The Online Threat Glossary: What Every Comms Team Needs to Know

By 2026, nearly all online content will be synthetically generated. That means more AI-written posts, deepfake videos, and manipulated narratives flooding every platform. For communications teams, brand leaders, and risk managers, this shift has made the internet harder to trust and much harder to manage.

The threats aren't always obvious. Sometimes it's a fake account. Other times, it's a false narrative gaining traction in a fringe community before jumping into the mainstream. Either way, a single post can spark a crisis, sink your stock, or damage trust before your team even sees it coming.

This glossary breaks down the most important types of online threats shaping today's digital environment. From bot networks to emotionally manipulative content, it's a must-read for anyone responsible for protecting a brand or reputation online.

Want to learn how PeakMetrics detects these threats before they cause damage? Explore our platform. 

PeakMetrics Online Threat Glossary

The essential guide to understanding today’s digital risks

Narrative Threat

A coordinated or organically spreading storyline that gains traction online and can influence public perception, damage reputation, or drive real-world consequences. Narrative threats are emotionally charged, often misleading, and spread quickly.

Synthetic Content

Any content created using artificial intelligence, including text, images, audio, or video. While not always malicious, synthetic content can be used to mislead, deceive, or manipulate perception, especially when it's designed to mimic authentic people, brands, or news sources. This includes deepfake videos, AI-generated news articles, fabricated product images, and chatbot-generated social media posts that blur the line between real and fake.

Deepfake

AI-generated audio or video that mimics real people with high accuracy. Deepfakes can impersonate executives, public officials, spread false statements, or be used in hoaxes or scams to mislead employees, customers, or the public.

Bot Network or Bot Amplification

A coordinated group of automated accounts that artificially inflate engagement, amplify specific narratives, or distort organic sentiment to make content appear more popular or polarizing than it is.

Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior

Groups or networks of actors using fake accounts or deceptive practices to manipulate discourse, often for political, ideological, or financial gain. These can include foreign influence operations or troll farms.

False Narrative or Misinformation Campaign

A misleading storyline built on incomplete, manipulated, or entirely false information. These can emerge suddenly and are often fueled by confirmation bias or shared in bad faith.

Information Laundering

When false information is first posted on obscure platforms, then gradually legitimized as it is picked up by influencers, blogs, or mainstream news, creating the illusion of credibility.

Sentiment Sabotage

The deliberate manipulation of online sentiment around a brand, executive, or product by brigading review sites, social media mentions, or comment sections to spark backlash or outrage.

Synthetic Review Attacks

Coordinated floods of fake reviews across platforms to harm brand reputation, especially around high-profile moments like product launches or corporate announcements.

Digital Impersonation

Fake accounts pretending to be executives, brands, or employees. These accounts are used to spread false information, conduct phishing attempts, or manipulate public opinion.

Platform-Hopping Threats

Narratives that begin on fringe platforms such as Telegram, Discord, 4chan, or Truth Social and later move to mainstream channels, gaining broader visibility and influence.

Emotionally Manipulative Content

Posts designed to provoke outrage, fear, or extreme reactions. These are often used to drive virality and cloud rational decision-making among viewers.

AI-Driven Hoaxes

Entirely AI-created events, personas, or “news” stories that trick audiences and spread rapidly before being debunked, often too late to prevent reputational or financial harm.

Fringe Narrative Incubation

Early-stage narratives that gain traction in niche online communities. These are often precursors to what will break into the mainstream and should be monitored closely.

Toxic Virality

Content that spreads due to backlash, outrage, or sensationalism. Even if the original claim is false, the emotional response can create lasting reputational damage.

Deceptive Framing

Real events, quotes, or media taken out of context to mislead audiences. This includes edited videos, misleading headlines, or screenshots used to tell a false story.

Reputation Hijacking

When a competitor, activist group, or hostile actor capitalizes on a brand moment to push their own agenda, derailing campaigns or damaging sentiment during vulnerable times.

Narrative Hijacking

When an organic narrative is overtaken and reframed by a group with a specific agenda, turning a neutral story into a reputational risk.

Disinformation-for-Hire

Paid campaigns run by third-party groups to manipulate public perception of a brand, person, or institution. This includes fake followers, media manipulation, and coordinated posts.

Sockpuppeting

The use of fake identities to covertly support or criticize a topic. These personas appear independent but are controlled by the same actor to create the illusion of public consensus.

Pretexting or Social Engineering

Deceptive tactics used to trick individuals into revealing confidential information or performing risky actions. This often involves fake narratives used in phishing or impersonation attacks.

What’s Next

The threat landscape isn’t slowing down. What starts as a fringe post can quickly spiral into a full-blown crisis. Understanding what these threats look like and how they spread is the first step to staying ahead.

PeakMetrics helps companies spot online risks early, decode what’s real versus what’s being manipulated, and take action before a narrative gets out of hand.

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