Cyfluence Research Center

How does Japan’s media ecosystem shape the spread of (dis-)information -- and where does it create openings for hostile influence?

A comprehensive study by Ririko Hirase maps information flows across Japan’s media landscape, combining qualitative and quantitative analysis to identify structural vulnerabilities and cognitive attack surfaces that can facilitate information disorder and create opportunities for hashtag .

Using Japanese media coverage during the early phase of the Israel–Gaza conflict as its primary case study, the research examines the inherent dynamics shaping how information travels, transforms, and gains traction.

The key findings and recommendations help Cognitive Security stakeholders understand where vulnerabilities emerge, how hostile actors may exploit them, and how to mitigate them through policy and Influence Defense capacity building.

Read the Executive Summary here: https://www.cyfluence-research.org/post/information-flows-in-japans-media-ecosystem

Link to the full study: https://www.cyfluence-research.org/post/information-flows-in-japans-media-ecosystem-analyzing-narrative-formation

During the last week, we observed, collected, and analyzed key developments related to cyber-based hostile influence campaigns (including Cyfluence attacks).

Highlighted Developments:
🏛️ Swiss authorities confirmed covert and open Russian interference before Switzerland's neutrality initiative vote, though the security secretariat doubts it was decisive.
⚠️ The Insider estimates that Russian propagandists posing as 'angry Latvians' control about one-third of Latvia's socio-political Telegram channels.
📱 Russian actors paired an AI-faked anti-corruption raid with a cloned NV news site to portray Ukraine as corrupt during US-Russia talks.
🌐 The EU sanctioned former RT France chief Xenia Fedorova for spreading Kremlin-aligned narratives through French media after RT's EU broadcasting suspension.

📌 The CRC Weekly Report is a summary of what we regard as the main events in the information environment.
Read full article here:
https://www.cyfluence-research.org/post/cyber-based-influence-campaigns-21st-27th-september-2026-report

What do counter-FIMI frameworks overlook, and how can emotional readiness help people apply media literacy skills under pressure?

In this article, Tamara Klevova examines a gap in cognitive security practice: people may recognize manipulation techniques yet struggle to use what they have learned when fear, anger, or grief affects their judgment.

The article proposes “emotional readiness” as a trainable component of cognitive and societal resilience. It offers applicable steps to help targeted audiences recognize and regulate emotional reactions before evaluating potentially weaponized emotionally charged content.

Read the article: https://www.cyfluence-research.org/post/emotional-regulation-as-an-overlooked-dimension-of-information-manipulation-resilience

How do autocracies attack democratic societies – and what can we do about it?

That was the question we explored last week in Hanover at the panel discussion "Propaganda, Influence, Silent War – How Autocrats Attack Democratic Societies."

Many thanks to the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom for the invitation and the opportunity to present our work on this important topic – drawing on our study "Digital Influence Vectors in Malaysia," which shows how Russia and China use state media, digital influence networks, and targeted disinformation to shape public opinion in Southeast Asia, and what Germany and Europe can learn from it, since the same patterns are increasingly visible here too.

Thank you to all the participants for a great discussion and their valuable perspectives: Katrin Bannach (Head of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Malaysia & Indonesia), Reinhard Bingener (FAZ journalist), Patrick Döring (CEO of the WERTGARANTIE Group), and Moritz Mogwitz (moderator) – and to Jana Barrios Pedrajas and Lone Zumbrock for organizing such a successful evening.

Special congratulations to Reinhard Bingener on his new book "Der stille Krieg – Wie Autokraten Deutschland angreifen" ("The Silent War – How Autocrats Attack Germany") – an important and eye-opening read on a topic that concerns all of us.

During the last week, we observed, collected, and analyzed key developments related to cyber-based hostile influence campaigns (including Cyfluence attacks).
Highlighted Developments:
🎭 Russia's Matryoshka operation expanded from European elections to the 2026 US midterms, deploying voice-cloned videos of five Hollywood celebrities in counterfeit CNN broadcasts targeting Democratic Senate candidates in Georgia, Ohio, and New Hampshire.
🤖 CCP influence operations across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, and X used AI-generated personas to deepen US societal divisions ahead of the November 2026 midterms without advancing any single political objective.
🌍 The Center for an Informed Public and the Brennan Center independently characterized the 2026 midterm environment as qualitatively more dangerous than prior cycles, with sitting leadership repeating long-debunked election fraud claims and AI reducing the cost of targeted false-content generation to near zero.
⚠️ Anthropic's head of threat research Jacob Klein warned that current low engagement scores on disrupted influence campaigns understate the trajectory risk, predicting higher-breakout AI influence operations in the near or medium future as AI systems become better at chaining tasks and more persuasive.

📌 The CRC Weekly Report is a summary of what we regard as the main events in the information environment.

Read full article here: https://www.cyfluence-research.org/post/cyber-based-influence-campaigns-7th-13th-september-2026-report

During the last week, we observed, collected, and analyzed key developments related to cyber-based hostile influence campaigns (including Cyfluence attacks).
Highlighted Developments:

🎭 Meta's H2 2026 Adversarial Threat Report documented an Iranian CIB network posing as US-based activists to target American civic audiences, Doppelganger diversifying into offshoots across Hungary, Armenia, Moldova, and the US, and a Joint Disruption Week contributing to 63 arrests and the removal of 1.4 million assets at Southeast Asian scam centers.

