Disinformation as a service is becoming more and more popular on hacker forums

[Brother]

Disinformation campaigns are usually associated with politicians, however, as research by experts from Recorded Future shows, there is a black market on the Internet, offering disinformation services to everyone. Finding the service you need is very easy and inexpensive (ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on the client's requirements), the researchers said.

In the course of the study, specialists established a fictitious company, found two active services on Russian-language forums and ordered a disinformation service from them. One was instructed to praise the newly minted company, and the second - to spoil its reputation.

A whole network of "fake" pages on social networks published publications about the company, which eventually migrated to the media. As with any propaganda operation, bots, network trolls and real people reacting to fake publications were involved in spreading rumors.

Both services coped with the task brilliantly and proved to be professionals. They also maintained active communication with the customer and even improved their English after the first contact with the front company.

Research shows that the disinformation as a service business model is no longer a tool available only to policymakers. Cybercrime forums, which are already marketplaces for the sale of malware and hacking techniques, are gradually becoming a platform for selling bots and fake traffic.