The Current Digital Arena and its Risks to Serving Military Personnel
The Current Digital Arena and its Risks to Serving Military Personnel

Author(s): Sebastian Bay, Nora Biteniece
Subject(s): Media studies, Security and defense, Military policy, ICT Information and Communications Technologies
Published by: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Keywords: user data; social media; military; society; digital environment;
Summary/Abstract: The last few years have provided an abundance of examples of how malicious actors can exploit user data to the detriment of social media users, armed forces, and society. This study explores what kind of user data is available in the digital environment and demonstrates how a malicious actor can exploit this data in the context of a military exercise. The results of an experiment conducted by a NATO StratCom COE research team suggest that in the current digital arena an adversary would be able to collect enough personal data on soldiers to create targeted messages with precision, successfully influencing their chosen target audience to carry out desired behaviors.

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