Misinformation vs Disinformation: Highlighting the Distinctions for Better Organizational Protection

Cybersecurity is filled with similar acronyms and vocabulary, each of which brings its own nuance and importance to a secure online space. This article breaks down two similar terms — misinformation vs disinformation — and dives into their distinct differences, the types of threats they pose, and mitigation strategies. Effectively evaluating misinformation and disinformation is now more crucial than ever, given the rapidly escalating digital risks and the increasingly sophisticated tactics targeting businesses. Gaining a sense of clarity with these terms helps cybersecurity and IT department leads address threats and protect teams with confidence.

In this article, we examine how these prevalent issues impact brand credibility and reputation, as well as introduce social engineering and financial risks within a company. We also illustrate methods for combating various types of incorrect information using existing cybersecurity frameworks.

While exploring these differences, there may be a sense of confusion about the distinction and proper follow-up strategies between the two. This is a common experience, and nobody is alone when pushing through this feeling to identify essential solutions.

At the end of this article, readers will gain a valuable understanding of the differences between misinformation vs disinformation and how properly addressing them will bolster a company's brand while protecting its cybersecurity posture. While reading, we encourage readers to conduct a quick internal audit of their existing policies to identify ideal next steps for their environments.

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Intent and Source Credibility

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Understanding the core difference between misinformation and disinformation lies in determining the underlying intention behind the piece of fake information. Knowing why the information was published helps reveal the source's credibility, ultimate aims, and potential endgame.

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Misinformation: Accidental Inaccuracy

In a nutshell, misinformation is incorrect information that is posted without knowing that the information is incorrect or harmful. There is no ultimate aim of deception or attempt to cause harm. A common "source" of misinformation is unverified social media posts. In some cases, the intention is obviously sarcasm or satire. Such as a social media account prominently showing the username "Fake Tom Hanks." Unfortunately, other misinformation scenarios are less obvious.

For example, when ChatGPT and other content-generation AI platforms began to be widely used by the general public, multiple thought leaders spoke with good intentions on how to "catch" when a post was AI-generated. A common issue arose when multiple accomplished professionals posted on LinkedIn claiming that capitalizing hashtags (e.g., #CapitalizeYourHashtags vs #capitalizeyourhashtags) was a surefire sign of an AI-created post.

However, this is not true. In the digital accessibility community, capitalizing hashtags is a universally agreed upon best practice to assist social media users who experience low-vision, dyslexia, and other types of disabilities. In response to this misinformation, multiple members of the digital accessibility community decried these incorrect posts on LinkedIn. While proclaiming that only AI-generated posts use capitalized hashtags was inaccurate information, it was presented in good faith and without any intent to harm, which classifies it as misinformation.

This is a fairly clear-cut example of misinformation, particularly since an entire community expressed that the information was inaccurate. But not all examples are so easy to spot. In today's technology age (and indeed, with AI), it can be challenging to read an online post and instantly distinguish between an accidental error and a genuine risk.

After all, it's a part of being human. Major psychology organizations, such as the American Psychological Association, and prominent media literacy advocates have shared how misinformed sources can still cause widespread disruptions for companies, individuals, and even governments.

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Disinformation: Deliberate Manipulation

Unlike the accidental nature of misinformation, disinformation is untrue information that is posted purposefully with the intent to cause harm, manipulate readers, and spread inaccuracies as truths. In general, disinformation poses a much greater cybersecurity risk. Two common reasons malevolent actors spread disinformation are corporate espionage and sabotage.

Disinformation is becoming more commonplace and increasingly effective. A World Economic Forum report highlighted the growing danger of disinformation since 2020. In recent years, instances of disinformation have surged by 150%, and the threat is projected to grow even more exponentially by 2027. Cybercriminals' disinformation strategies have evolved from bots to AI, raising a merited concern that these malicious campaigns can harm businesses' operations, reputation, and finances from multiple angles.

The most effective way to combat disinformation campaigns is to learn about how they work in practice and proactively prepare for them. After multiple disinformation campaigns worldwide, Doppel has compiled an insightful look at disinformation campaigns and their origins to help leaders strengthen their organization's data and systems while ensuring their information security policies are fully up to date.

When formulating an initial strategy, it's key to note that while misinformation can occur, disinformation imposes greater strategic harm to organizations, as it's both intentional and designed to cause harm on a larger scale. Additionally, a best practice for combating both disinformation and misinformation is to incorporate countermeasures into existing cybersecurity elements. One method is to utilize compliance checklists and other relevant detection tools to identify and assess both misinformation and disinformation during routine security audits.

