Stormkiller: A Wakeup Call for the Modern CCO

Foreign adversaries are hijacking your brand investment. KFC, Pfizer, Panasonic, and Microsoft are just a few of the companies that have fallen prey to an unrelenting wave of attacks from foreign bad actors trying to sway public opinion and purchasing habits through impersonation and creating false news stories. The goal is to co-opt your team’s efforts and brand investments to ultimately impact your ability to reach customers, investors, and other important stakeholders. This tactic, which Alethea calls Brand Theft is a new type of attack that we discovered during the 2024 elections. 

Alethea uncovered and made public an intricate Russian influence operation which sought to manipulate public opinion and discourse around major American brands. In its report, Stormkiller: A Russian IO Coverup, Alethea shines a spotlight on the new type of risks – which is often a blindspot for Chief Communications Officers (CCOs), who are increasingly becoming the front line risk managers of their companies.

The sophisticated Russian operation deployed a vast network of social media accounts to exploit major brands, share fabricated stories, spread misleading narratives, and implicate various companies and public figures in politically charged controversies. Alethea found more than ten well-known companies had their brands co-opted to amplify false messages aimed at the American public and, by extension, corporate stakeholders.

1. KFC’s Fabricated Legal Battle with the Harris Campaign: Alethea identified a deceptive video which falsely claimed that KFC was embroiled in a legal battle against the Kamala Harris presidential campaign. The video purported that KFC had sued the Harris campaign over alleged illegal product placement that supposedly included overtly racist “dog whistles” directed at Trump’s supporters. This disinformation spread across various platforms, exploiting and politicizing the KFC’s brand to make it seem as if the company was pro one candidate versus the other.

2. Pfizer’s Allegations of Favoritism in Legal Proceedings: A false video claimed that Vice President Harris’s family had financial ties to Pfizer, asserting that these connections allowed the company to evade serious legal repercussions. According to the fabricated account, past civil lawsuits against Pfizer had been dismissed due to this alleged conflict of interest. By spreading this narrative, the network aimed to erode trust in Pfizer’s brand and promote that the company has corrupt relationships with politicians. 

3. Panasonic’s Alleged Overstep as a Sponsor in the Olympic Games: The network further targeted public perception of U.S. corporate involvement in global events by inventing a scandal around Panasonic and the Olympic Games. A video claimed that Panasonic, frustrated by offensive content during the Olympic ceremonies, had demanded a clause in future contracts with the International Olympic Committee requiring script review and approval for opening and closing ceremonies. This fabricated narrative aimed to depict the company as overstepping in its sponsorship role, intending to tarnish its reputation and impact any future sponsorship or partnership opportunities.

A Wakeup Call for the Modern CCO 

Organizations are increasingly getting wrapped up in false controversies that exploit sensitive cultural or political issues. Proactive monitoring, anticipating threats, and intervening early to address disinformation campaigns and other forms of online risk are the only ways CCOs can mitigate potential harm to corporate reputation, stakeholder trust, and business continuity. Alethea’s subject matter expertise and proactive risk detection capabilities helps organizations get out in front of these challenges – and win the perception war.

Now, communications teams increasingly require support and guidance from reliable experts that can tell them what they’re up against and how to protect themselves. This need is especially critical as we enter a period of uncertainty surrounding how new policies will impact corporate behavior, initiatives, and consumer decisions. Businesses must expand their view of online information if they want to be proactive and get out ahead of threats. 

These are the core challenges facing the modern CCO, which will only grow in the coming months and years:

• Political Disinformation is a Corporate Brand Risk:  Politicization impacts every company, executive, and team, regardless of industry. Russian-backed accounts consistently target corporations in an attempt to politicize their operations, leadership, or stances on global events. These attacks can provoke significant online and offline reactions, ranging from reputation damage to threats against employees.
• Blurring the Lines Between Digital and Physical Security: Conversations and activity online is causing real-world disruptions that affect consumer behavior and brand reputation – an outcome that was once unimaginable. Disinformation’s real  danger lies in its ability to blur the lines between online disinformation and real-world threats. CCOs have to be concerned about online narratives while anticipating how they could inspire offline actions such as protests, boycotts, or threats against their executives or employees. With influence operations growing more complex, businesses can’t afford to overlook how intertwined these threats have become.
• Small Accounts, Big Impact: Although some Russian accounts within the Stormkiller network had low engagement, they employed bots and hacked accounts to make harmful narratives seem more credible and widespread. Growing skepticism toward media and institutions has fragmented public trust, making it harder for brands to reach stakeholders who no longer rely on traditional channels for credible information. These circumstances allowed bad actors to disseminate misleading information faster, often catching companies off-guard. 

Empowering CCOs 

Drawing attention to these problems is only one part of prevention. Bringing CCOs solutions is what truly matters. In Alethea’s extensive work with CCOs and communications teams at Fortune 1000 companies, nonprofit organizations, and public and private sector entities, we understand that analyzing data and knowing when to take action are crucial for corporations. CCOs need someone in their corner, researching, identifying threats, and counseling them, which is why Alethea’s world-class analysts are expertly trained to define the data that they need to protect their companies. 

As bad actors and cyber threats become more sophisticated, CCOs really need a robust support system, so Alethea takes it one step further. Our analysts develop and execute effective risk management roadmaps, provide actionable insights, and guide CCOs and communications professionals on where to concentrate their efforts. 

Utilizing Alethea’s platform Artemis’s proprietary technology and capabilities, our analysts also empower CCOs to manage these emerging threats proactively and at scale. Artemis is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) and leverages unique data sources from the open web to offer unparalleled insights and early warnings of reputational risks like disinformation, misinformation narratives, as well as domestic and foreign influence operations. The platform uncovers previously hidden threats across niche social media platforms, alternative forums, and extremist communities. The insights surfaced in Artemis help bring clarity, greater certainty, and a predictive value to strategic risk management decisions.

Read more about our findings in the Washington Post and click here to read the full report. Book a demo with our team to learn how we can help you proactively manage your risk profile and protect against sophisticated disinformation threats.