Understanding disinformation actions through an interdisciplinary perspective on digital human vulnerabilities

For the past five years, the cyber cognitive threats seminar has aimed to understand disinformation actions through an interdisciplinary lens focused on digital human vulnerabilities.

On April 29, 2025, France, through the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE), strongly condemned the use by the Russian military intelligence service (GRU) of the APT28 attack method, responsible for several cyberattacks targeting French interests. Combining cyberattacks, targeting, and compromise, this modus operandi demonstrates the ongoing pressure on French interests in particular, and also highlights how such maneuvers have become an integral part of today’s international relations.

The 2025 cyber cognitive threats seminar will analyze these maneuvers along three main lines:

Axis 1: Online discourse analysis through narrative and information propagation patterns
Speakers will present the results of their analyses of discourses disseminated by digital actors within targeted audiences. The goal is to understand the semantic and visual tools used by these actors during campaigns, in order to detect them and consider possible countermeasures.

Axis 2: Operationalization of digital human vulnerabilities
To understand the virality and reach of narratives, speakers will explore how information is processed cognitively. They will first present the psychological traits of the digital actors behind these attacks to understand their specific characteristics. Identifying cognitive biases and automatic patterns used against targeted audiences will help uncover part of the methods implemented during information attacks.

Axis 3: Feedback from influence operations
To support comprehension of the principles outlined in the first two axes, speakers will present operations and real-world case studies of the techniques used, highlighting their effects on target audiences and their impact on public opinion.