Summary: A Game is Software which has been designed for interactive entertainment, where users take on challenges set by the game’s designers.
While Online Game Platforms allow people to play with each other, Games are designed for single player experiences.
Tactic: TA15 Establish Assets
Parent Technique: T0147 Software Asset
| Associated Technique | Description |
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| Incident | Descriptions given for this incident |
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| I00098 Gaming The System: How Extremists Exploit Gaming Sites And What Can Be Done To Counter Them | “On October 23, Canada’s Foreign Ministry said it had discovered a disinformation campaign, likely tied to China, aimed at discrediting dozens of Canadian politicians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “The ministry said the campaign took place in August and September. It used new and hijacked social media accounts to bulk-post messages targeting Canadian politicians (T0146: Account Asset, T0150.001: Newly Created Asset, T0150.005: Compromised Asset). “A Chinese Embassy in Canada spokesperson dismissed Canada’s accusation as baseless. ““Canada was a downright liar and disseminator of false information… Beijing has never meddled in another nation’s domestic affairs.” “A Chinese Embassy in Canada spokesperson dismissed Canada’s accusation as baseless. “That is false. “The Canadian government's report is based on an investigation conducted by its Rapid Response Mechanism cyber intelligence unit in cooperation with the social media platforms. “The investigation exposed China’s disinformation campaign dubbed “Spamouflage” -- for its tactic of using “a network of new or hijacked social media accounts that posts and increases the number of propaganda messages across multiple social media platforms – including Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Medium, Reddit, TikTok, and LinkedIn.”” In this case a network of accounts attributed to China were identified operating on multiple platforms. The report was dismissed as false information by an official in the Chinese Embassy in Canada (T0143.001: Authentic Persona, T0097.111: Government Official Persona, T0129.006: Deny Involvement). |
| I00105 Gaming the System: The Use of Gaming-Adjacent Communication, Game and Mod Platforms by Extremist Actors | This report looks at changes content posted to communities on Reddit (called Subreddits) after teams of voluntary moderators are replaced with what appear to be pro-Russian voices: The r/antiwar subreddit appears to be a very recent takeover target. With 12,900 members it is not the largest community on Reddit, but this does place it squarely within the top 5% of all communities in terms of membership. Three months ago a new moderator team was instated by subreddit head u/democracy101. Any posts documenting Russian aggression in Ukraine are now swiftly removed, while the board has been flooded with posts about how Ukraine is losing, or how American “neocons wrecked” the country. The pinned post from moderator u/n0ahbody proclaims: “People who call for an end to Russian aggressions but not the Western aggressions Russia is reacting to don’t really want peace.” This user takes the view that any negative opinion about Russia is “shaped by what the fanatically Russophobic MSM wants you to think,” and that the United States is not threatened by its neighbors. Russia is.” When u/n0ahbody took over the sub, the user posted a triumphant and vitriolic diatribe in another pro-Russia subreddit with some 33,500 members, r/EndlessWar. “We are making progress. We are purging the sub of all NAFO and NAFO-adjacent elements. Hundreds of them have been banned over the last 24 hours for various rule infractions, for being NAFO or NAFO-adjacent,” the user said, referencing the grassroots, pro-Ukrainian North Atlantic Fella Organization (NAFO) meme movement. Several former users have reported they have indeed been banned from r/antiwar since the change in moderators. “If this subreddit cannot be explicitly against the invasion of Ukraine it will never truly be anti-war,” wrote one user Halcyon_Rein, in the antiwar subreddit on September 6. They then edited the post to say, “Edit: btw, I got f**king banned for this 💀💀💀” A community hosted on Reddit was taken over by new moderators (T0151.011: Community Sub-Forum, T0150.005: Compromised Asset). These moderators removed content posted to the community which favoured Ukraine over Russia (T0146.004: Administrator Account Asset, T0151.011: Community Sub-Forum, T0124: Suppress Opposition). |
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