Introduction

The Internet age has ushered a new type of warfare - digital warfare. This isn’t just warfare among “hackers” gaining unauthorized access to computer systems, but a war to influence public opinion through data analytics, propaganda and “fake news”. Waging a war against the minds of the people isn’t a new strategy, but the Internet age has ushered in the ability to rapidly produce simultaneous attacks against democracy and free elections. This book does not take a left or right, Republican or Democrat, stance regarding digital threats to democracy. Participants of both parties must ultimately realize that these techniques, when used by their own or another party, are counter-productive to democracy. As such, it is important that we work to actively idntify and counter these threats.

These strategies are not limited to specific countries or political parties. While the focus of this book will be United States politics, we’ll also touch on other countries digital attacks to suppress democracy, including China, Iran, and North Korea.

Digital threats to democracy are unlike other common threats on the Internet. While most threats on the Internet target software vulerabilities, most digital threats to democracy target wetware, the human brain cells or thought processes. Even more terrifying however, are the underlying vulnerabilities in our voting machines and voter registration systems. While these vulnerabilities may or may not be exploited by an adversary, just the fact that these vulnerabilities exist could threaten the confidence we hold that our elections are truly open and fair.

The research I conducted while writing this book was extremely eye-opening to me. I knew that our elections, our democracy, was vulnerable to outside influence and attack, but until writing this book I had no idea just how severe the vulnerabilities and threats truly are.

I was fortunate enough to write this book during the 2020 Presidential primaries, some of the events of which have ended up in this book. I hope and believe that writing this book gives me just a bit clearer picture of our political landscape, and helps make me a more informed voter. Even more importantly, writing this book has helped me make a few adjustments in my own life to make me less susceptible to manipulation as part of this ever-growing war to influence our thoughts and emotions. Throughout this book I attempt to remain as unbiased as possible, presenting only information and conclusions from a non-partisan point-of-view. However, I still encourage the reader to further research the events and methods presented in this book for deeper understanding of these issues.

No matter what, all of us will have a slight bias in all of our writing and speech. But that’s okay, because we’re only human. Being aware of that bias and trying to keep it in check is one of the critical thinking exercises presented by this book in an effort to combat the digital information war against our thoughts and minds.

This book is part history, part cyber security, and part critical thinking analysis. I hope that you find it thought provoking yet informative.