• Nonresident Senior Fellow
  • Head of Investigations, Graphika

Ben Nimmo

Ben Nimmo is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) based in the United Kingdom.

Ben Nimmo studies online disinformation and influence operations, with a particular focus on cross-platform operations. He is Head of Investigations at Graphika and a nonresident senior fellow at DFRLab. A former wire journalist and NATO press officer, he began his analytical career by developing the 4D model (dismiss, distort, distract and dismay) to predict disinformation. He has since studied information operations, bots and online campaigns stemming from Russia, Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Brazil and the United States, among others. He speaks a number of languages including Russian and Latvian. When he has free time, he goes scuba diving. He lives in fear of the day a smartphone which works underwater will become available. (Profile picture: Alexander Coggin for the New York Times.)

July 2018

Nimmo Quoted in CBS News on Cyber Security of US Elections

by Ben Nimmo

Read the full article here.
read more
June 2018

#ElectionWatch: Hashtags For Cash In Mexico

by Ben Nimmo

Before Mexico’s presidential election, a network of Twitter accounts has been pushing partisan messages apparently paid for by local political groups.
read more
June 2018

#ElectionWatch: Trending Beyond Borders in Mexico

by Ben Nimmo, Donara Barojan, Jose Luis Peñarredonda, and Kanishk Karan

Ahead of Mexico’s presidential election on July 1, a network of Facebook pages and Twitter accounts has been promoting partisan political messages, most of them attacking front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
read more