The UnCODE system: A neurocentric systems approach for classifying the goals and methods of Cognitive Warfare

Cognitive Warfare takes advantage of novel developments in technology and science to influence how target populations think and act. Establishing adequate defense against Cognitive Warfare requires examination of modus operandi to understand this emerging action space. This includes the goals and methods that can be realized through science and technology. Recent literature suggests that both human and nonhuman cognition should be considered as targets of Cognitive Warfare. There are currently no frameworks allowing for a unified way of conceptualizing short-term and long-term Cognitive Warfare goals and attack methods that are domain- and species-agnostic. There is a need for a framework developed through a bottom-up approach that is informed by neuroscientific principles to capture relevant aspects of cognition. The framework should be at a level of complexity that is actionable to decision-makers in war. In this paper, we attempt to cover the existing gap by proposing the Unplug, Corrupt, disOrganize, Diagnose, Enhance (UnCODE) system for classifying the goals and methods of Cognitive Warfare. The system is neurocentric by conceptualizing Cognitive Warfare goals from the perspective of how adversarial methods relate to neural information processing in an individual or society. The UnCODE system identifies five main classes of goals: 1) Eliminating a target’s ability to produce outputs, 2) degrading a target’s capacity to process inputs and produce outputs, 3) biasing a target’s input-output activity, 4) monitoring and understanding the input-output relationships in targets, and 5) enhancing a target’s capacity and ability to process inputs and produce outputs. Methods can be divided in two categories based on access to the target’s neural system: direct access and indirect access. The UnCODE system is domain- and species-agnostic and allows for interdisciplinary commensurability when communicating attack paths across domains. In sum, the UnCODE system is a unifying framework that captures that multiple methods can be used to reach the same Cognitive Warfare goals.