[報摘]關於米軍的網路水軍

井底望天最近的博客中提及美軍建立網路水軍，遂驅狗去找佐證，叼回如下兩根骨頭。

博客原文節選：

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++++++++++++++傻乎乎的分隔線+++++++++++++++++++

Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media

Military's 'sock puppet' software creates fake online identities to spread pro-American propaganda

The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda.

A Californian corporation has been awarded a contract with United States Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US armed operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, to develop what is described as an "online persona management service" that will allow one US serviceman or woman to control up to 10 separate identities based all over the world.

The project has been likened by web experts to China's attempts to control and restrict free speech on the internet. Critics are likely to complain that it will allow the US military to create a false consensus in online conversations, crowd out unwelcome opinions and smother commentaries or reports that do not correspond with its own objectives.

The discovery that the US military is developing false online personalities – known to users of social media as "sock puppets" – could also encourage other governments, private companies and non-government organisations to do the same.

The Centcom contract stipulates that each fake online persona must have a convincing background, history and supporting details, and that up to 50 US-based controllers should be able to operate false identities from their workstations "without fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries".

Centcom spokesman Commander Bill Speaks said: "The technology supports classified blogging activities on foreign-language websites to enable Centcom to counter violent extremist and enemy propaganda outside the US."

He said none of the interventions would be in English, as it would be unlawful to "address US audiences" with such technology, and any English-language use of social media by Centcom was always clearly attributed. The languages in which the interventions are conducted include Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto.

Centcom said it was not targeting any US-based web sites, in English or any other language, and specifically said it was not targeting Facebook or Twitter.

Once developed, the software could allow US service personnel, working around the clock in one location, to respond to emerging online conversations with any number of co-ordinated messages, blogposts, chatroom posts and other interventions. Details of the contract suggest this location would be MacDill air force base near Tampa, Florida, home of US Special Operations Command.

Centcom's contract requires for each controller the provision of one "virtual private server" located in the United States and others appearing to be outside the US to give the impression the fake personas are real people located in different parts of the world.

It also calls for "traffic mixing", blending the persona controllers' internet usage with the usage of people outside Centcom in a manner that must offer "excellent cover and powerful deniability".

The multiple persona contract is thought to have been awarded as part of a programme called Operation Earnest Voice (OEV), which was first developed in Iraq as a psychological warfare weapon against the online presence of al-Qaida supporters and others ranged against coalition forces. Since then, OEV is reported to have expanded into a $200m programme and is thought to have been used against jihadists across Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

OEV is seen by senior US commanders as a vital counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation programme. In evidence to the US Senate's armed services committee last year, General David Petraeus, then commander of Centcom, described the operation as an effort to "counter extremist ideology and propaganda and to ensure that credible voices in the region are heard". He said the US military's objective was to be "first with the truth".

This month Petraeus's successor, General James Mattis, told the same committee that OEV "supports all activities associated with degrading the enemy narrative, including web engagement and web-based product distribution capabilities".

Centcom confirmed that the $2.76m contract was awarded to Ntrepid, a newly formed corporation registered in Los Angeles. It would not disclose whether the multiple persona project is already in operation or discuss any related contracts.

Nobody was available for comment at Ntrepid.

In his evidence to the Senate committee, Gen Mattis said: "OEV seeks to disrupt recruitment and training of suicide bombers; deny safe havens for our adversaries; and counter extremist ideology and propaganda." He added that Centcom was working with "our coalition partners" to develop new techniques and tactics the US could use "to counter the adversary in the cyber domain".

According to a report by the inspector general of the US defence department in Iraq, OEV was managed by the multinational forces rather than Centcom.

Asked whether any UK military personnel had been involved in OEV, Britain's Ministry of Defence said it could find "no evidence". The MoD refused to say whether it had been involved in the development of persona management programmes, saying: "We don't comment on cyber capability."

OEV was discussed last year at a gathering of electronic warfare specialists in Washington DC, where a senior Centcom officer told delegates that its purpose was to "communicate critical messages and to counter the propaganda of our adversaries".

