#FactCheck - AI-Generated Visuals Falsely Shared as Government Subsidy for Free Electricity and Air Conditioners in the Philippines

Introduction

MEITY’s Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) in collaboration with SISA, a global leader in forensics-driven cyber security company, launched the ‘Certified Security Professional for Artificial Intelligence’ (CSPAI) program on 23rd September. This initiative marks the first of its kind ANAB-accredited AI security certification. The CSPAI also complements global AI governance efforts. International efforts like the OECD AI Principles and the European Union's AI Act, which aim to regulate AI technologies to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability in AI systems are the sounding board for this initiative.

About the Initiative

The Certified Security Professional for Artificial Intelligence (CSPAI) is the world’s first ANAB-accredited certification program that focuses on Cyber Security for AI. The collaboration between CERT-In and SISA plays a pivotal role in shaping AI security policies. Such partnerships between the public and private players bridge the gap between government regulatory needs and the technological expertise of private players, creating comprehensive and enforceable AI security policies. The CSPAI has been specifically designed to integrate AI and GenAI into business applications while aligning security measures to meet the unique challenges that AI systems pose. The program emphasises the strategic application of Generative AI and Large Language Models in future AI deployments. It also highlights the significant advantages of integrating LLMs into business applications. 

The program is tailored for security professionals to understand the do’s and don’ts of AI integration into business applications, with a comprehensive focus on sustainable practices for securing AI-based applications. This is achieved through comprehensive risk identification and assessment frameworks recommended by ISO and NIST. The program also emphasises continuous assessment and conformance to AI laws across various nations, ensuring that AI applications adhere to standards for trustworthy and ethical AI practices.

Aim of the Initiative

As AI technology integrates itself to become an intrinsic part of business operations, a growing need for AI security expertise across industries is visible. Keeping this thought in the focal point, the accreditation program has been created to equip professionals with the knowledge and tools to secure AI systems. The CSPAI program aims to make a safer digital future while creating an environment that fosters innovation and responsibility in the evolving cybersecurity landscape focusing on Generative AI (GenAI) and Large Language Models (LLMs).

Conclusion

This Public-Private Partnership between the CERT-In and SISA, which led to the creation of the  Certified Security Professional for Artificial Intelligence (CSPAI) represents a groundbreaking initiative towards AI and its responsible usage. CSPAI can be seen as an initiative addressing the growing demand for cybersecurity expertise in AI technologies. As AI becomes more embedded in business operations, the program aims to equip security professionals with the knowledge to assess, manage, and mitigate risks associated with AI applications. CSPAI as a programme aims to promote trustworthy and ethical AI usage by aligning with frameworks from ISO and NIST and ensuring adherence to AI laws globally. The approach is a significant step towards creating a safer digital ecosystem while fostering responsible AI innovation. This certification will significantly impact the healthcare, finance, and defence sectors, where AI is rapidly becoming indispensable. By ensuring that AI applications meet the requirements of security and ethical standards in these sectors, CSPAI can help build public trust and encourage broader AI adoption.

References

• https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2057868 
• https://www.sisainfosec.com/training/payment-data-security-programs/cspai/ 
• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/cert-in-and-sisa-launch-ai-security-certification-program-to-integrate-ai-into-business-applications/articleshow/113622067.cms 

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Introduction 

Prebunking is a technique that shifts the focus from directly challenging falsehoods or telling people what they need to believe to understanding how people are manipulated and misled online to begin with. It is a growing field of research that aims to help people resist persuasion by misinformation. Prebunking, or "attitudinal inoculation," is a way to teach people to spot and resist manipulative messages before they happen.  The crux of the approach is rooted in taking a step backwards and nipping the problem in the bud by deepening our understanding of it, instead of designing redressal mechanisms to tackle it after the fact. It has been proven effective in helping a wide range of people build resilience to misleading information.

Prebunking is a psychological strategy for countering the effect of misinformation with the goal of assisting individuals in identifying and resisting deceptive content, hence increasing resilience against future misinformation. Online manipulation is a complex issue, and multiple approaches are needed to curb its worst effects. Prebunking provides an opportunity to get ahead of online manipulation, providing a layer of protection before individuals encounter malicious content. Prebunking aids individuals in discerning and refuting misleading arguments, thus enabling them to resist a variety of online manipulations. 