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Organizational Impact and Risk Management

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Accurately assessing the potential fallout of unchecked misinformation and disinformation helps bring likely risk factors to the surface. These risks can hamper a company's operational stability, client trust, and compliance outlook. Presenting these vulnerabilities with a risk-based prioritization helps align multiple departments (cybersecurity, branding, legal, finance) on how to handle these issues best.

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Implications of Misinformation

While misinformation is not maliciously planted, it can still have a tremendously negative impact on any organization. An MIT study found that misinformation statements on social media are spread six times faster and are 70% more likely to be reshared than truthful statements. These trends cause genuine real-world consequences.

Since 2021, Ontario, Canada, has published multiple white papers detailing how rampant misinformation has affected citizens' behavior in elections, trust in the media, and their belief in the validity of health recommendations for health concerns such as COVID-19. The papers examine how widespread misinformation undermines a democracy's ability to function properly when a larger society cannot agree on a set of basic facts, logic, and essential needs. This foundational discord causes citizens to question the legitimacy of democratic elections and even sows seeds of discrimination within communities based on what misinformation is believed to be factual.

It can be disconcerting to learn about the impact of misinformation, especially when faced with the prospect of gauging its real versus perceived damage ahead of time. Additionally, it's not easy to educate employees on how to verify, fact-check, and "catch" instances of misinformation in real-time. However, the process is achievable with quality tools, and preventing reputational damage and long-term effects is well worth the effort.

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Implications of Disinformation

The impact of effective disinformation campaigns is far more biting than incidental misinformation. Disinformation campaigns are built with an overarching goal in mind before they are launched. This makes each piece part of a larger chess game that targets an organization's cybersecurity and branding vulnerabilities. If a disinformation campaign succeeds, the financial repercussions can affect millions of individuals. PwC has shared how disinformation campaigns cause stock prices to plummet, while Gartner reported that account takeovers caused by disinformation campaigns cost large organizations nearly $3 billion annually.

For disinformation in the government sector, Doppel has covered protective measures to secure elections from false narratives. Corporations can also adopt the strategies illustrated in this article to combat disinformation and implement similar protections.

Natural methods to combat disinformation can be found in existing cybersecurity frameworks, such as the ISO 27001 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The ISO 27001 system emphasizes the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data throughout IT systems. That same methodology can help combat disinformation by supporting the reliability and accuracy of information assets. This also applies to other areas of ISO 27001, including data validation and incident response protocols.

The NIST Cybersecurity system also lends many of its strengths to stopping disinformation. The flexible, risk-based strategy can be shifted to assess vulnerabilities targeted by discrimination. Once assessed, organizations can apply protections, identify sources of disinformation, respond adequately, and recover swiftly from incidents. Both of these frameworks are especially effective in this regard due to their strong vigilance against manipulated content.

Of course, there is a distinction between manipulated content and unintentional yet harmful inaccuracies. Remember that when using any approach, disinformation typically poses a much higher risk due to being planned in advance and part of a cybercriminal's overarching goal. Quality strategies to anticipate those goals and preemptively thwart them often begin with initially investing in your organization's current threat intelligence software and assessing its capability to identify malicious content.

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Detection Methods and Response Measures

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In practice, there will be multiple instances of misinformation and disinformation. They will likely not be clear-cut or located on the same channels. This is why it is vital to establish a clear process for identifying these inaccuracies and determining which ones to address first.

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Misinformation: Identifying and Correcting Errors

Part of a quality practice is utilizing tools that identify errors and implementing a swift process to correct unintentional mistakes while also communicating the results. Common tools include routine content audits, both manual and automated, to address newly discovered issues. Another strong tool is information security software dedicated to fact-checking, verifying, and exploring core brand protection strategies that assist remediation teams.

Ideally, these tools are used by an interdisciplinary team composed of cybersecurity, IT, and branding/marketing personnel. This will enable essential parties to address issues with a complete understanding of how the fix will impact the organization in both the short and long term.

A common question is how organizations can prevent the internal spread of misinformed data. There are several strategies to alleviate this throughout all departments.

