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Reproduced
with the kind permission of Steve Myers at Team
Technology
Beware the Troll
Mind
games What is a troll? The
game of trolling Troll Levels Playtime
trolls Tactical trolls Strategic
trolls Domination
trolls Dealing with trolls Further resources
To "troll" means to allure, to fish, to entice
or to bait. An internet troll is someone who fishes for people's
confidence and, once found, exploits it. Whilst the vast
majority of internet users are bona fide, there are undoubtedly
some trolls out there.
Q: How much damage can an internet troll achieve? Pick
one or more of the following answers:
None
Cause minor irritation to some people
Cause major upset to some people
Obtain a small amount of money
Obtain a large amount of money
Obtain millions of dollars
To help you answer this question, here are a couple
of quotes from The Times (Nov 4th 1998) when it
reported on internet
deception:
"According to the Securities Exchange Commission, ... 44 individuals
and companies... received in total more than $6.3million
and nearly two million shares of cheap insider stock..."
"SEC director of enforcement Richard H Walker... warned investors
about operators such as Matthew Bowin, who...entirely
over the internet... raised $190,000 from 150 investors and then
pocketed the proceeds.... He was convicted of 54
felony counts and sentenced to jail."
Internet
deception ranges from childish games to major fraud,
with lots of variations in between. There are many different
schemes
used and they are often ingenious. For example, in early
1998 an "announcement" was made, by email distribution,
of an advancement in diabetic research: a new medicine
was available which helped bring blood sugar levels under
better
control. Readers were referred to a web site where details
of the research and the product were available. The information
was credibly presented. At the end of the article, readers
could obtain a trial bottle of the new medicine, for a
reasonable price, and an order form was presented.
Of course, there had been no such break through. The
purpose of this scam was to obtain credit card information,
which
was requested on the order form. The scam relied on diabetics
or their families being unfamiliar with the risks of
submitting credit card information over the internet,
and being willing
to give anything a try to improve their lifestyle or
that of their diabetic relatives.
Internet deception relies on exploiting trust and building
confidence, and the rewards can be financial or psychological.
There is one golden rule that applies when dealing with people
or organisations on the internet:
Before
you invest your trust in someone - either emotional or
financial trust - you should verify the bona fide nature
of the other party from multiple known, reliable and independent
sources. "Trust and verify".
There is information, on deception for financial gain,
available at the SEC's website: http://www.sec.gov/consumer/cyberfr.htm
Further information on deception for psychological
gain is given in the rest of this web page.
Mind games
"Each of us brings our own reasons, backgrounds and motivations
into this scheme. What is important is that each individual
brings into this their own brand of inspired mischief. In
some ways it is completely innocent. In some ways it is completely
destructive."
This quotation is taken from the FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions) of a mailing list dedicated to trolling.
I remember the first time I heard about "computer viruses",
back in the '80s. My immediate response was to laugh and
discount what I was being told. The notion that there could
be a 'virus' that infected computer discs, and that could
spread from machine to machine, was ridiculous. Or so I thought.
Eventually I, along with the rest of the world, had to take
the threat of viruses seriously, and produce serious countermeasures,
because the problem was so prevalent. Trolling falls into
the same category as viruses in those early days - it may
seem ridiculous, but it exists.
In
fact, law-making bodies and respectable news agencies are
beginning
to recognise the dangers and take appropriate
action. In some states in the USA a new offence has been
created, called "Cyber-Stalking". At the time of
writing this article (early 1999), the first prosecutions
were being brought to the courts. And in the UK, on Jan 27
1999, the BBC Breakfast News made the following report:
"A
new kind of warfare is emerging - electronic warfare. A
website in Ireland was forced to close down because it
came under electronic attack"
The news article continued with a brief dramatic reconstruction
showing the Webmaster hurriedly unplugging lots of
cables from the back of an internet server. In
a brief interview,
the Webmaster then said:
"We
had no choice - there was nothing we could do. We just
had to unplug everything and then see what damage
had been done."
Although the threat of trolls is beginning to be taken more
seriously, anti-troll measures are still in their infancy.
'Caveat emptor' (or let the buyer beware) therefore takes
on a much greater meaning in the primitive internet community
where, despite the radical nature of the technology, civilisation
and community life has only matured to the same stage of
development as the dark ages - where each person has to look
after themselves, and cannot rely on 'society' to protect
them.
What is a troll?
The term "troll" can mean a number of different
things, but in essence, a troll is a person who aims to have
'pleasure' at your expense. There are two main types of trolls:
people who are psychologically disturbed, and seek to
feel good by making other list members feel bad.
This is a sort
of "psycho troll", whose deception involves deceiving
themselves as well as others. In this respect, they are no
different to the sorts of people we meet in everyday life
who are disturbed - some of them are easy to spot, and others
aren't. Such people may even use their real names on the
internet, and they may not even realise that they are "trolling" because
it is all subconscious.
people who pretend to be someone that they are not
- they create personae that you think are real,
but they
know
is fictitious.
The rest of this web page concentrates on the second
type of troll.
