This fortnightly report by Control Risks highlights key incidents during the reporting period. We examine how these incidents play into the election interference trends we’re observing and their impact on Brazilian organisations and individuals.
Cyber interference and disinformation incidents
- Brazil, 24 January 2025 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) posted on its site that it supports Brazil’s inquiry into Meta’s content moderation policy updates. The policy updates are set to remove professional fact checkers and replace them with a user-generated community notes section, similar to X.
Implications: RSF recommend that the regulation of online platforms should be included in Brazil’s legislative priorities for 2025. RSF also added that the conclusion of the discussions about Brazil’s bills for artificial intelligence regulations will serve as an incentive to develop and approve other regulatory bills.
- Brazil, 17 January 2025 news outlets reported that there is misinformation surrounding Brazil’s PIX instant money transfer system. The misinformation stemmed from users misunderstanding the initial announcement, which said PIX transactions would be monitored. Former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro allegedly claimed the monitoring was targeting the poor.
Implications: the misinformation claimed that PIX transactions would be taxed; however, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s administration clarified that PIX transactions will be monitored to combat tax evasion. The misinformation surrounding the announcement prompted Brazilians to express the need for clearer public communication strategies.
Social engineering awareness
- Ransomware group Babuk Group reportedly targeted SP Mundi Câmbio, a foreign exchange agency based in São Paulo in a ransomware attack that was previously claimed by RansomHub.
- Moinho Globo Alimentos, a Brazilian mining company, was reportedly targeted in a ransomware attack by Akira. The group reportedly exfiltrated 58GB of sensitive data, including confidential corporate information.
Disinformation education
- Disinformation campaigns have begun to appear on new social media platform Bluesky after being widespread on social media platform in X in 2024. The threat actors conducted the operation in two stages. First, a group of accounts known as “seeders” would post a piece of fake content. After that, a second group of accounts known as “quoters” would share the “seeder’s” post in response to posts made by legitimate media outlets, public figures and fact-checking organisations, often requesting verification or coverage of the fake content.
- Social media users should corroborate information viewed on social media platforms to ensure the information is accurate.
Social media monitoring
- Users on X have continued to discuss disinformation campaigns and posts regarding social media’s fact checking methods.
Electoral protection in Brazil: cybersecurity training and support
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