Event Details

Join us for a guest lecture at Lancaster University titled "Hacking the Mind: Cyber Effects and Information Confrontation".

Over the past two decades, the discourse surrounding ‘cyber war’ has shifted from sensationalism to a more measured and evidence-based perspective. This lecture explores cyber operations as a component of wider information confrontation, with a particular focus on how cyber ‘effects’ can be employed to achieve operational and strategic objectives. Central to this enquiry is the question: How can cyber operations for cognitive effect contribute to information confrontation?

Paul Withers of the Royal Air Force will introduce an analytical framework that considers cyber effects through four key dimensions: effects, intentions, integration, and temporality. This model is used to examine case studies from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, exploring how cyber operations have featured in Russia’s full-scale invasion and the war that followed. The research moves beyond simplistic narratives—such as early predictions of a decisive cyber role or later claims that cyber efforts have been largely absent—to offer a more balanced understanding of how cyber effects may contribute meaningfully to state power, particularly where they facilitate cognitive change.

Reference: Kostyuk, Nadiya, and Gartzke, Erik (2022). “Why Cyber Dogs Have Yet to Bark Loudly in Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine.” Texas National Security Review, 5: 113–126.