While information warfare has accelerated significantly in the past few years demonstrating both its importance in the context of high-intensity conflicts and its impact on the very functioning of our democracies, Sopra Steria considers that it has an ethical duty to make its contribution to confronting this considerable threat. True to its DNA, based on the combination of a technological, consulting and partnership approach, Sopra Steria relies on three pillars to participate in national and European efforts to combat disinformation:
In today's world, information is more precious than ever, and its enemies more numerous. We are fortunate to be part of an extensive and committed French and European ecosystem in the fight against information manipulation, and we want to actively contribute. By sharing our progress and creating our think tank Pégase, we are seizing a strategic opportunity to defend our democratic values, European sovereignty and collective security.
Cyril Malargé
CEO of the Sopra Steria Group
At a time when all the protagonists from states or groups hostile to democracies are exploiting the digital arsenal (social networks, artificial intelligence and mass disinformation techniques) to conduct large-scale propaganda campaigns, it is becoming more and more necessary to innovate in information warfare. These propaganda campaigns are designed to undermine confidence in institutions and shape perceptions, drawing on the possibilities offered by technology, which today plays a crucial role in information warfare. This new information warfare, which affects political, institutional and economic players alike, calls for a multi-level strategy.
Rapid advances in information and communication technologies have profoundly changed the modern battlefield, blurring the boundaries between physical and digital conflicts. In this context, mastery of technological tools, particularly social networks or similar tools, is becoming a major strategic asset for influencing public opinion, manipulating information and destabilising adversaries. The critical importance of these new 'informational modes of action' has therefore prompted Sopra Steria to take this new strategic direction and integrate information warfare into its multi-domain approach. At the Eurosatory international defence and security exhibition, Sopra Steria unveiled the first elements of a system for analysing informational movements in the event of conflict. Combined with a C2 (Command and Control) centre, this system demonstrates how the monitoring and analysis of information flows can be part of a multi-domain approach, for better control of military operations and geopolitical issues.
Sopra Steria is also in the process of developing with its partners, many of which are start-ups, an end-to-end solution for detecting and reacting to informational attacks, particularly those generated using artificial intelligence, aimed at companies. The aim of this offering is to enable organisations to:
It will implement several advanced technologies to analyse the emergence and virality of new information online, particularly on open social networks:
Combined with several artificial intelligences trained in the detection of deepfakes, as well as fact checking services combining human analysis and AI, the offering developed by Sopra Steria will provide organisations with the capacity to be at the forefront of the information warfare.
In addition to developing digital solutions dedicated to organisations, the Sopra Steria group plays a major role in the most ambitious initiatives in France relating to the fight against information-influence. Sopra Steria is an active participant in the Cyber Pole of Excellence (PEC), an initiative launched in 2014 under the aegis of the Armed Forces Ministry and the Brittany Region. The aim of the PEC is to "develop the cybersecurity ecosystem based on the region's strengths in terms of training, research and innovative companies in the sector, as well as the concentration in Brittany of a significant proportion of the resources dedicated to cyber issues by the Armed Forces Ministry, now joined by ANSSI and certain services of the Ministry of the Interior" (About the PEC). In this capacity, Sopra Steria contributes to the PEC's work on the matter, among other issues, including the writing and publication of dedicated works, including :
Sopra Steria is also taking action at a European level by joining the coalition led by Make.org around the creation of a "Democratic shield". The Make.org initiative, led in collaboration with civil society organisations including Sopra Steria, aimed to protect the European elections in June 2024 against interference and disinformation campaigns fuelled by AI. It proposed ten cross-cutting actions to strengthen the security and integrity of the ballot (Raising the Democratic Shield, Make.org).
This is the challenge we are taking up today with Sopra Steria, our partners and Pégase, a genuine forum for exchange and innovation, with the ambition of bringing together French know-how and operational capabilities to combat disinformation
Jean-Luc Gibernon
Business development manager in cyber activities at Sopra Steria
Sopra Steria and Sopra Steria Next, aware of the threat posed by information to the sovereignty of States, and drawing on its technological and consulting skills, formalised the creation of the PEGASE think tank at the Eurosatory trade fair in June 2024, dedicated to the fight against information, understood as the fight against disinformation and the manipulation of information, and the fight against IT influence.
Named Pégase, this think tank aims to contribute to the national information defence effort. Pégase's ambition is to promote and contribute to the reflection and construction of a French strategy on the critical subject of disinformation. Its ambition is to participate in the effort to simplify and structure this new field of research and application, to specify its organisation and methods, associated with tools or processes. To do this, it relies on a collective approach that is open to all stakeholders in society: industry, politics, institutions, the media, academia, etc. The Pégase think tank is led primarily by General (2S) Bruno Courtois.
With our think tank Pégase, we are creating a forum for dialogue and cooperation between all those involved in the fight against the manipulation of information, whether they come from the academic, institutional, media, voluntary or business worlds. We are convinced that it is by pooling our views and skills that we will be able to provide effective and ethical responses to this major challenge facing our society, and ultimately contribute to improving the conceptual and capability information arsenal in France and Europe
Général Bruno Courtois
Coordinator of Pégase, defence and security advisor to the Sopra Steria Group
Through all these actions, Sopra Steria is stepping up its efforts in the fight against information manipulation, whether via the Pégase think tank, a genuine forum for decompartmentalisation and innovation, or via the performance of its engineers and consultants, who are both "trusted integrators" and "technological scouts" in the fight against information manipulation.
Jul 16, 2024
Explore the issues surrounding the manipulation of information and find out how to combat this growing threat.