Spotting Nation State/Agitator Accounts

[Jefe's Dope]

He certainly turned the conversation. It literally became about him and we've abandoned the original spirit of this thread. Ignore him and let's continue the discussion on how to identify and what to do once identified.

Edit: other than allow 'them' to get us talking circles off topic.

 

[Snipe260]

Hi,

@John holmes

Don't let some of these guys get to you, lol.....
Are you still in NC by chance? Been a long time.

Sincerely,
Theis

Theis, you were not in any of his films were you?

 

[QuickNDirty]

He certainly turned the conversation. It literally became about him and we've abandoned the original spirit of this thread. Ignore him and let's continue the discussion on how to identify and what to do once identified.

Edit: other than allow 'them' to get us talking circles off topic.

See my post above. Be wary of the fucktards that latch onto the weak.

I bet he already PMed howie and is starting to build that relationship.
Howie's probably already putting drops in his red eyes. Before long, howie will be singing every song he knows.

 

[uffduh]

I strongly agree with that - in fact I would say the most disappointing thing for me in the modern era is that the Left and the Right divided up the American Dream and each ran off with large chunks of it.

And you pretty much can't get the full experience of living in a free, moral, and prosperous country if you take either of their sides. The ultra left is run by asshole statists who think the Capitol protestors should have been shot and the ultra right is full of racist homophobic statist douchebags.

And they are in control of the narrative.

Not disagreeing with you, but it does feel like the ultra left is a metric shit ton bigger than the ultra right. Could also just be the 24/7 media coverage sensationalizing the ultra left that makes it feel this way.

End of day, I just want to be left the fuck alone. Think this sums it up for most of those on the right, but not so much for those to the left who just want to be victims or have it given to them.

 

[P-Squared]

Funny you should say that huh? Let’s see then, shall we?

- account created in 2013, but not used since then, check

- show back up in March 2021 as “same guy”, check

- only posts in the Bear Pit, check

- single inflammatory posts interjected into conversations to provoke reactions, check

- obviously an agitator with no redeeming value added to the site, check

If it looks like shit, smells like shit and talks shit, well guess what?

Maxine Waters for $1200 Alex.

 

[TurboTrout]

Not disagreeing with you, but it does feel like the ultra left is a metric shit ton bigger than the ultra right. Could also just be the 24/7 media coverage sensationalizing the ultra left that makes it feel this way.

End of day, I just want to be left the fuck alone. Think this sums it up for most of those on the right, but not so much for those to the left who just want to be victims or have it given to them.

Not bigger, just louder and if you watch TV, which you shouldn’t as there is a reason people are getting dumber and fatter, leftist are more into show biz and other TV stuff, think of the kids back in those high school drama classes and we’re on the high school news.

 

[DocRDS]

You all are spies and bots.

Also Taiwan is an independent country.

Or the legit government of China. (Take your pick).

#FreeHongKong

Always be free to think for yourself
Always assume the other guy is up to no good.
I could be a russian bot--i often think contrary to group think..didn't post much until this year, and spend most of my time in the bear pit....

The best way to deal with trolls (and assholes) is to just ignore and ban them. We already got 2 pages of BS on this local BS. STOP FEEDING THE TROLLS.

(This goes for me too---I gotta go take a dump or stir up trouble on another forum).

 

[The King]

Not disagreeing with you, but it does feel like the ultra left is a metric shit ton bigger than the ultra right. Could also just be the 24/7 media coverage sensationalizing the ultra left that makes it feel this way.

End of day, I just want to be left the fuck alone. Think this sums it up for most of those on the right, but not so much for those to the left who just want to be victims or have it given to them.

The numbers are 12% of people out there are left wing liberal nut jobs willing to line Capitalists and Cisgender Males up against the wall and shoot them.

8% of the folks out there are hard right, but the study was somewhat political in what they considered hard right. Some of them are Neo-nazis, white supremacists, etc etc. Some of them just go the extra mile at Church and get tossed in with the nutters.

So even a quite slanted study still showed that nutters on the left outnumber nutters on the right by 50%.

BACK on topic:

Identify - notice the actions to promote a harmful narrative, either by paid Agitators or their recruits. Pay attention and identify the manipulation occurring.