Persona management by the US military would face legal challenges if it were turned against citizens of the US, where a number of people engaged in sock puppetry have faced prosecution.

Last year a New York lawyer who impersonated a scholar was sentenced to jail after being convicted of "criminal impersonation" and identity theft.

It is unclear whether a persona management programme would contravene UK law. Legal experts say it could fall foul of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, which states that "a person is guilty of forgery if he makes a false instrument, with the intention that he or another shall use it to induce somebody to accept it as genuine, and by reason of so accepting it to do or not to do some act to his own or any other person's prejudice". However, this would apply only if a website or social network could be shown to have suffered "prejudice" as a result.

• This article was amended on 18 March 2011 to remove references to Facebook and Twitter, introduced during the editing process, and to add a comment from Centcom, received after publication, that it is not targeting those sites.

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By Lewis Bazley

Last updated at 11:18 AM on 18th March 2011

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367535/U-S-military-using-fake-online-profiles-spread-propaganda.html#ixzz1MCywdVdA

• Fake profiles would NOT operate in English as this would contravene U.S. law
• Instead operators would work in languages such as Arabic, Farsi and Urdu

The American military has spent $2.8million on software to create fake personas on social networking websites in a bid to curb online jihadists.

The U.S. Central Command (Centcom) has awarded a $2.76million contract to California company Ntrepid in order to create false identities – known as 『sock puppets』 – to manipulate conversations on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

The move is reportedly intended to hamper online extremism but critics will argue the scheme actually strikes a blow against free speech.

Online manipulation: The U.S. military is to use software that creates fake personas so as to combat extremism and spread propaganda

A June 2010 contract shows the software in question would allow users to control 『10 personas… replete with background , history, supporting details, and cyber presences that are technically, culturally and geographically consistent』.

Up to 50 users of the software would be 『able to appear to originate in nearly any part of the world』 with the intention of interacting 『through conventional online services and social media platforms』.

Centcom』s contract also stipulates that the users of the software should be able to handle a number of false online personas from one workstation 『without fear of being discovered by sophisticated adversaries』.

Centcom spokesman Commander Bill Speaks told the Guardian: 『The technology supports classified blogging activities on foreign-language websites to enable Centcom to counter violent extremist and enemy propaganda outside the U.S.』

He stressed the 『sock puppets』 would not operate in English as to use such technology would contravene U.S. law – instead the false identities will conduct online conversations in languages such as Arabic, Farsi and Urdu.

However, the implications of the Centcom contract – which would allow U.S. forces personnel to contribute to Facebook conversation, tweets and message boards under a false name – could be of concern for free speech campaigners.

Jihadist: The U.S. project hopes to infiltrate online conversations between suspected terrorists - pictured here is Abdullah Ahmed Ali, 27, who was found guilty in 2008 of conspiring to kill hundreds of people in a bombing campaign

By contributing to online discussions while using a fake identity, the U.S. military would potentially be able to disseminate pro-American propaganda, attempt to quash dissenting opinions and create an artificial consensus.

With the software allowing users to manage several personalities from one location – thought to be Macdill air force base in Florida in this instance – its development may encourage governments or private firms to engage in similar practices.

Centcom commander James N. Mattis told a senate hearing earlier this month: 『Our enemies operate within cyberspace (and its associated relevant physical infrastructure) to plan, coordinate, recruit, train, equip, execute and garner support for operations against the U.S., its allies and interests. Clearly, in the information age, our military must adapt to this new domain of warfare.』

The new scheme to develop fake online personas is believed to be part of Operation Earnest Voice, which manages Centcom's Information Operations, and in the words of Mattis, 『seeks to disrupt recruitment and training of suicide bombers; deny safe havens for our adversaries; and counter extremist ideology and propaganda』.

A report by the inspector general of the U.S. defence department suggested Operation Earnest Voice had involved multinational forces in Iraq but the Ministry of Defence told the Guardian it had 『no evidence』 of British involvement in the programme.

The MoD also declined to confirm if it had engaged in false persona creation, saying: 『We don't comment on cyber capability.』

Cyber campaign: The project would see military personnel conversing on Facebook in languages such as Arabic or Urdu