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• Create a single source of truth: Maintain a running log of approved systems that all personnel can refer to. This includes organization-approved language and terminology, examples for file naming structures, and the latest updates for benefits, security patches, and other key areas of internal operations.
• Fact check, even when inconvenient: When updating information, it is essential to properly verify those changes before publishing them. This often requires thorough fact-checking from specialized departments (engineering, legal, facilities, and executives) before receiving the "green light." It can be challenging to allocate focused time with these teams, but correcting results ahead of time is far better than issuing public corrections afterward. Thoroughly vetting sources enhances a brand's credibility while maintaining clients' and partners' trust in the organization.
• Updating before creating: When changing key information (such as terminology, company branding, executive titles, etc.), invest the time to update previously existing content both publicly and internally before publishing any new content. After an area is updated, follow up to ensure every area it impacts is also adjusted. Changing file names, email structures, or branding administrative privileges are all important steps. Internal updates should cover chat platforms, major spreadsheets, and new hire onboarding.
• Follow up with all personnel: Preventing misinformation requires informing company personnel. When rolling out a new change, notify employees of the news in multiple ways (verbally during meetings, via proper emails, and within chat platforms) to cater to different learning styles. The more times that employees are reminded of a change, the faster it will stick with them. Additionally, placing the updated information in multiple areas greatly mitigates the likelihood of an employee falling victim to a social engineering attack that attempts to capitalize on the transition. For more details on how false information can impact operations, we invite leaders to explore the tactics behind social engineering attacks and how Doppel's protective suite can prevent them.

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Disinformation: Proactive Countermeasures

Disinformation requires a focused strategy to counteract it. This strategy involves multiple steps, including integrating AI and machine learning into existing risk management frameworks, such as ISO 27001 and NIST. This leverages threat intelligence on disinformation attempts and equip multiple departments with clear response protocols. In cases where an issue extends beyond a company's individual scope, reaching out for help is a quality method to stop disinformation.

During the 2025 Philippine elections, the country experienced a dangerous disinformation campaign in the days leading up to the voting. By coordinating with a third party, the Philippines voting department was able to shut down the malevolent actors. Additionally, a 2025 report by SciencesPo explained that implementing cybersecurity protections against disinformation posts on social media reduced the spread of fake news by up to 13.6%.

Here are some actionable starting steps to combat disinformation, covering both external and internal campaigns:

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• Use audits to identify risks: Set up a routine content audit process to discover disinformation. This can involve monitoring social media, fraudulent websites, and duplicitous phishing email addresses. Once the process is established, utilize protective AI to automate the discovery process.
• Assess and analyze: Use a risk-based vulnerability framework to evaluate the severity of various disinformation instances. Compare them against one another to learn which ones take priority. When planning the response, input the data into a machine learning system to improve the monitoring and discovery process.
• Remediate with critical thinking: Employ threat intelligence to uncover the likely overarching goal of the cybercriminal's disinformation campaign. This showcases the most effective remediation strategies while pointing teams toward the best areas to address before they are compromised proactively.
• Implement real-time takedown protocols: A common tactic of disinformation attacks is to draw attention to one area of concern while the actual damage is occurring in another. Empower monitoring tools with the authority to shut down these issues when they are discovered. This swift takedown process can curtail issues such as fraudulent websites, brand impersonations, and anomalies in company systems.
• Continuously run tests and provide proper training: Simulate how a hacker could successfully gain access to an internal system using a disinformation ploy. If a cybercriminal uses disinformation to gain the attention of an employee, imagine the criminal's next steps to access the network or data systems laterally. Educate employees on likely use cases and the best way to report the infiltration attempt.
• Implement industry-specific policies: The best strategy for thwarting disinformation at a financial services firm may not apply to a government agency or a nonprofit. Update policies with ISO 27001 and NIST in mind to mitigate risks while also adhering to compliance requirements.

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Keep in mind that addressing misinformation requires prompt clarification, while disinformation demands legal or technical interventions before an incident escalates into a critical issue. If the process of confronting disinformation feels overwhelming or the protection strategy requires a significant update, know that you are not alone.

Doppel's disinformation protection suite includes strategies to counter social engineering threats, helping organizations boost their defenses. It's essential to know the correct next steps for a specific use case. We are here to help organizations, providing brief consultations or a tailored incident response outline from our experienced brand security team.

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Protect Against Misinformation and Disinformation with Doppel

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In the world of digital transformation, misinformation and disinformation have become increasingly common and more damaging, necessitating robust detection and response protocols. The distinguishing element between the two is intent, as both spread falsehoods; however, misinformation is accidental, while disinformation is intentionally done to inflict harm. Both issues can directly influence any organization's cybersecurity strategy, operational efficiency, and brand reputation.

Doppel assists organizations in combating these threats, providing AI-assisted monitoring, insight-rich threat intelligence, and real-time brand protection that shuts down fake domains, brand impersonators, and internal anomalies.

Proactivity implementing a refined response is the name of the game. For more information, consider reaching out to us for insight into understanding digital risk protection essentials that help keep your teams confident and secure.

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