Verify - Check account stats, other posts, and any other data to determine if you are dealing with a Pro.

Inform - Inform others including mods if necessary. If an account is very far towards tripping all of the red flags I'd say report it. If not, mention in the thread "this is very similar to one of the common narratives we see paid agitators advance."

Disengage/Deescalate - Don't engage with the attackers. This is exactly like BLM screaming at you until you punch them. Every thing you do publicly in front of others that directly engages with them is a win.

Avoid Recruitment - Determine when YOU are the target of recruitment. Cyber Influencers and Agitators need people from both sides to have the best results. It doesn't matter what stance you take someone will be along shortly to try to push you further.

Focus on Divisiveness - Divisiveness is a herd behavior, and the more you engage the more you herd others to one side or the other of the divide, which is the very product that was purchased from the Agitators or developed as part of the Nation State strategy.

The counter behaviour to Divisiveness is courtesy and genuine engagement.

 

[Strykervet]

To be honest, it was reading his posts that prompted me to put this out there.

But it wasn't his posts, it was the 50 other accounts I had seen where when I moused over people spouting the most insane shit they were all a few years old but had 10 posts. It helped me put this with other data I see off forum and get this pumped out there.

Thanks for pointing it out, easily the most productive and useful thread for this community in the 'Pit in forever.

I already reported this asshole, which is rare, I never do that --but historically scammers and agitators were rare here too. I've been noticing it too but didn't put 2 and 2 together like you did. This is the only online community I really associate with though. While myopic, I do tend to notice changes around here fairly quick.

I figure it's worthwhile to report 'em too because it's obvious they're here for one thing: to do damage to us whether it's minor or major. Which is sad, because I don't stir up shit where they live. I have better things to do.

 

[lash]

he numbers are 12% of people out there are left wing liberal nut jobs willing to line Capitalists and Cisgender Males up against the wall and shoot them.

8% of the folks out there are hard right, but the study was somewhat political in what they considered hard right. Some of them are Neo-nazis, white supremacists, etc etc. Some of them just go the extra mile at Church and get tossed in with the nutters.

So even a quite slanted study still showed that nutters on the left outnumber nutters on the right by 50%

You had me up until this. Show me stats.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

I wanted to toss out a little bit of Cyber Warfare information here so that our members can be more informed and vigilant regarding Nation State/Agitator accounts.

Being aware will allow us to not engage unnecessarily, and reduce the overall divisiveness and anger that are beginning to permeate gun boards across the spectrum.

How Attackers Operate
Cyber attacks on an information medium such as this site come in 3 different tiers of sophistication.

-Amateur

1. This attacker is the typical uninformed visitor from the opposite idealogical alignment.
2. They are here mostly to stir things up, confirm their opinions of the evil nature of the people they consider the baddies, and achieve a catharsis by jousting on the internet with their foes.
3. TTP's include accounts with recent join dates, immediate engagement in mostly controversial topics, and low-information attacks that follow the typical Logical Fallacy chain.
4. These attackers are low risk, and mostly only serve to slightly increase the tension on Social Media.
5. Amateur attackers will generally stick to the opposing talking points and have very low information responses outside of them.

-Professional

1. Professionals are using a greater skillset and technology support structure to create the maximal desired effect within the minimal budgetary envelope.
2. A professional attacker will generally have a well defined script they are following, immediately search for these controversial topics and begin engaging, and will frequently take EITHER the most supportive or inflammatory positions possible depending on who paid them for what reason.
3. Accounts used to by Professionals will be short lived, but more sophisticated than the blatant shill accounts used by the Amateur. These accounts may have a join date of several years ago, but are mostly abandoned by their owners.
4. Professionals take over accounts by using a technology called Credential Stuffing. Credential Stuffing allows the attacker to use passwords that were stolen from major data breaches to access systems that weren't part of the original hack.
5. Highly active users are less susceptible to Credential Stuffing as they will reset their password quickly if their account begins posting nonsense on the forum.
6. Professionals can be in the employ of private political organizations, politicians, companies, or Nation State actors.
7. Highly professional organizations will have a psychologist design their script to create maximum damage.
8. Professional campaigns are able to be spotted most effectively by analyzing a users post history for primarily low non-propaganda participation, or the reactivation of an abandoned account.
9. Most professional agitators will have an extreme opinion that they are more than happy to interject with, despite the fact that no person who actually held such an opinion would say so publicly or likely be a member of the site in question.

