Ok, you’re wondering what the hell a war on pineapple means. Especially on a security site. Well, there’s a war going on. People are either FOR pineapple on pizza or they’re AGAINST it.
Now, while you’re trying to figure out if pineapple belongs on pizza or not, let me just give you some information and where this is coming from. The #WarOnPineapple actually comes from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). They are a branch of the Department of Homeland Security and was stood up approximately a year ago. Recently they held their 2nd annual cybersecurity symposium and I was lucky enough to get to attend. There were an amazing number of people there from state, local and federal government including the Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T Esper. There were a large number of incredible speakers and I think I learned more at that conference than all the other ones I have attended combined.
Alright, now down to the #WarOnPineapple.
It’s actually an easy and quick way to show or rather explain how to understand foreign influence in something in 5 steps. And it’s actually pretty easy to follow. Let me break it down for you.
- Target a divisive issue
- Find something that’s a hot topic, such as pineapple on pizza. Or in the case of a political arena a hot political race such as presidential.
- Move social media accounts into place
- Use well established ‘fake’ media accounts. Change the name of an account and re-use it. Use established pre-made accounts that have built a following. Managing multiple accounts is not uncommon for one individual to do.
- Amplify and distort the conversation
- Using trolling and bad or ‘misinformation’ is what is called for here. Anything that is going to make the individuals discussing it get into a more than usual discussion works. aka “If you don’t like pineapple on your pizza you’re un-American”.
- Getting picked up by mainstream media
- Creating controversy and getting a topic so heated that it starts to trend and become something huge enough to be picked up by mainstream media. This gives the trolls validation and it is exactly how they help to push their agendas.
- Moving the conversation into the real word
- Now comes the part where they really work it. They bring it to the real word with rallies, events, funding requests, anything to help get them to the forefront and cause more issues.
So there you have it. This is what the #WarOnPineapple has to do with cyber security and more importantly, it has to do with election security. Think about what happened in 2016. How information came from everywhere and nowhere. How it seemed like overnight things developed. All the controversy that was going on for all sides of the parties. Now think how big things have gotten and will get in 2020 with the next election. I almost hate to have social media accounts with the amount of mud slinging going around right now. And it’s only going to get worse.
You can however help prevent a new #WarOnPineapple. Head on over to the CISA Website to learn more about what they do, who they are and how you can help keep things secure. For more information on the #WarOnPineapple head on over to their sited dedicated to it. Just click on the link and find out more.
For your convenience I have included the pdf that they are providing and that is where I picked up the list above. I did not create the list myself, just reworded and presented it in a paragraph form that was easy and quick to read.
Now, back to that pizza. Does pineapple belong or not?
Let me know in the comments below.
Norm On Security 