Prebunking builds mental defenses for misinformation by providing warnings and counterarguments before people encounter malicious content. Inoculating people against false or misleading information is a powerful and effective method for building trust and understanding along with a personal capacity for discernment and fact-checking. Prebunking teaches people how to separate facts from myths by teaching them the importance of thinking in terms of ‘how you know what you know’ and consensus-building. Prebunking uses examples and case studies to explain the types and risks of misinformation so that individuals can apply these learnings to reject false claims and manipulation in the future as well. 

How Prebunking Helps Individuals Spot Manipulative Messages

Prebunking helps individuals identify manipulative messages by providing them with the necessary tools and knowledge to recognize common techniques used to spread misinformation. Successful prebunking strategies include;

1. Warnings;
2. Preemptive Refutation: It explains the narrative/technique and how particular information is manipulative in structure. The Inoculation treatment messages typically include 2-3 counterarguments and their refutations. An effective rebuttal provides the viewer with skills to fight any erroneous or misleading information they may encounter in the future.
3. Micro-dosing: A weakened or practical example of misinformation that is innocuous. 

All these alert individuals to potential manipulation attempts. Prebunking also offers weakened examples of misinformation, allowing individuals to practice identifying deceptive content. It activates mental defenses, preparing individuals to resist persuasion attempts. Misinformation can exploit cognitive biases: people tend to put a lot of faith in things they’ve heard repeatedly - a fact that malicious actors manipulate by flooding the Internet with their claims to help legitimise them by creating familiarity. The ‘prebunking’ technique helps to create resilience against misinformation and protects our minds from the harmful effects of misinformation. 

Prebunking essentially helps people control the information they consume by teaching them how to discern between accurate and deceptive content. It enables one to develop critical thinking skills, evaluate sources adequately and identify red flags. By incorporating these components and strategies, prebunking enhances the ability to spot manipulative messages, resist deceptive narratives, and make informed decisions when navigating the very dynamic and complex information landscape online.

CyberPeace Policy Recommendations

• Preventing and fighting misinformation necessitates joint efforts between different stakeholders. The government and policymakers should sponsor prebunking initiatives and information literacy programmes to counter misinformation and adopt systematic approaches. Regulatory frameworks should encourage accountability in the dissemination of online information on various platforms. Collaboration with educational institutions, technological companies and civil society organisations can assist in the implementation of prebunking techniques in a variety of areas.
• Higher educational institutions should support prebunking and media literacy and offer professional development opportunities for educators, and scholars by working with academics and professionals on the subject of misinformation by producing research studies on the grey areas and challenges associated with misinformation.
• Technological companies and social media platforms should improve algorithm transparency, create user-friendly tools and resources, and work with fact-checking organisations to incorporate fact-check labels and tools.
• Civil society organisations and NGOs should promote digital literacy campaigns to spread awareness on misinformation and teach prebunking strategies and critical information evaluation. Training programmes should be available to help people recognise and resist deceptive information using prebunking tactics. Advocacy efforts should support legislation or guidelines that support and encourage prebunking efforts and promote media literacy as a basic skill in the digital landscape. 
• Media outlets and journalists including print & social media should follow high journalistic standards and engage in fact-checking activities to ensure information accuracy before release. Collaboration with prebunking professionals, cyber security experts, researchers and advocacy analysts can result in instructional content and initiatives that promote media literacy, prebunking strategies and misinformation awareness.

Final Words

The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2024 identifies misinformation and disinformation as the top most significant risks for the next two years. Misinformation and disinformation are rampant in today’s digital-first reality, and the ever-growing popularity of social media is only going to see the challenges compound further. It is absolutely imperative for all netizens and stakeholders  to adopt proactive approaches to counter the growing problem of misinformation. Prebunking is a powerful problem-solving tool in this regard because it aims at ‘protection through prevention’ instead of limiting the strategy to harm reduction and redressal.  We can draw parallels with the concept of vaccination or inoculation, reducing the probability of a misinformation infection. Prebunking exposes us to a weakened form of misinformation and provides ways to identify it, reducing the chance false information takes root in our psyches.

The most compelling attribute of this approach is that the focus is not only on preventing damage but also creating widespread ownership and citizen participation in the problem-solving process. Every empowered individual creates an additional layer of protection against the scourge of misinformation, not only making safer choices for themselves but also lowering the risk of spreading false claims to others.  