The Game of Trolling
Trolling is like playing chess - there is a point
to the game, and that point is to win. Unlike
chess, though,
there
are various ways of winning for the internet
troll. These might include:
gaining credence for false and invidious
ideas
driving bona fide list members, and/or
particular groups, out of the mailing
list
dominating the list with messages/posts
that they have generated
gaining recognition or an award for their
trolling from fellow trollers
getting reprimanded by individuals, list
managers or internet authorities
gaining the confidence, trust and support
of bona fide list members
distracting list members from their own
bona fide discussions or objectives
gaining attention that they cannot get
using their real personalities
Sometimes trolls operate alone, and sometimes
they operate in groups, but for
all of them trolling
is a game. There
are newsgroups and mailing lists
that are dedicated to trolls, for them to
exchange
techniques and
to plan concerted
campaigns
where they can invade internet
mailing lists. Trolls have no concern for the
feelings of
the people
with whom they
deal. They are often manipulative,
clever and approach their trolling with the
same degree of planning
and research as
those seeking financial gain, or
the same competitiveness as a serious chess
player.
For those familiar with
Transactional Analysis (the psychological
theory of real-life game
playing) there are many parallels
with the activities of trolls:
there are many games, with different
types of payoff and different
tactics.
Trolling can be played at various
levels...
Level
one - "Playtime" - This is where the troller
is simply out for the gratification provided by a quick "win".
An example of this might be to join a list with a fictitious
name, cause an argument, withdraw and then boast to friends
about what he/she had done. Such trolls are relatively easy
to spot because their attack or provocation is fairly blatant,
and the persona is fairly two-dimensional.
Level
two - "Tactical" - This is where the troller
takes the game more seriously, creates a credible persona
with which to provoke the list, and uses recognised techniques
or tactics to gain the confidence and support of individuals
on the list. Provocation is subtle and invidious, so spotting
this type of troll is not easy, because the persona is
credible, and off-list email exchanges have caused you
to believe that
this person is genuine and trustworthy.
Level
three - "Strategic" - This is a very serious
form of game, involving the production of an overall strategy
that can take months or years to develop. It can also involve
a number of people acting together in order to invade a list.
Once a list is infested, it can be nigh impossible to work
out who is a troll and who is bona fide.
Level
four - "Domination" - This is where the trollers'
strategy extends to the creation and running of apparently
bona-fide mailing lists. In such circumstances, their payoff
may be the knowledge that they are dominating the emotional
lives of list members, and is perhaps one of the ultimate
forms of deceit that can be achieved.
It should be noted that trolling games are not restricted
to the internet. Their tactics can also include contacting
people in real life using snail-mail and/or telephone.
The boundaries between real-life con-men and internet
trolls are not as clear as they used to be.
Playtime Trolls
Playtime trolls are relatively easy to spot, but they
may not be apparent to the naive user. There isn't
a single
set of characteristics that applies to playtime trolls,
but you
can look for some or all of the following signs:
a lack of buy-in to the list philosophy or values
generally low level of activity, with sudden spurts
of interaction - or perhaps a new persona that
has strong
opinions on controversial
subjects
a mixture of friendly posts with a confrontational
style of interaction
the use of provocative language and sweeping generalisations
about certain topics or categories of people
a lack of in-depth understanding of the topic
a lack of personal information
a lack of a genuinely unique perspective on the
topic
a lack of humour
restarting topics that have already been done
use of language that encourages the dialogue to
enter topics that are controversial and likely
to upset
some team members
the use of attention-seeking gimmick (e.g.: "I was once
exploited by an XYZ")
they follow up their own articles if the group
doesn't respond to their posts
inconsistencies in the style and nature of the
post and any proclaimed information (e.g.: claiming
to
be a child
but
writing with an adult style; claiming to be adult,
but writing with a childish grammatical construction).
also note that trolls often seem to use free email
services (such as hotmail.com) or have email addresses
ending
in .edu. However, trolls could be virtually anyone,
and the
email
address is no guide as to whether the persona is
a bona fide user or not.
To counteract playtime trolls, the best action
is to ignore them. If you are convinced they
are trolls,
then you can
advise the list manager. However, if other
group members
respond to the suspected troll's posts, then
you may have to consider some of the responses
outlined
for
tactical or strategic trolls.
Tactical Trolls
Tactical trolls take much more care and effort
over the creation of their personae. Such
trolls are likely
to
be seen as long
term list members, and have the confidence
and trust of the bona fide people on the
mailing list.
They
use many
of the
techniques listed for Playtime Trolls,
but in addition:
They engage in off list email dialogues
to gain the confidence and trust of influential
individuals
on
the list.
They are friendly and humorous in the
posts, to put you at ease with their
persona.
They have a well-thought-through story
such that the persona seems to be very
real. They
will give
apparently
personal
and intimate information, particularly
in off list emails.
They win trust by giving trust. For example,
they may hint at something confidential
on-list, but
then only
reveal
the full story to someone off-list. By
bringing someone into
their confidence, they create a feeling
of confidence towards them by the individual's
concerned.
In off list emails, they win allies and
support for some of their views. Their
offlist emails
are subtly
manipulative.