🇩🇪 ISD Global documented Russia's Matryoshka operation publishing 269 posts across X, BlueSky, and TikTok targeting mainstream German parties while conspicuously avoiding the AfD and BSW, following a strict weekday CEST schedule and recycling AI-manipulated content from prior Hungarian and Armenian election campaigns.

📹 NewsGuard documented Storm-1516, a GRU-linked Russian operation, deploying AI-generated videos impersonating French broadcaster LCI against presidential candidates Gabriel Attal, Raphael Glucksmann, and Lea Salame nine months before France's April 2027 election.

🎓 CFR reported that a Russia-linked operation used ChatGPT via VPN to promote the fabricated International Burke Institute, a fake think tank listing three real CFR experts without consent and planting plagiarized research on academic platforms, with OpenAI and Meta jointly exposing the operation.

🛰️ The Record reports that Putin signed a decree in late August 2026 authorizing temporary government seizure of critical infrastructure operators failing drone defense standards, forcing Russia's 181 data centers, concentrated around Moscow and St. Petersburg, to invest in physical and digital security upgrades amid Ukraine's expanding deep-strike drone operations.

📌 The CRC Weekly Report is a summary of what we regard as the main events in the information environment.

Read full article here: https://www.cyfluence-research.org/post/cyber-based-influence-campaigns-31st-august-6th-september-2026-report

Cyfluence Research Center (CRC) has wrapped up a successful Influence Defense Training at International Relation - University of Indonesia.

The sessions went beyond theory, covering how to identify influence operations and apply practical OSINT techniques. The class was highly interactive, filled with sharp questions, active discussions, and hands-on exercises that kept the energy and enthusiasm high throughout.

At Cyfluence Research Center, we believe building resilience against influence operations starts with equipping the next generation with the right tools and mindset, and Universitas Indonesia showed just how ready they are for the challenge.

Thank you to Muhamad Arif for helped to organize this event and all participants for the great collaboration. We look forward to more ahead! 🙌

Cyfluence Research Center has successfully concluded a 3-day training program in collaboration with PT Tempo Inti Media Tbk, bringing together journalists from Tempo.co, alongside participants from SAFEnet - Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network and Monash University.

The training covered core areas including OSINT methodologies, influence operations, and technology-driven defense mechanisms, equipping participants with the practical skills needed to identify, analyze, and respond to information threats in today's digital landscape.

Given the depth of expertise in the room, the sessions moved beyond theory into rich, in-depth discussion, with participants actively engaging and applying concepts to real-world scenarios throughout the program.

We would like to thank Tempofor the collaboration, and to all participants from Tempo, SAFEnet, and Monash University for their active participation and valuable contributions throughout the training. We look forward to continued collaboration in strengthening information integrity and digital resilience.

Cyfluence Research Center (CRC) has successfully completed a 2-day training program hosted at BINUS University Faculty of Engineering, bringing together students, lecturers, and external participants from Communication and Information System Security Research Centre (CISSReC) for an intensive learning experience.

Throughout the sessions, participants dug deeper into OSINT techniques, influence operations, and defense mechanisms using technology, equipping them with practical skills to navigate today's complex information landscape. Thank you for Florian Frank and Shay Laufer for sharing incredible knowledge.

What made this training even more valuable was the interactive format. Through hands-on discussions and active engagement, the class was filled with enthusiasm from start to finish, proving that the best learning happens when everyone is part of the conversation.

Thank you to BINUS University & Ar. Religiana Hendarti, PhD, IAI, CSDS. for the collaboration and helped to organize this event, and to all participants for the energy and curiosity throughout the training! We look forward to more knowledge-sharing opportunities ahead.

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During the last week, we observed, collected, and analyzed key developments related to cyber-based hostile influence campaigns (including Cyfluence attacks).
Highlighted Developments:
🎭 Russia's Operation Matryoshka and Storm-1516 simultaneously targeted Germany, France, and Sweden in August 2026 using fake broadcaster logos, with France opening the first criminal prosecution directly targeting named political candidates (Attal, Philippe, Glucksmann), and the Swedish operation releasing seven fabricated clips within 60 minutes designed to overwhelm newsroom fact-checking capacity rather than maximize mass audience reach.
🤖 The PRC deployed an AI-enabled autonomous cyberattack against 21 Taiwanese government systems in July 2026 while simultaneously running a disinformation campaign targeting Kaohsiung's 2026 mayoral election, with Taiwan's DPP warning that AI has lowered content fabrication costs to the point where Beijing can generate false narratives faster than Taiwanese fact-checkers can respond, describing PRC interference as a "comprehensive election interference industry supply chain".
🌍 Russia is running a coordinated foreign military recruitment pipeline through paid Meta advertisements and 35 or more websites in 40 languages targeting Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia with misleading military job offers, with 85 paid Meta ads flagged during the reporting period.
⚠️ AI-generated fake news websites have proliferated to the point where they are indistinguishable from authentic outlets to most readers, while US Special Operations Command warned publicly that AI-enabled deception has made the information environment so opaque that senior officials can no longer reliably distinguish authentic from fabricated content, directly raising the probability of large-scale military conflict.

📌 The CRC Weekly Report is a summary of what we regard as the main events in the information environment.
Read full article here: https://www.cyfluence-research.org/post/cyber-based-influence-campaigns-17th-23rd-august-2026-report