TeamT5 consists of world-class cyber threat analysts with more than 10-year experience. Leveraging geographic and cultural advantages, TeamT5 has the best understanding of cyber attackers in Asia Pacific. Derived from in-house research in malware & Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), TeamT5 provides cyber threat intelligence reports and anti-ransomware solutions to clients in the USA, Japan, and Taiwan.  

Our clients include government agencies, financial institutions, telecom operators, high-tech enterprises, electronic manufacturing service companies, and managed security service providers (MSSP).

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TeamT5 's Cyber Threat Intelligence Report [Exclusive for Australia] 

社群媒體的普及改變了人們吸收資訊的方式，衝擊了原有的選戰型態。2018到2020年，台灣面臨了新形態的選戰威脅，攻擊者利用社群媒體散播大量的假新聞、不實資訊、仇恨言論。這些攻擊就像高傳染力的病毒不僅會觸及所有社群媒體使用者，更會讓他們感染後進一步成為潛在的假消息散播源。

TeamT5 的 Observations on 2020 Taiwanese General Elections 認為：

## 1. 假新聞讓各政黨支持者成為可能的散播源

   假新聞攻擊會利用選民對政治的熱情，使參與討論的選民反而成為散播的節點。

## 2. 假新聞的手法與目標持續地改變

   中選會認為這次選前的假新聞攻擊達到以往不曾有的數量。而除了數量與手法的不同，在選舉過後，相關攻擊並沒有停止，反而轉移了目標。

## 3. 中國持續加大自己的影響力

   從對台機構的新聞網站到各類假帳號、機器人與自發的小粉紅，中國試圖將影響力延伸到台灣的社群媒體。

## 4. 假新聞的攻擊行動被層層外包

   在選舉期間大量的行銷公司與新興媒體成立並散播特定政治訊息，讓真正的攻擊者可以輕易地隱藏於之後。



我們以資安研究員的角度出發，整合過去兩年間 TeamT5 拆解過的選舉假新聞攻擊事件，希望能替下一場民主選舉貢獻心力。

若對本份白皮書有興趣，請填寫表單，我們會以電子郵件的方式寄送。 TeamT5 接下來還會解析中國如何對內與對外利用社群媒體進行資訊的操弄。不想錯過我們接下來發布的報告，請追蹤我們的[Twitter](https://twitter.com/TeamT5_Official)

TeamT5 發布了〈資訊戰白皮書：2020台灣大選觀察〉

The ubiquity of social media has altered the way people consume information, which in turn dramatically changed the way electoral campaigns are run. From the 2018 municipal elections to the 2020 general elections, Taiwan has witnessed the growing threat of disinformation to the citizens. It was observed that many malicious actors utilized social media to disseminate a huge amount of fake news, false information, and hate speech. These disinformation are like highly contagious viruses that will not only affect the people consuming them, but also make them secondary disseminators. We assess that:

## 1. Virus-like disinformation makes everyone on social media both victim and disseminator

   Although public discussion is the cornerstone of a good democratic society, many attacks have used voter enthusiasm to spread on social media. We have observed that many of the voters who participated in the discussion turned out to be the source of dissemination.

## 2. Disinformation continues to evolve in tactics and quantity, as well as expanding its targets

   The Taiwanese Central Election Commission (CEC) stated that the number of disinformation cases before the 2020 elections reached an unprecedented level. In addition to the evolution in quantity and tactics, we observed that the dissemination of disinformation did not stop even after the election, but instead shifted the target.

## 3. China continues to increase its influence

   Apart from news agency promoting the Chinese policies, inauthentic accounts run by bot, and patriotic netizens (A.K.A little pink), China has stepped up its influence on social media platforms to shape narratives.

## 4. Information operations are outsourced, layer-by-layer

   Before the elections, a number of marketing firms and new media were established to spread political messages. We discovered that some of them have connections with certain political parties, implying the layer-by-layer outsourcing of Information Operations by politically motivated actors.

From the perspective of security researchers, we integrated the Information Operations intercepted and investigated by TeamT5 over the past two years, hoping to contribute to the next democratic election.

If you are interested in this white paper, please fill out the form, and we will send you the report by email.