-Nation State

1. Nation State actors exist on todays Social Media spectrum in almost all instances, and will represent the Cyber Combatants from both sides.
2. Effective Nation State operations can weaken civil unity, discredit legitimate government interests, damage economies and infrastructures, and destroy beneficial social structures like institutional trust, family dynamics, and morality/ethics.
3. Nation State actors combine Professional paid engagements for deniability with dedicated full time resources that are working to achieve their Cyber Goals.
4. A Nation State actor is part of an overall strategy to create the effects listed in part 2 of this subsection, and has substantial financial, technical, and planning support to achieve their goals.
5. Almost all NS influence operations are supported by dedicated psychologists/propagandists and computer infrastructure designed to measure and multiply the damage caused by the enemy.
6. Spotting NS actors is extremely difficult - skilled operatives will appear to be precisely what they claim to be, and a combination of long-running strategy and the full time employment aspect of the job allow them to create convincing cyber profiles that can span for years.
7. Nation State actors will generally speak flawless English, and immediately respond properly to the different branches of conversation they wish to influence.
8. The best way to spot and mitigate damage from NS operatives is to identify likely narratives and TTP's and assume even in the absence of evidence that these campaigns are underway.

Examples From Recent Threads
These are some of the example narratives from recent threads that seem to match active campaigns, with the possible campaign identified:

• Statements that any person in the US capitol was a traitor and should have been/be executed (weakens institutional trust, furthers US Civil War)
• Statements that police should be defunded and replaced with a Federal local police force (weakens institutional trust, strengthens central government activities, furthers US Civil War)
• Statements that socialism is the only possible solution to our societal ills (support for Communism/greater government control, greater acceptance of China)
• Racism/Sexism/Religious Persecution (destroys civil unity and justifies narratives around reparations and racist behaviors towards the majority, enrichment of racial propagandists, strengthening of Democratic narratives)
• Ukranian Corruption Scandal (Narrative is being magnified to reduce public interest in intervening in Ukraine/Russia Affairs)
• Higher incidence of extreme hostility from accounts that identify as Australian (likely next Chinese target after Taiwan, meant to destroy Western civil unity)

Authors Note
I look forward to the day that the majority of social media posts and traffic is strictly manipulative in nature.

I wanted to toss out a little bit of Cyber Warfare information here so that our members can be more informed and vigilant regarding Nation State/Agitator accounts.

Being aware will allow us to not engage unnecessarily, and reduce the overall divisiveness and anger that are beginning to permeate gun boards across the spectrum.

How Attackers Operate
Cyber attacks on an information medium such as this site come in 3 different tiers of sophistication.

-Amateur

1. This attacker is the typical uninformed visitor from the opposite idealogical alignment.
2. They are here mostly to stir things up, confirm their opinions of the evil nature of the people they consider the baddies, and achieve a catharsis by jousting on the internet with their foes.
3. TTP's include accounts with recent join dates, immediate engagement in mostly controversial topics, and low-information attacks that follow the typical Logical Fallacy chain.
4. These attackers are low risk, and mostly only serve to slightly increase the tension on Social Media.
5. Amateur attackers will generally stick to the opposing talking points and have very low information responses outside of them.

-Professional

1. Professionals are using a greater skillset and technology support structure to create the maximal desired effect within the minimal budgetary envelope.
2. A professional attacker will generally have a well defined script they are following, immediately search for these controversial topics and begin engaging, and will frequently take EITHER the most supportive or inflammatory positions possible depending on who paid them for what reason.
3. Accounts used to by Professionals will be short lived, but more sophisticated than the blatant shill accounts used by the Amateur. These accounts may have a join date of several years ago, but are mostly abandoned by their owners.
4. Professionals take over accounts by using a technology called Credential Stuffing. Credential Stuffing allows the attacker to use passwords that were stolen from major data breaches to access systems that weren't part of the original hack.
5. Highly active users are less susceptible to Credential Stuffing as they will reset their password quickly if their account begins posting nonsense on the forum.
6. Professionals can be in the employ of private political organizations, politicians, companies, or Nation State actors.
7. Highly professional organizations will have a psychologist design their script to create maximum damage.
8. Professional campaigns are able to be spotted most effectively by analyzing a users post history for primarily low non-propaganda participation, or the reactivation of an abandoned account.
9. Most professional agitators will have an extreme opinion that they are more than happy to interject with, despite the fact that no person who actually held such an opinion would say so publicly or likely be a member of the site in question.

