Defending Against Covert Foreign Influence In The U.S.

Day 2 at the RSA Conference brought us an interesting discussion of fighting covert foreign influence while protecting free expression in the United States with panelists from U.S. Central Command, U.S. Cyber Command, and Red Branch Consulting. No U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) briefing starts without the Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF), so here it is: foreign governments and other foreign actors engage in covert manipulation of the U.S. information environment to try to destabilize the U.S. Government (USG).

How is the USG to respond to covert foreign influence effectively?

The panelists discussed two divergent scenarios and discussed the options available to the USG, relevant policy or legal considerations that constrain U.S. actions, which USG organization should lead, whether laws should be changed, and finally, what can private actors do on their own.