COMING UP NEXT: We will publish reports about how China conduct Information Operation on social media platforms, targeting domestic citizens and foreign audiences. If you don't want to miss our next report, follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/TeamT5_Official).

TeamT5 Information Operation White Paper I: Observations on 2020 Taiwanese General Elections

インフォメーション オペレーション

Information Operation

在 TeamT5〈資訊戰白皮書〉的最後一部曲中，我們將呈現中國的資訊作戰（Information Operation）是如何瞄準全球社群媒體使用者。TeamT5 希望透過這系列白皮書，分享我們作為資安研究員，如何理解中國的社群操弄。

此份白皮書的前兩個章節，介紹中國檯面上與檯面下的行動。首先觀察中國在檯面上（overt operation）如何透過中國的官媒、大使館、外交官，在社群媒體創造自己的聲量。接著分析中國檯面下的行動（covert operation），進一步研究那些無法被輕易歸因的粉絲頁、內容農場與大量的僵屍帳號。最後一章將以 PTT 論壇上關於 Juiker 的假新聞攻擊為例，提出資訊戰當中，我們最擔心的 —— 由「進階持續性滲透威脅」（APT）發起的假新聞攻擊。

 
## 報告摘要

### 1. 中國持續透過官媒與外交官進行檯面上的社群操弄

中國的官媒、外交官、大使館是中國檯面上的主要行動者。這些行動者負責美化中國外在形象，以及散播對中國執政黨有利的論述。根據我們的觀察，這些帳號在西方社群媒體中都擁有大量的追蹤者，Facebook 粉絲頁中，追蹤數排名世界前 20 名的新聞媒體，第一名到第四名就是由中國官媒粉絲頁 CGTN、China Daily、People's Daily、Xinhua News 包辦。中國檯面上的社群操弄，主要針對位在美國、加拿大、澳洲等英語系國家的海外華人，並透過他們對當地的政治進行一定影響。
 
### 2. 檯面下的社群操弄持續在西方主流社群平台出沒

2020 年，西方主流社群平台 Facebook、Twitter、Google 等，都曾數次移除各自平台上與中國有關的假帳號。儘管平台方已如此頻繁地掃蕩，許多隱匿的行動者仍然在各大平台上出沒，那些曾遭移除的帳號背後，有行動者持續透過註冊新網域和帳號捲土重來。我們不斷觀察到許多可疑帳號，例如許多擁有中國管理員的粉絲頁，會搬運微博上的政治宣傳。更有甚者，我們發現許多配備精良的攻擊者，會自己架設網站和疑似是自動化產生的僵屍帳號，來協助中國政府攻擊香港抗爭者。
 
### 3. APT 攻擊者很可能參與了社群媒體上的資訊戰

我們擔心 APT 攻擊者很可能參與了社群媒體上的資訊戰。APT 通常是由一個國家所支持的駭客團體，以竊取機敏資料為主，APT 的攻擊者往往具備了強悍的網路攻擊手法與資源。然而，我們今年偵察到了一個可能是由 APT 攻擊者發動的假新聞攻擊。該事件發生在 2020 年七月，PTT 論壇八卦版上，開始有許多被盜用的帳號以假新聞攻擊台灣重要軍事單位，造謠台灣公務機關使用的 Juiker 通訊軟體遭駭，以及台灣重要軍事機關遭駭。我們透過搜索比對貼文與發文 IP，發現其中一個 IP 位址，符合某個中國 APT 曾經使用過的中繼站。
 
### 4. 威脅情資作為對抗資訊戰的重要環節

如同前述的分析脈絡，APT 與社群操弄的結合會讓防守方更加棘手。在棘手的防守環境中，唯有威脅情資（threat intelligence）可以提供即時的分析，評估攻擊者的攻擊手法、可疑的指標、以及造成的風險。而在快速更迭的社群媒體環境中，平台方與事實查核團體非常難找到證據，歸因大量散播的假新聞。我們認為唯有導入威脅情資，才能有效幫助政府單位、重要關鍵基礎設施與企業，對抗資訊戰。
 


若您對我們的白皮書有興趣，請填寫以下表單，取得完整的研究報告。
 
 
追蹤 TeamT5 [Twitter](https://twitter.com/TeamT5_Official)，資安動態不漏接！

TeamT5〈資訊戰白皮書三部曲：中國的社群操弄〉

In the final part of our Information Operation White Paper, we will demonstrate China's Information Operations (InfoOps) targeting the global audience. The first part of the report displays a brief overview of its overt operations which are carried out by state media, embassies, and diplomats. Then we look into the covert operations, which can be observed in pro-China fan pages, content farms, and spam botnet. Last but not least, we provide the case study of "Operation Juiker" on Taiwan's largest forum PTT, which suggests the possibility of the APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) actors entering the threat landscape.

