#138 Matthew Canham on Cognitive Security
The Cognitive Crucible
Is There Utility or Validity?
As a practitioner, I prioritize utility over validity. As an academic researcher, I prioritize the inverse. And so you can sort of imagine utility being on this y axis and validity being on this x axis. There is this orthogonal relationship between the utility and the validity of the mental models that we use.
The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association.
During this episode, Dr. Matthew Canham discusses the importance of cognitive security, and his neurosecurity framework.
Research Question: Are there a finite and discoverable set of Principles of Influence for AI analogous to the Principles of Influence in humans? (Reference: Dr. Robert Cialdini’s Seven Principles of Influence in Humans which form the basis of (most) social engineering attacks: Reciprocity, Social Proof, Liking, Authority, Commitment & Consistency, Scarcity, Unity)
Resources:
- Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned
- Matthew’s personal website
- Cognitive Security: Exploring the Human Layer w/ Dr. Matthew Canham | CSI Talks #1
- Unrestricted Warfare: China’s Master Plan to Destroy America by Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui
- AntiFragile, 2014, Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Unrestricted Warfare: China's Master Plan to Destroy America, 2015, Qiao Liang & Wang Xiangsui
- War Without Rules: China's Playbook for Global Domination, 2022, Robert Spalding
- The New Rules of War: How America Can Win--Against Russia, China, and Other Threats, 2020, Sean McFate
- The Weaponisation of Everything: A Field Guide to the New Way of War, 2022, Mark Galeotti
- The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age, 1997, James Dale Davidson & Lord William Rees-Mogg
- The Network State: How To Start a New Country, 2022, Balaji Srinivasan
- What Technology Wants, 2010, by Kevin Kelly
- Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion, 2021, Robert B Cialdini PhD
- Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade, 2016, Robert Cialdini Ph.D.
- Security risks of ChatGPT and other AI text generators Paul Wagenseil January 17, 2023
Link to full show notes and resources
https://information-professionals.org/episode/cognitive-crucible-episode-138
Guest Bio: Dr. Matthew Canham is a security consultant and researcher dedicated to understanding and addressing the human element in cybersecurity. His research focuses on human susceptibility to mis-dis-mal (MDM) information operations and remote online social engineering attacks. He is also the host of the Cognitive Security Institute, an organization which holds monthly online meetings to discuss topics in cognitive security. You may watch past presentations here: https://www.youtube.com/@cognitivesecurityinstitute579/videos
About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain.
For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org.
Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.
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