-Nation State

1. Nation State actors exist on todays Social Media spectrum in almost all instances, and will represent the Cyber Combatants from both sides.
2. Effective Nation State operations can weaken civil unity, discredit legitimate government interests, damage economies and infrastructures, and destroy beneficial social structures like institutional trust, family dynamics, and morality/ethics.
3. Nation State actors combine Professional paid engagements for deniability with dedicated full time resources that are working to achieve their Cyber Goals.
4. A Nation State actor is part of an overall strategy to create the effects listed in part 2 of this subsection, and has substantial financial, technical, and planning support to achieve their goals.
5. Almost all NS influence operations are supported by dedicated psychologists/propagandists and computer infrastructure designed to measure and multiply the damage caused by the enemy.
6. Spotting NS actors is extremely difficult - skilled operatives will appear to be precisely what they claim to be, and a combination of long-running strategy and the full time employment aspect of the job allow them to create convincing cyber profiles that can span for years.
7. Nation State actors will generally speak flawless English, and immediately respond properly to the different branches of conversation they wish to influence.
8. The best way to spot and mitigate damage from NS operatives is to identify likely narratives and TTP's and assume even in the absence of evidence that these campaigns are underway.

Examples From Recent Threads
These are some of the example narratives from recent threads that seem to match active campaigns, with the possible campaign identified:

• Statements that any person in the US capitol was a traitor and should have been/be executed (weakens institutional trust, furthers US Civil War)
• Statements that police should be defunded and replaced with a Federal local police force (weakens institutional trust, strengthens central government activities, furthers US Civil War)
• Statements that socialism is the only possible solution to our societal ills (support for Communism/greater government control, greater acceptance of China)
• Racism/Sexism/Religious Persecution (destroys civil unity and justifies narratives around reparations and racist behaviors towards the majority, enrichment of racial propagandists, strengthening of Democratic narratives)
• Ukranian Corruption Scandal (Narrative is being magnified to reduce public interest in intervening in Ukraine/Russia Affairs)
• Higher incidence of extreme hostility from accounts that identify as Australian (likely next Chinese target after Taiwan, meant to destroy Western civil unity)

Authors Note
I look forward to the day that the majority of social media posts and traffic is strictly manipulative in nature.

 

[theLBC]

View attachment 7607872

who controls the media corporations? they are not "black" or "white" are they?

 

[TurboTrout]

who controls the media corporations? they are not "black" or "white" are they?

What what’s that thing the auctioneer would say in that storage wars show, “if you have the highest bid It can be yours”

 

[Deleted member 10043]

Very well written and thought out. The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Absence of malice and ain't nobody got no time for this.

 

[The King]

You had me up until this. Show me stats.

Apologies - I read the in depth research from I think Pew Research Center, and did not book mark it.

It turns out that searching for “left wing vs right wing extremism percentages” yields slightly more results than searching for “porn”. I’m unable to find it again but I will look a little harder when I can.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

OP is a commie starting Pravda BS. I'm only pointing this shit while Stalin is knocking at doors late at night. Anit nobody got time for this.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

Apologies - I read the in depth research from I think Pew Research Center, and did not book mark it.

It turns out that searching for “left wing vs right wing extremism percentages” yields slightly more results than searching for “porn”. I’m unable to find it again but I will look a little harder when I can.

Why dont you delete your little thread here why you do that. Ain't nobody got time for this.

 

[Threadcutter308]

I judge people by the content of their character, a revolutionary idea, I wish somebody thought of this way back in the 60s? Maybe we would be in a better place.

I gotta stretch the brain hymen a little, but I’m thinkin’ there wuz someone along those lines. Too bad no one ever listened to him. I guess a looted big screen from target marche is worth more than one’s dignity and self respect.........

 

[DocRDS]

I gotta stretch the brain hymen a little, but I’m thinkin’ there wuz someone along those lines. Too bad no one ever listened to him. I guess a looted big screen from target marche is worth more than one’s dignity and self respect.........

