From Fake News to Virtual Reality: Fake News and Digital Manipulations at the Age of Modern Technology

The cyberspace, the new and only man-made domain, presents a wide range of new advantages and challenges -- as well as risks to the end user, organizations, states and even humanity. Modern mankind is dependent completely on ICT, the internet and the cyberspace for daily operation and existence. The cyberspace has several unique features including the attribution problem, no meaning for boundaries, time, or threshold as an entry level for different malicious players to create potential diversity of damages. Disruption, or even shutdown of this dimension may be fatal and constitutes new means and weapons in the hands of various players, among them, non-state actors, such as terrorist organizations, cybercriminals and state actors, in a matter that cyber capabilities are seen as even a doomsday weapon. But the cyberspace can be the trigger to physical wars, criminal activities, social unrest, political changes. All created by not only by fake news but by creating new, alternative and manipulated reality. Fake news is "a type of yellow journalism or propaganda that consists of deliberate disinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional print and broadcast news media or online social media". Therefore, in the hands of a given nation, armed with motivation and online abilities, rumors and disinformation can be spread, in order to create distrust, nationalistic feelings among minorities, denying the government legitimacy, panic, havoc and mayhem. Those can create riots, uprising and revolt from the inside boundaries on one hand, as well as war with neighbouring states from the outside boundaries on the other hand. All those without the need of the perpetrator firing a single shot.