The United States needs an integrated approach to combating foreign-backed disinformation occurring within the Homeland, says Brian Murphy, Vice President of Strategic Operations at Logically and former Acting Undersecretary for Intelligence at the Department of Homeland Security. In an article on Breaking Defense last week, Murphy describes the need for a Center to Counter Foreign Malign Influence that can anticipate, identify, and defuse foreign-backed disinformation within U.S. borders. Murphy recommends that such a center incorporate non-government entities to help build public trust, including press, academia, researchers, and industry.
“For a center to be effective, it must first have a U.S. mission. New authorities are not necessarily needed. I have spent decades navigating the process of sharing information from intelligence agencies with domestic partners. What this comes down to is getting the American public to trust this effort. This is the reason why the government cannot and should not go this alone,” Murphy said in the article.
Murphy suggest leveraging several existing public-private consortia and forums to improve the reach and success of such a center, and notes that the intelligence community would need to be willing to be more open than it has in the past.