They 'set up' bona fide members to argue
with each other. Any view, no matter
how outrageous,
can
be made to sound
rational when put in a certain
context. By setting different contexts for different
people
offlist,
they create a
setting whereby they can raise
a topic
on-list, in a seemingly
innocent manner, and then watch
the two list members argue because
they have interpreted the topic/message
in very different ways.
In off-list emails, they use techniques
borrowed from NLP and Speed-Seduction
to make people
have a great
deal of
affection for them. This naturally
suppresses any suspicion there
might
be.
They use gimmicks that win
sympathy and bring out the
'nurturing parent'
in other
list members,
which
also
suppresses any
feelings of suspicion. E.g.:
being blind, handicapped,
an orphan,
rejected, bullied
etc..
They
build up a reasonable knowledge of the topic of
the list. This
enables them
to take
part for
some time
as apparently
bona-fide list members.
They use language that is
carefully constructed
to be subtly invidious.
This language
is designed to
identify two or
more separate groups
of people, and encourage list members
to
identify the negative
traits of those groups. This creates
argument
and dissent
between
list members.
Note that
subtlety is often their
main objective, so this language
is difficult
to spot.
They don't enter into
the argument directly,
but facilitate
an
argument between
list members, e.g.:
by highlighting
points that one list
member has made,
perhaps in a way
that is
more
confrontational than
the original intention.
They sometimes create
a fictitious persona
supported by a
web-site, photographs
and apparently
personal data.
They may suggest
meeting up in
real-life, but
the meeting
doesn't
take place.
Many
of these behaviours are
things that
'real' people
would engage
in. It is
very difficult
to distinguish
real people
from trolls
in an
internet environment.
The only
method that
can be used
to verify the
bona fide
nature of
list members
is to investigate
their personal
information.
Trolls will
invent personal
information,
but when you
investigate
it you will keep
coming to dead
ends. For
example,
if their
employer
is company "xyz",
then you may
be able to
find a web
site at www.xyz.com,
but there is
no contact
information.
However, with
bona fide people,
their personal
information
will lead to
an ever-increasing
wealth
of data, such
as:
if a real person
cites "xyz" as
the employer,
then the web
site will give
a phone
number;
the company's
phone number
will be
answered
by an operator
who
will be
able to tell you
the
person's
extension
number;
company
xyz may
list
clients
on their
web site,
whom
you can ring
up and
verify
exist;
the person
may be
a member
of
professional
associations;
you may
have met
some
list members
in real
life, who
will have
met
other list
members
and can
therefore
vouch for
them.
The key
difference between
a troll and
a bona fide list
member is
that when you investigate
a troll, their personal
data usually
leads to dead-ends;
when you investigate
a bona fide
person, their
personal data leads
to an ever-expanding set
of evidence that
they are for real.
There are some tricks
that the tactical
trolls may use
to deceive you:
Some
trolls will exchange
some fictitious
data - e.g.: phone
numbers, addresses,
family details
- on the
basis that you
are not going to
actually ring them.
They
may have dedicated
personal phone
lines that they may
use for the purpose
of taking
verification phone
calls
They
will want to
hide other personal
information, because
it can demonstrate
that they are not
for real.
Various
excuses can be
used for not releasing
personal information,
including privacy.
There
are some bona
fide people who do
not wish to
be traced via the
internet - but this
makes it difficult
to distinguish trolls
from real people.
If in doubt,
assume that they
are a troll, and don't
simply believe
the sophisticated lies
that trolls use to
hide their
identity. Also, don't
rely solely
on your intuition
- you need to
establish hard data
to help find out
whether your
intuition is for
real.
Strategic
Trolls
Strategic
trolls often
operate
in groups, rather
than alone.
They use multiple
personalities,
each
of
which uses the
techniques outlined
in the section
on tactical trolls.
However, they
have an overall
strategy for
drawing
bona fide list
members
into argument,
ultimately
causing them
to
leave, or for
the trolls
to dominate of
the group. In
particular:
They
have various
phases to their
strategy, where
each
phase aims to
achieve
different things.
The
first phase
usually involves
establishing
multiple
personalities
who
become recognised
as integral
members of
the group
- "friendly
trolls".
Don't be
deceived by
the title
- they
appear to
be friendly
but they
have very
different hidden
motives. Establishing
friendly trolls
in a
group is
a process
that can
take many
months or
even years.
The
second phase
involves using
new personalities
to start
divisive threads,
in the
manner outlined
under "Tactical
Trolls".
In the
event that
no list
members respond
to these
threads, other
phase two
trolls will
respond to
them to
keep the
debate active.
If
existing
list
members have
not yet
joined in
the arguments,
the third
phase involves "offensive trolls" attacking
their own
personae from
the first
phase. As
these trolls
will have
built up
a lot
of goodwill
in the
group, other
list members
will jump
to their
defence, and
they are
therefore drawn
in to
the argument.
In
case other
list members
don't join
in, "defensive
trolls" may join in and continue to give air time to
the "offensive trolls".
The friendly
trolls can
also incite
bona fide
list members
to join
in using
offlist emails.
Another
phase may
involve
the friendly
trolls
starting
to
retaliate
publicly,
calling on
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