Analysing Multidisciplinary Approaches to Fight Large-Scale Digital Influence Operations

TL;DR

The paper addresses large-scale digital influence operations enabled by Crime as a Service (CaaS) and offers a structured taxonomy of actors, infrastructures, and economic models that scale disinformation across international social networks. It analyzes a spectrum of technical means (VPNs, proxies, phishing, AI-generated content) and dual-use technologies that enable targeting and amplification, and it proposes cryptographic and blockchain-based provenance and cross-disciplinary collaboration as countermeasures. The work emphasizes secure content verification, automated detection, and attribution as core components of defense, while acknowledging regulatory fragmentation and the borderless nature of the threat. Overall, it argues for an integrated framework combining legal, technical, and societal efforts to curb evolving disinformation campaigns.

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, tech- nological, and societal efforts to address a rapidly adapting and borderless threat