Spy campaign on LinkedIn…

Apparently, China agents are using LinkedIn to recruit Americans for acts of espionage.

“The United States’ top spy catcher said Chinese espionage agencies are using fake LinkedIn accounts to try to recruit Americans with access to government and commercial secrets…”

Bad indeed, but there’s a bigger threat than overt espionage outreach.

It’s subtle misdirection through news feeds.

Imagine being unknowingly connected to a few dozen active espionage agents. Each connection posts a slightly different version of a news update.

The news update is based upon fact, but like a movie, exaggerates certain aspects to promote an objective.

Based upon various studies, the “illusion of truth” states that “repetition of plausible statements increases the perceived validity of those statements.”

In essence, news feed misdirection is where malicious users embed subtle prejudiced opinions, systematically, across multiple seemingly innocuous accounts.

With increased frequency, subtle misdirection becomes an effective method to influence behaviors.

Take care of who you connect with and what you read. Everyone has an objective.