DomainTools, the leader in domain name and DNS-based cyber threat intelligence, today announced the results of a survey which found that 91% of cyber security professionals believe that the UK’s political landscape has been manipulated by fake news. When asked if they thought that they had personally been affected by fake news, 61% agreed that they had. When asked who they felt is the most susceptible to fake news, the majority agreed that their children are most susceptible (28%) followed by their parents (26%), grandparents (25%) and colleagues and friends (21%).
Tim Helming, Director of Product Management at DomainTools said, “A very high majority of cyber security professionals – some of the most cyber savvy people you will meet – said that the UK and even they themselves have been affected by fake news. This means that the majority feel that they are affected by fake news directly or indirectly. It is starkly clear that fake news is a significant phenomenon that needs to be properly understood and tackled.”
“There are good reasons to do a bit of due diligence when deciding which sources to trust,” said Helming. “Looking at information such as domain Whois (registration) records can be illuminating: most established news organizations are quite up-front in their registration records about who they are. By comparison, fake news sites are often quite secretive about their ownership or origins. Going beyond the content of a site and learning more about the source itself can be an important way to combat the influence of fake news.”
Notes to editor:
– The survey of 301 information security professionals was conducted at Infosecurity Europe 2017 conference which took place June 6-8, 2017, at the Olympia Conference Centre in London.
– The full findings of the survey are available upon request.
About DomainTools
DomainTools helps security analysts turn threat data into threat intelligence. We take indicators from your network, including domains and IPs, and connect them with nearly every active domain on the Internet. Those connections inform risk assessments, help profile attackers, guide online fraud investigations, and map cyber activity to attacker infrastructure. Fortune 1000 companies, global government agencies, and leading security solution vendors use the DomainTools platform as a critical ingredient in their threat investigation and mitigation work. Learn more about how to connect the dots on malicious activity at http://www.domaintools.com or follow us on Twitter: @domaintools.
