{"id":40967,"date":"2021-05-20T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/attacks-breaches\/3-ways-anti-vaxxers-will-undercut-security-with-misinformation\/a\/d-id\/1340965"},"modified":"2021-05-20T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T17:00:00","slug":"3-ways-anti-vaxxers-will-undercut-security-with-misinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/3-ways-anti-vaxxers-will-undercut-security-with-misinformation\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways Anti-Vaxxers Will Undercut Security With Misinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Misinformation campaigns thrive on inequality of knowledge, which bad actors use to drive a wedge between communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the entire world demands immediate access to a rare and finite resource, you always find criminals operating in the margins. This dynamic is particularly true with the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccine threats are not limited to financial or national interests \u2014 one type of risk that’s often overlooked in the larger vaccine security conversation is misinformation.<\/p>\n

We can expect some of vaccine information threats to come from anti-maskers who believe COVID doesn’t exist or that vaccines infringe on their freedom.<\/p>\n

Some people will also leverage the vaccine for political attacks. For example, they might falsely claim a batch of vaccines has spoiled, denying vaccine access to entire communities. <\/p>\n

Misinformation campaigns thrive on inequality of knowledge. Malicious entities can drive a wedge between communities by exploiting those societal fractures. At a time with deep, seemingly intractable cultural divides, there are three divisive elements of the vaccine likely to be exploited.<\/p>\n

Vaccine Availability<\/strong>
Misinformation on availability could look like a run on the bank. For example, this type of misinformation could sound like, “They’ve got more vaccine at the corner store.” This causes disorganization in our wide-scale vaccination efforts.<\/p>\n

Vaccine availability misinformation could also look like rumors about vaccine shortages, preventing people from booking an appointment at a facility that still has available doses. This leads to vaccine waste and puts vulnerable people at risk. <\/p>\n

Fake vaccine scams will turn out to be both financially lucrative and an easy way to harm a nation’s ability to achieve herd immunity. In many cases, they are easy, self-propagating operations. All that is needed is a list of targets for a “watering-hole” attack where people are lured to a site in order to be exploited. Additionally, these campaigns are often very hard to dismantle until after there has been harm.<\/p>\n

Vaccine Health & Safety<\/strong>
Vaccine safety misinformation fuels the worst fears of anti-vaxxers. It focuses on how quickly the vaccines were developed or claims they were developed deceptively. This eclipses and extends the anti-vaxxer movement. Key targets are people who deal with vaccines for others, such as parents or people with elderly relatives. <\/p>\n

Adults have to choose to take action with the vaccine, which presents an opportunity for misinformation spreaders. Often, vaccination decisions are informed by research that pulls from conflicting or misleading sources. It’s easy for people to generate memes and soundbites to make vaccines sound scary, making claims such as:<\/p>\n