This thread captures resources and points that I just mentioned during my @BlackInCyberCo1 on #RacismAndNationalSecurity!

Before going any further, I have to pause and acknowledge two amazing thought leaders in this space: @CamilleEsq and @nolahtheveil! Follow them! Camille approaches the lack of #diversity in #CyberSecurity and Nola looks at racism as a national security threat all up!

First, racism being exploited as a national security vulnerability, even by Russia, is not new. @TheJusticeDept articulated this extremely well in 1959 in an Amicus Brief for the U.S. during Brown v. Board of Education. Our government was hip to this way back then.

What’s different now is the speed, volume and efficiency of #disinformation fueled by social media and the amount of data on individual Americans that allows propaganda to be tailored at the individual level. Recommend watching #TheGreatHack on #Netflix.

“The Big 3” (as I call them) clearly documents how race relations were exploited by foreign adversaries:

1. The Mueller Report https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf

2. The DoJ indictment against the Internet Research Agency and other threat actors: https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download

3. The Senate study on Russian active measures during the 2016 campaign:
https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Report_Volume2.pdf

Five noteworthy findings from the Big Three: 1. No American demographic was targeted more than African Americans. 2. The speed, volume and sophistication of disinformation and fake “advocacy” was insane.

3. Many many social media ads mimicking social justice movements that were already active in the black community. 4. The “Your Vote Doesn’t Matter” Narrative specifically targeted to African Americans...

and 5. Real “on the ground effects” even going as far as to set up demonstrations for Blacks Lives Matter groups and White Nationalists at the same exact time and location.

The Big 3 establish the irrefutable fact that racism in America was a national security vulnerability that was exploited by a foreign adversary. It appears that, when it comes to race, the convo stopped there. But, stopping there is extremely dangerous. 1/6/2021 is proof.

If your home was broken into because the burglar was able to come in through a window that does not lock. It’s ludicrous to make a notation documenting how the intrusion occurred but then go on to not even discuss the possibility of actually fixing the window and leaving it as is

But that’s a poor example because there is no item in your home more valuable than American democracy... or free and fair elections, and the example America must set as the leader of the free world.

I personally don’t think this neglect is intentional. People, doing their best, see this activity as a simplistic “divide and conquer” strategy, which is a gross mis-characterization. It’s actually sophisticated military doctrine and to me nearly a science.

A standard process was likely followed... and targeting our critical vulnerability of racism emerged as an extremely attractive course of action.

While I am not yet making my analysis publicly available, because I believe in a “Proof of concept” for a vulnerability being made available to the “vendor” first, I have outlined this using core cybersecurity tenants and definitions:

Racism is the Vulnerability. The Threat is race-based foreign influence operations. The threat actors are foreign Intel and security services. These definitions are important because there is some level of a push for a focus on White Nationalists as a natsec threat.

However the key differences between a threat and vulnerability is that a vulnerability can be identified and corrected, while a threat can be identified, but cannot be controlled. Thus there should be way more focus on eliminating racism as opposed to policing extremist groups.

My challenge to the @BlackInCyberCo1, cybersecurity and national security community is as follows: 1. Join this convo from your unique professional perspective. Amplify this truth.
2. Post your thoughts for this issue using the following hashtag: #RacismAndNationalSecurity

3. Understand cyber activity in the context of Information Warfare not just cyber v. cyber. 4. Do what you can to bring more black and brown professionals to the Cyber and National Security communities. 5. If you haven’t, find your voice and use it.

6. Trust and Amplify the voices of Black and brown women. What happened recently in Georgia makes this a necessity now + it’s 2021!

We have work to do. It’s time to rid our country of this cancer once and for all and if we attack it with the same rigor that we had against terrorism following 9/11, we might just “make something shake.”

If we declared war on terrorism and war on drugs, then why can’t we declare war on racism... especially when it’s being actively exploited by foreign adversaries and the national security vulnerability it is?

@UnrollThread