That has now been deemed racist. You must now acknowledge the suffering of a person due to their skin color.

And FFS don't point out that assuming someone suffered based on the color of th eir skin is textbook racism...they will cap your ass....

 

[Threadcutter308]

That has now been deemed racist. You must now acknowledge the suffering of a person due to their skin color.

And FFS don't point out that assuming someone suffered based on the color of th eir skin is textbook racism...they will cap your ass....

Wut ? Because I’m old, don’t care and CRS ?

 

[Rthur]

Our secret weapon was already deployed.

R

 

[MCHOG]

The King's concerns are valid but misdirected.

I agree 100% that enemy nations and those that work for them embed themselves within boards like this for the sole purpose of causing chaos within our society. BUT, I don't think they will look like trolls. They look like more extreme versions of ourselves. It's much easier to entrench and radicalize someone who is already leaning in that direction. They'll do it on the leftist sites just the same so split our society as much as possible. They are doing a good job of it - better than I would have ever imagined.

Defeating a nation, society, or culture is very difficult in today's world. It's much more efficient to stir it up and let it collapse in on itself.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

Fucking Marines always have to put things into a COIN perspective. Buried in there are the four contributions provided by the Corps. We ain't got time for this.

 

[The King]

The King's concerns are valid but misdirected.

I agree 100% that enemy nations and those that work for them embed themselves within boards like this for the sole purpose of causing chaos within our society. BUT, I don't think they will look like trolls. They look like more extreme versions of ourselves. It's much easier to entrench and radicalize someone who is already leaning in that direction. They'll do it on the leftist sites just the same so split our society as much as possible. They are doing a good job of it - better than I would have ever imagined.

Defeating a nation, society, or culture is very difficult in today's world. It's much more efficient to stir it up and let it collapse in on itself.

I'm aware I laid down a wall of text like I was defending my Doctoral thesis, but in this case there is no distance I can measure between what you just said and what I said.

 

[Deleted member 10043]

I'm aware I laid down a wall of text like I was defending my Doctoral thesis, but in this case there is no distance I can measure between what you just said and what I said.

Plagiarism from Catch-22 doesn't get credit. Your response is moot as Jesse Jackson would say.

 

[The King]

Plagiarism from Catch-22 doesn't get credit. Your response is moot as Jesse Jackson would say.

Go home Culpeper, you are drunk.

 

[theLBC]

i am thinking this is what bender was on about in january.

 

[Texasflyer]

 

[Bender]

i am thinking this is what bender was on about in january.

We need a server reset in Minecraft

 

[OldSalty2]

Look like John got his bags packed and sent holmes...

 

[lash]

Look like John got his bags packed and sent holmes...

He got recalled since he was busted. Don’t worry, he’ll soon be back as another concerned citizen of the world to enlighten us with his view of how things should be. He’ll just be another of the guys.

As soon as he gets through another course in western civ.

 

[Maggot]

I strongly agree with that - in fact I would say the most disappointing thing for me in the modern era is that the Left and the Right divided up the American Dream and each ran off with large chunks of it.

And you pretty much can't get the full experience of living in a free, moral, and prosperous country if you take either of their sides. The ultra left is run by asshole statists who think the Capitol protestors should have been shot and the ultra right is full of racist homophobic statist douchebags.

And they are in control of the narrative.

Thats sick. And correct. Fuck us.

 

[OldSalty2]

The King's concerns are valid but misdirected.

I agree 100% that enemy nations and those that work for them embed themselves within boards like this for the sole purpose of causing chaos within our society. BUT, I don't think they will look like trolls. They look like more extreme versions of ourselves. It's much easier to entrench and radicalize someone who is already leaning in that direction. They'll do it on the leftist sites just the same so split our society as much as possible. They are doing a good job of it - better than I would have ever imagined.

Defeating a nation, society, or culture is very difficult in today's world. It's much more efficient to stir it up and let it collapse in on itself.

Yep,...another tactic for sure, but both are valid.

In addition, they look to entice/encourage others to express similar extreme views...

...pack on a constant barage of rhetoric (although admittedly some is true) and its probably not hard to get people to reciprocate.