## Key Takeaways

### 1. China has escalated the level of overt InfoOps via state-media and diplomats.
 
 
Chinese state media, diplomats, and embassies are the main actors of Chinese overt InfoOps. They shoulder the task to polish the image of the regime and propagate the narrative of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is noteworthy that their official accounts have obtained an unexpected number of followers in recent years. For instance, four Chinese state media are included in the top 20 most-followed pages on Facebook. Their main audience, apart from the Chinese citizens, are overseas Chinese diaspora, which many of them have rights to vote in countries such as the U.S., Canada, and Australia, thus having the ability to influence a country's politics.
 
 
### 2. Covert InfoOps remain active on Western social media platforms.
 
 
2020 is a year which has set many records. This year, the takedowns of covert Chinese social media accounts by Facebook, Twitter, and Google are more frequent than ever. However, even with such efforts, we observed that there are new covert actors emerging across the platforms, while the banned actors keep coming back to the scene by registering new domains and new accounts. We spotted that there is a huge number of Facebook pages with admins located in China dedicated to disseminating Chinese propaganda content originated from Chinese social media platform, Weibo. Besides, there are sophisticated actors that create websites and subtle content to help the Chinese government shaping the narrative for the Hong Kong protest. We also detected numerous networks of pro-China political accounts that demonstrated strong signs of automated behavior.
 
 
### 3. APT actors might have entered the InfoOps threat landscape.
 
 
The situation is become more alarming as we discovered that the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actors might have entered the InfoOps threat landscape. APT actors, typically a state-sponsored group, usually conduct prolonged and targeted cyberattacks to mine highly sensitive data. However, in mid-2020, we identified an InfoOp that can be linked to a notorious Chinese APT group which TeamT5 intelligence team has tracked for years. We discovered that the threat actors had disseminated disinformation about "Juiker," a messaging app developed by Taiwan's research institute and widely used by government units, on Taiwan's largest forum PTT. The operation, which we dub as "Operation Juiker," aimed to discredit Taiwan's intelligence agency and government-backed research institute by spreading disinformation of the messaging app being hacked.
 
 
### 4. It is more crucial than ever to adopt threat intelligence solutions to combat the issue.
 
 
The abovementioned Operation Juiker has well demonstrated the possibility of "APT + InfoOp" attack model, which involves targeted social media campaigns disseminating disinformation based on highly confidential data. Such situation is super tricky, and it could pose a great threat to democratic countries. In this case, threat intelligence can help provide instant analysis of actor methodologies, suspicious indicators, and potential risks. We suggest that it is crucial for government units, critical infrastructure operators, and major business vendors to apply threat intelligence to combat this issue.
 
 

If you are interested in this white paper, please fill out the form below and get the full-text PDF.
 
 
And don't miss our blog updates! Follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/TeamT5_Official).

TeamT5 Information Operation White Paper III: China’s Social Manipulation outside the Great Firewall

面對中國日趨積極、強烈的資訊操弄（Social Manipulation），TeamT5情資團隊以資訊安全研究員的視角，推出最新的〈資訊戰白皮書二部曲〉（Information Operation White Paper），進一步分析中國在「防火長城」（Great Firewall）內，如何透過社群媒體進行數位政治宣傳（Digital Propaganda）。

除了廣為人知的言論審查制度，中國在防火長城內的資訊操弄，更包含主動的數位政治宣傳。從2019年香港反送中抗爭事件，到2020年的新冠肺炎疫情，我們可以清楚看到中國越來越「爐火純青」的數位政治宣傳實力。防火長城內對社群媒體的操控，神秘、難以探知，中國更設法將牆內轉化成中國共產黨的「一言堂」，阻止了理性政治討論的可能性。

