Hack attacks: how cyber intimidation and conspiracy theories drive the spiral of “secrecy hacking”

Recent years have seen states increasingly using the internet to engage in espionage or leverage influence over their own populations and other states. Russia has expanded the use of cyber-enabled influence operations (IO) following its 2022 assault on Ukraine, a country which has been “one of the biggest victims of offensive cyber operations in the post-Cold War era” (Burton, 2019: 117). This chapter will discuss the implications of cyber-enabled IO for freedom of expression, a concept neglected in debates about cyber (Burton, 2019) but vital to Propaganda Studies and journalism. The chapter will consider questions of publication, distribution and impacts of cyber-enabled political warfare as well as government responses. It argues that centralising cyber as a freedom of expression issue is imperative, as cyber intimidation is used by an adversary to silence and create distrust in civil society voices deemed undesirable, allowing conspiracy theories to spread. At the state level, cyber-enabled attacks aiming to drive such conspiracy theories may seek to exploit government reactions that extend secrecy and roll back citizen rights, to fuel further distrust and hacks. The chapter argues government transparency and strong journalism are key to breaking this spiral of what it calls “secrecy hacking”, suppression and conspiracy propaganda.