Cyber Threat Intelligence League Lies About the Group’s Technical Focus, is Actually Aimed At Cognitive Warfare
On their website, The Cyber Threat Intelligence League (CTIL) argues their organization “is the first Open Global Volunteer Emergency Response Center aims to create a safer cyber-space for hospitals, the medical sector and life-saving organizations world wide.” With four primary goals, the organization seeks to 1) prevent cyber attacks, 2) neutralize cyber threats, 3) support law enforcement “in their fight against threats,” and 4) create “disinformation resilience.”
While CTIL officially began as the volunteer project of data scientists and defense and intelligence veterans but whose tactics over time appear to have been absorbed into multiple official projects, including those of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In April 2020, Chris Krebs, then-Director of CISA, announced on Twitter and in multiple articles, that CISA was partnering with CTIL. “It’s really an information exchange,” said Krebs.
Worse, new documents disclosing the Adversarial Misinformation and Influence Tactics and Techniques (AMITT) framework developed with support from CTIL’s SJ Terp encourages aggressive forms of censorship. This includes but is not limited to poison-pilling information, infiltrating private groups, and cutting off bank account access.
CTIL also worked to brainstorm counter-messaging for things like encouraging people to wear masks and discussed building an amplification network. “Repetition is truth,” said a CTIL member in one training session. CTIL worked with other figures and groups in the Censorship Industrial Complex. Meeting notes indicate that Graphika’s team looked into adopting AMITT and that CTIL wanted to consult Renee DiResta about getting platforms to remove content more quickly.
Ultimately, the goal of CTIL’s leaders was to build support for censorship among national security and cybersecurity institutions, rather than monitor healthcare-based cyber threats.
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