Propaganda: From Disinformation and Influence to Operations and Information Warfare

The book is a modern primer on propaganda. Disinformation, trolls, bots, information influence, psychological operations, information operations and information warfare. PROPAGANDA offers a contemporary model for thinking about the subject. It puts them in their proper place.

The first two decades of the 21st century have brought qualitative and quantitative technological and societal changes, and the subject of Information Influence needs to get re-ordered. Now is the time. Information influence in the third decade of the 21st century culminates in two events.

The first is the COVID 19 pandemic. This was a time when information influence was particularly relevant, with ubiquitous reports and news about the threats and risks.

The war in Ukraine is another critical event. Propaganda and information warfare were used on a daily basis. This war was undoubtedly one of the moments when we were reminded of the existence of propaganda methods.

The book explains the origins of the meaning and phenomenon of propaganda. Where it came from and how it has changed over the centuries. The book covers modern methods, including AI or advertising technologies. Legal, political, diplomatic and military considerations ensure that the material is covered in depth.

The book is recommended for security and cybersecurity professionals (both technical and non-technical), government officials, politicians, corporate executives, academics and students of technical and social sciences. Adepts with an interest in the subject will read it with interest.

Lukasz Olejnik (LukaszOlejnik.com) is an independent cybersecurity and privacy researcher and consultant.

He holds a Computer Science PhD (INRIA, France) and an LL.M. in Information Technology Law (University of Edinburgh). He worked at CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research), and was a research associate at University College London. He was associated with Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy, with Oxford’s Centre for Technology and Global Affairs, with Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, and was elected a Member of World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Technical Architecture Group. Former cyberwarfare advisor at the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, where he worked on the humanitarian consequences of cyberwarfare. He advised on science and new technologies at the European Data Protection Supervisor.

He helps various companies and organisations, including with cybersecurity, privacy and data protection, and technology policy.

Author of book ＂Philosophy of Cybersecurity＂. His comments appeared in places such as Financial Times, Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, El Pais, or Le Monde. He authored scientific papers, reports, opinion articles in venues like Wired or Foreign Policy.