Doctoring Documents: Mistruth in History and Cybersecurity

This book explores the primary methods, presented as a set of thirteen patterns, used to insert mistruth in historical narratives. These patterns culminate in the broadest of patterns, versioning and propaganda, which are used to show that mistruth is unavoidable in any historical narrative. This also supports the argument that a primary task of the historian is to provide their own contextual considerations sufficiently to help their readers create their own version. The value of a deep, mistruth-aware analysis of history is thus shown to be crucial for understanding how to protect data of all types in today’s electronic society.

In the Internet age, the history, literature, culture, and training of humans has increasingly moved on-line. While this makes traditionally difficult-to-access content available (in theory) to all, it also exposes the truth associated with these hallmarks of civilization to attack by those who wish to replace it with their own version of history, literature, culture, and learning.

Each chapter includes a brief “cyber salon” applying the historical principles to the field of cybersecurity, which is of critical importance to preserving truth in an on-line world.

Steve Simske worked in a NASA CCDS (Center for the Commercial Development of Space) from 1988–2007, part-time after 1994. Steve worked for HP and HP Labs for 23 years and was an HP Fellow and Vice President before joining CSU as a Professor in 2018. He is an IEEE Fellow, a NAI (National Academy of Inventors) Fellow, and an IS&T (Imaging.org) Fellow. Steve won a Colorado State Teacher of the Year Award in 2022. Steve has roughly 250 US patents and this is his sixth book.

Dallen Simske received an Honors B.S. in History from Colorado State University in 2024. Dallen has experience in theatre, music, and teaching professions. This is Dallen’s first book.