresa’s new book drops in April: Manipulated: Inside the Cyberwar to Hijack Elections and Distort the Truth.
About Manipulated: Inside the Cyberwar to Hijack Elections and Distort the Truth
In her new book, 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 artificially 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.
About Doug Citizen
Doug is a small business owner in a municipality smaller than Tokyo with more than 10 occupants. He lives in a town somewhere between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and somewhere between the borders of Canada and Mexico.
He represents 330,000,000 people in the conversation. He cares. That’s what is important. Respect his security and privacy.
About Matt Stephenson
Insecurity host Matt Stephenson (@packmatt73) leads the broadcast media team at BlackBerry, which puts him in front of crowds, cameras, and microphones all over the world. He is the regular host of the InSecurity Podcast and video series at events around the globe.
Twenty years of work with the world’s largest security, storage, and recovery companies has introduced Stephenson to some of the most fascinating people in the industry. He wants to get those stories told so that others can learn from what has come before.
