Analysing Multidisciplinary Approaches to Fight Large-Scale Digital Influence Operations

TL;DR

This paper explores how threat actors exploit various infrastructures and technologies to conduct large-scale digital influence operations, and discusses multidisciplinary strategies for detection, attribution, and mitigation.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolving methods and infrastructures used in digital influence campaigns and proposes integrated multidisciplinary countermeasures.

Findings

Threat actors exploit AI, VPNs, and social media virality for manipulation.

Blockchain and cryptography enhance content verification and attribution.

Countering disinformation requires legal, technological, and societal efforts.

Abstract

Crime as a Service (CaaS) has evolved from isolated criminal incidents to a broad spectrum of illicit activities, including social media manipulation, foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), and the sale of disinformation toolkits. This article analyses how threat actors exploit specialised infrastructures ranging from proxy and VPN services to AI-driven generative models to orchestrate large-scale opinion manipulation. Moreover, it discusses how these malicious operations monetise the virality of social networks, weaponise dual-use technologies, and leverage user biases to amplify polarising narratives. In parallel, it examines key strategies for detecting, attributing, and mitigating such campaigns by highlighting the roles of blockchain-based content verification, advanced cryptographic proofs, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Finally, the article highlights that countering disinformation demands an integrated framework that combines legal, technological, and societal efforts to address a rapidly adapting and borderless threat