Cybersecurity pioneer Winn Schwartau joins Robin Ayoub to unpack cognitive warfare, the mental immune system, and why protecting your mind is the next frontier of national security. Trust nothing, verify twice—your brain is the new attack surface.
What if your mind is the most vulnerable network you own—and you've been leaving it completely undefended? Winn Schwartau, the man who coined "Electronic Pearl Harbor" in 1992, is back to warn us that the next battlefield isn't digital—it's cognitive.
In this episode:
• Why cognitive warfare extends the ISO security model into "layers 8, 9, and 10"—targeting the human mind at individual, enterprise, and societal scale
• How Big Tech's algorithmic addiction engines are a documented attack vector, and what Meta's potential $1.4 trillion liability signals about what they always knew
• The case for "critical ignoring"—why filtering information overload must come before critical thinking, and how to start building your mental immune system today
• Why the world's first Cognitive Security Conference at DEF CON (August 6–7, Tuscany Hotel, Las Vegas) could change the trajectory of how we defend against meta war
Winn Schwartau is a cybersecurity pioneer, author, and Director of Special Projects at the Cognitive Security Institute. He coined the term "Electronic Pearl Harbor," authored the seminal book Information Warfare, and has spent over three decades pushing the security community to think beyond bits and bytes. His latest book, The Art and Science of Metawar, examines how AI-driven disinformation, algorithmic addiction, and reality distortion are reshaping human behavior at scale.
Connect with Winn Schwartau:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/winnschwartau
Website: https://www.winnschwartau.com
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