• Director of Strategy and Resident Senior Fellow

Emerson T. Brooking

Emerson T. Brooking is director of strategy and resident senior fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) of the Atlantic Council Technology Programs. In this capacity, Brooking oversees the center’s efforts to identify, expose, and disrupt foreign information manipulation. He also leads the DFRLab’s work to foster information resilience around the world. Brooking regularly advises US technology companies and national-security entities on issues relating to information security.

From 2022 to 2023, he took leave from the DFRLab to serve as cyber policy advisor within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, where he was an author of the 2023 Department of Defense Cyber Strategy. 

Some of Brooking’s publications include:

January 2021

FAST THINKING: How the Capitol riot was coordinated online

by Atlantic Council

The team at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab has conducted exhaustive research into how the event happened, combing through social media and other networks frequented by the far right. Let’s break down what they found.
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September 2020

Making sense of foreign interference claims on the eve of the 2020 US election

by Digital Forensic Research Lab

The DFRLab launches an interactive, open-source database that captures allegations of foreign interference relevant to the 2020 election. It assesses the credibility, objectivity, evidence, transparency, and impact of each claim.
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September 2020

Five big questions as America votes: Disinformation

by DFRLab

Whether the mis- or disinformation is foreign or domestic in origin, an information environment rife with confusing, polarizing, and often false narratives can only serve to further divide an already tense nation.
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