在〈資訊戰白皮書二部曲〉中，我們聚焦於：

1.	近年來，中國藉由大量的網路相關立法與集中整併政府資源，強化網路控制。而控制公眾言論的數位政治宣傳，就是中國網路治理的「最後一哩路」。

2.	我們認為中國的數位政治宣傳機制，依循著一個極為有效的「配方」（Digital Propaganda Formula），由四個要素組成：官方媒體、共青團、政務新媒體，以及中國的水軍大隊。

3.	在中國政府資源帶領下，「輿情引導產業」興起，提供人工智慧與大數據工具，替政府收集、儲存、進而分析網路民意。

4.	我們認為，中國藉著其政治宣傳配方來穩定牆內的網路生態，而下一步，就是要將自身在西方社群媒體的影響力，擴張到國外，競逐世界話語權。

在疫情之後，網路世界成為新常態（new normal）不可或缺的一部分。但於此同時，也讓網路威脅，不論是傳統駭客行動者或是社群媒體操弄者（influence operators），有更多機會發動攻擊。TeamT5情資團隊致力於傳遞有用的情資與協助決策的分析報告，希望對提升網路安全盡一份心力。

若您對我們的白皮書有興趣，請填寫以下表單，取得完整的研究報告。

 

**下期預告**

在接下來的〈資訊戰白皮書三部曲〉中，我們將討論中國對外的政治宣傳，看中國政治宣傳機器的現況與其影響，以及中國在西方社群媒體平台上的資訊作戰。

不想錯過我們接下來發布的報告，請追蹤我們的 [Twitter](https://twitter.com/TeamT5_Official)。

TeamT5〈資訊戰白皮書二部曲：中國防火長城內的數位政治宣傳〉

To confront the emerging threat of China's Information Operation, TeamT5 threat intelligence team publishes this White Paper covering how China conduct information manipulation across Chinese social media platforms. From the 2019 Hong Kong Protest to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, China has demonstrated the art of surveillance, censorship, and most importantly, digital propaganda.

In this white paper, we focus on China's digital propaganda inside the Great Firewall. We suggest that the regime has developed a unique, organizational, and sophisticated propaganda mechanism, which we dub as "digital propaganda formula." With this formula, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has managed to transform all the Chinese social media platforms inside the Great Firewall into an almost total pro-CCP environment.

## Key Takeaways

1. CCP has strengthened its control over Chinese cyberspace by establishing legislations as well as centralizing administrations, and the "last mile" of its cyber governance is to control public opinion through censorship and digital propaganda.

2. We dub China's sophisticated propaganda mechanism the "digital propaganda formula," which consists of state media, communist youth league, governmental affairs new media, as well as trolling factory.

3. Moreover, CCP's policies have bolstered the industry of "public opinion guidance" in China. The industry practitioners have developed AI and big data-powered systems to help the government to collect, store, and analyze public sentiment.

4. China's formula has polluted the online information environment inside the Great Firewall. We assess that the CCP is trying to project its digital propaganda dominance to foreign social media platforms in order to control the world's discourse power. 

Following the global pandemic, the world relies on the internet more than ever. Cyber threat actors and influence operators, either state-backed or money driven, are taking the advantage to conduct information operation. TeamT5 threat intelligence team aims to deliver actionable intelligence and penetrating analytics and contribute to the safeguarding of cyberspace.

If you are interested in this white paper, please fill out the form below and get the full-text PDF.

 

**COMING UP NEXT**

In Part 3 of our Information Operation White Paper, we will focus on the external propaganda of the CCP. We will provide an overview of the current status and impact of Chinese propaganda machine and information operation on Western social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

If you don't want to miss our next report, follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/TeamT5_Official).

TeamT5 's Cyber Threat Intelligence Report [Exclusive for Australia]

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TeamT5 Information Operation White Paper I: Observations on 2020 Taiwanese General Elections

TeamT5 Information Operation White Paper III: China’s Social Manipulation outside the Great Firewall

TeamT5 Information Operation White Paper II: China’s Digital Propaganda Formula inside the Great Firewall