 

[theLBC]

i try to share anything because i don't want to accidentally enable one nation state over another, or become a version of the twats that purged me by posting only certain content i think should be shared.

 

[QuickNDirty]

I like how he deleted all his posts, but most of them were quoted.

 

[MCSO1357]

I don't know what to think about this until Chode has chimed in with his superior intellect.

 

[TexPatriot]

I would pretty much think they would just make a list of all members here and weed out their operatives.

On the flip side, Antifa/BLM has been infiltrated by UC cops too thats led to some arrests of arsonists and there is now finger pointing and paranoia in the commie terrorist groups on "Who's the snitch?!"

 

[THEIS]

I like how he deleted all his posts, but most of them were quoted.

Hi,

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[MCSO1357]

I like how he deleted all his posts, but most of them were quoted.

Quoted posts is the only way I've seen any of his bullshit..

 

[clcustom1911]

So, you cant just flip and flop and say i was just playing devils advocate when you are wrong or proved to be an idiot. Your argument is "i have no spine and that makes me smarter". Im argumenative, and wrong alot too, i take a stance though on what i feel is right or wrong. I take my ass whoopins like a man and try not to gloat too much in victory... how does it feel to argue so much that you forget who you really are?

This is exactly why I have Slow Guppie (turbo trout) on "ignore".

 

[TurboTrout]

This is exactly why I have Slow Guppie (turbo trout) on "ignore".

Actually it’s probably because he’s a triggered little ninny

Based on user name, perhaps it was a disparaging remark about fudds?

 

[Fig]

I'll tell you exactly why these douchnozzles are here. They fetishize the government murdering all the citizens they disagree with (they literally can't stop talking about it, or accusing us of doing the same against the communists), and from their basements playing first person shooting games they wish it was more than just a fantasy. They don't know jack about guns or shooting or war, but they fantasize about being a mass murdering asshat:

They don't live in the real world.

Theirs is an online only one where everyone is a woketard.

 

[silentwoods]

Hi,

@John holmes

Don't let some of these guys get to you, lol.....
Are you still in NC by chance? Been a long time.

Sincerely,
Theis

Bahaha bahaha bahaha,

Been waiting for your input @THEIS

 

[silentwoods]

Theis, you were not in any of his films were you?

Fluffer?

 

[silentwoods]

I would pretty much think they would just make a list of all members here and weed out their operatives.

On the flip side, Antifa/BLM has been infiltrated by UC cops too thats led to some arrests of arsonists and there is now finger pointing and paranoia in the commie terrorist groups on "Who's the snitch?!"

Hopefully they DO "make a list of members" ....

And do whatever comes naturally. .

Just do it,

 

[TurboTrout]

Hopefully they DO "make a list of members" ....

And do whatever comes naturally. .

Just do it,

They as in the ATF? FBI? Antifa? Southern poverty law?

making lists of people who you don’t politically agree with, might want to check the historic company you’re keeping in that regard.

 

[silentwoods]

They as in the ATF? FBI? Antifa? Southern poverty law?

making lists of people who you don’t politically agree with, might want to check the historic company you’re keeping in that regard.

I know the history.

Lists are not new, original or never used.

Re: who gives a fuck about lists.

Or to be more clear, fuck them and their lists.

Everyone is on a list (s) for something. Purchase history, property, taxes, voting, political affiliation, religious or not, male female whatever, the lists go on and on and on.

 

[Fig]

My only request is that after their little civil war fails miserably we don't let them blend back in amongst God fearing Americans.

 

[TurboTrout]

My only request is that after their little civil war fails miserably we don't let them blend back in amongst God fearing Americans.

I’ll see your “god fearing” and raise you a “constitution honoring”

 

[TurboTrout]

I know the history.

Lists are not new, original or never used.

Re: who gives a fuck about lists.

Or to be more clear, fuck them and their lists.

Everyone is on a list (s) for something. Purchase history, property, taxes, voting, political affiliation, religious or not, male female whatever, the lists go on and on and on.

Personally I try to avoid being like the people who made the darkest history.

And I don’t want a list anyways, I don’t need, want, or think I have a right to know ones personal details just because I don’t agree with them, I simply don’t have a fuck to give, as a properly raised man I can have a debate without losing control of my emotions and having violent outrage that I just subject on some other person.