References

• [1] https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2024.pdf
• [2] https://prebunking.withgoogle.com/docs/A_Practical_Guide_to_Prebunking_Misinformation.pdf
• [3] https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/17634/3565

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In the pulsating heart of the digitized era, our world is rapidly morphing into a tightly knit network of interconnections. Concurrently, the vast expanse of the cyber realm continues to broaden at an unparalleled pace. As we, denizens of the Information Revolution, pioneer this challenging new frontier, a novel notion is steadily gaining traction as an essential instrument for tackling the multifaceted predicaments and hazards emanating from our escalating dependency on digital technology. This novel notion is cyber diplomacy.

Recently, a riveting discourse unraveling the continually evolving topography of cyber diplomacy unfolded on the podcast 'Patching the System.' Two distinguished personalities graced the conversation - Benedikt Wechsler, Switzerland's Ambassador for Digitization, and Kaja Ciglic, Senior Director of Digital Diplomacy at Microsoft. This thought-provoking dialogue provides a mesmerizing peek into the intricate maze of this freshly minted diplomatic domain - a landscape still in the process of carving out its rules against an ever-escalating high stakes backdrop.

Call for Robust International Norms 

During their enlightening exchange, Wechsler and Ciglic shed light on the dire need of robust international norms and regulations in dynamic cyberspace. The drew comparison with well established norms governing maritime and airspace activities, suggesting a similar framework to maneuver the intricacies of the digital realm. The necessity of this mammoth task is accentuated by swift technological development and the unique nature of the internet where participation is diverse. 

Their discourse also underscores the critical argument that cyberspace cannot be commoditized. It has evolved into critical infrastructure that demands collective supervision. Wechsler also advocated for collaboration and the importance of a united front composed of big tech giants and the government working in tandem for creation of a resilient and secured digital landscape. 

Dual Edged Sword

Their conversation courageously plunged into the more sinister depths of the digital world and dissected the rising tide of cyberspace militarisation. Illustrative case point, recent cyber operations in Ukraine starkly underscore how malevolent elements have exploited digital tools to disastrous effect. Ciglic astutely pointed out the inherent dual nature of this scenario - while malignant entities will persistently manipulate technologies like AI, these identical tools can simultaneously serve as critical allies in reinforcing cyber defenses.

In finality, the dialogue unspools a potent call to arms. Both Wechsler and Ciglic fervently endorse the inception of a permanent body under the United Nations' purview specifically designed to tackle cyber-related quandaries. They also amplified the significance of an inclusive engagement process involving diverse stakeholders cutting across sectors - private entities, academia, civil society.

In India, this strategy is very practical. India has been making proactive investments in cybersecurity and digital resilience due to its rapidly developing digital ecosystem and strong IT industry. The government of the country, business executives, and academic institutions understand how strategically important it is to protect vital digital infrastructure and data. For example, India has seen a number of high-profile assaults on its vital infrastructure, like the Mumbai power outage in 2020, which emphasizes the necessity for extensive cybersecurity protections. The security components of the digital ecosystem have been given top priority by the Indian government's "Digital India" project, which aims to promote digital inclusion. This program has improved cybersecurity while simultaneously making great progress toward closing the nation's digital gap, especially in rural areas.

India's growing influence on global affairs and its prowess in the digital realm highlight how important it is to incorporate Indian viewpoints into the larger plan. By doing this, it guarantees a thorough and all-encompassing strategy that negotiates the intricacies of the Indian and global digital ecosystems. This strategy enhances cybersecurity at the national level and establishes India as a key global partner in the endeavor to make the internet a safer and more secure place for everyone. The whole community may benefit greatly from India's experiences and activities in combating cyber dangers and enhancing resilience in an increasingly interconnected world.

Conclusion 

As we meticulously chart our trajectory across the cyber wilderness, the wisdom disseminated by Wechsler and Ciglic emerges as a priceless navigational aid. They inspire us to remember that while the gauntlet we face may be daunting, the opportunities unfurling before us are equally, if not more, monumental in their potential. By embracing a multi-faceted, synergistic approach, we set the stage for a shared journey towards a safer, resilient digital habitat.

The timeless words of Albert Einstein echo these sentiments: 'Technology advances could have made human life carefree and happy if the development of the organizing power of men [and women] had been able to keep pace with its technical advances.' As we grapple with the perplexities and burstiness of the digital age, let these words guide our collective endeavor as we strive to balance our organizing prowess with our rapid technological advancements.

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