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Criminals eye profits in fake news sites
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Cyber criminals have latched onto the notion of “fake news” and turned it into a profitable business model, with services starting at less than US$10, security researchers said yesterday.
Digital Shadows, an online security firm, issued a report highlighting services aimed at creating false media websites, reviews and social media “bots” (automated accounts) to promote or denigrate commercial products and services.
One of the methods used is creating fake or “spoofed” media websites designed to look like legitimate news organizations.
The researchers found some 2,800 “live spoof” sites.
“Live spoof” sites can be produced by changing a single letter in a web address to create a clone of a legitimate news organization’s website.
Some criminals use the same methods as propagandists in Russia, such as modifying legitimate documents and leaking them as part of disinformation campaigns, said the report.
“Like any good news story, content will be shared, liked, reposted and distributed across many different platforms and channels,” it said.
“The more widely a piece of disinformation can be spread, the better the chances of it capturing the public imagination and achieving its objective — whether that is to discredit an opponent, sow discord or to generate profit.”
While the use of these tools in political campaigns is a growing concern, the same methods can be used for profit, said the report.
Many of these services were advertised on the so-called “dark web,” where users are hard to trace, said Rick Holland, vice president of strategy at Digital Shadows.
But some had been openly advertised as marketing tools as well, he said.
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