Ontological insecurity and cognitive threats: emerging security challenges in the Information Age

Abstract

Over the past two decades, digital communication and information technologies have enabled new avenues of conflict. Information has historically been used as a medium for projecting power, but the scale and speed at which it can be disseminated today have led to new ways in which power can be acquired and exercised. As a result, a reassessment of the security challenges brought about by emerging information and communication technologies has started in Western strategic thinking. To contribute to a better understanding of the ways in which information can be used for strategic, adversarial purposes, this paper traces the genealogy of the category of 'hybrid threats' and reflects on the novel concept of 'cognitive threat' as a new type of hybrid security challenge that is characteristic of the digital age.