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Conspiracy theories surge following global IT crash




Conspiracy theories surge following global IT crash

Washington, July 20, 2024 – Following a significant IT crash, online conspiracy theories surged, suggesting everything from the onset of "World War III" to claims of a global elite orchestrating a cyberattack. This crash, one of the most substantial in recent memory, stemmed from a faulty software update to an antivirus program on Microsoft Windows. 

The incident triggered a flood of unsubstantiated theories on social media platforms, which have recently seen a reduction in the measures meant to control misinformation. This reflects a new era of information chaos during significant global events. On X, formerly known as Twitter and owned by Elon Musk, users propagated unfounded claims, suggesting the world was under attack by a sinister force.

One user commented, “I read somewhere once that WW3 would be mostly a cyber war,” encapsulating the kind of apocalyptic rhetoric that spread rapidly. The crash also revived baseless claims that the World Economic Forum (WEF) had orchestrated the cyberattack, fueled by an old WEF video warning about a potential "cyberattack with Covid-like characteristics." This video, available on the WEF's website, had emphasized the need to disconnect millions of vulnerable devices to prevent the spread of such a threat.

The WEF has frequently been targeted by conspiracy theorists who believe in a secretive group of elites manipulating global events for personal gain. The hashtag "cyber polygon," referring to a global training event for potential cyber threats, also gained traction among these theorists.

Rafi Mendelsohn, vice president at Cyabra, a disinformation security company, noted that the rapid spread of conspiracy theories after major events like this outage highlights the volatile nature of today's information ecosystem. Social media platforms, forums, and messaging apps enable swift dissemination of content, allowing theories to go viral and reach a wide audience quickly.

This trend underscores the challenge of fighting misinformation, especially as tech platforms have reduced content moderation and reinstated accounts known for spreading falsehoods. During rapidly unfolding news events, confusion often prevails on major platforms, with users struggling to find accurate information amidst a flood of misleading posts.

Michael W. Mosser, executive director of the Global Disinformation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, pointed out that the decline in trust towards reputable sources has led people to favor wild conspiracies over factual information. The global outage, which disrupted many aspects of daily life and impacted US stocks, was traced back to a bug in an antivirus program update for Windows systems by the American cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.

Despite assurances from CrowdStrike's CEO, George Kurtz, that the company had implemented a fix and was working to resolve the issue, online conspiracies continued to thrive. Mosser highlighted the difficulty in combating such misinformation with technical explanations, as those predisposed to seeing nefarious motives often dismiss accurate information.

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