But this is at least the third time I’ve written about Giles being the target of espionage, both online and IRL. First was back in 2019, when he was one of several critics of the Russian antivirus firm Kaspersky who were lured to meetings with an undercover operative: apnews.com/article/a314... - ThreadSky

raphae.li • 8 days ago

But this is at least the third time I’ve written about Giles being the target of espionage, both online and IRL.

First was back in 2019, when he was one of several critics of the Russian antivirus firm Kaspersky who were lured to meetings with an undercover operative: https://apnews.com/article/a3144f4ef5ab4588af7aba789e9892ed

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raphae.li•8 days ago

Second was later the same year, when Giles was approached online by a woman purporting to work for CSIS. With the help of experts I determined that her social media profile pic was AI-generated. Giles had apparently busted his second spy op in three months.

https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-artificial-intelligence-social-platforms-think-tanks-politics-bc2f19097a4c4fffaa00de6770b8a60d

raphae.li•8 days ago

Just last year Giles was among the targets of another Russia-linked campaign, this one blamed on a group Google calls « Cold River »

https://therecord.media/russian-campaign-impersonating-western-researchers-academics

raphae.li•8 days ago

And now, Giles is again in the news in relation to a potentially second group of Russia-linked hackers, this one nicknamed « Ice Cap »

https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/creative-phishing-academics-critics-of-russia/

raphae.li•8 days ago

It’s true that Giles is unusually outspoken about Russia’s designs abroad, but that’s not necessarily why he seems to be such a threat magnet. Another theory is that he’s more alive to espionage threats and much more willing to blow the whistle on them publicly than other targets.

raphae.li•8 days ago

Publicly outing yourself as having handed over your password, accepted a weird LinkedIn request, or met in person with a spy is not something many have the courage to do. When I investigate these cases, many victims don’t want to be named, or even deny that they were ever tricked.

raphae.li•8 days ago

I’ve had people deny to me that they were ever targets — even in the face of forensic evidence to the contrary. Or pretend that they don’t remember taking meetings with spies — even when I had video of the encounter. Transparency around this kind of thing is the exception not the rule.

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