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arXiv · 2510.15805

Quantifying the Engagement Effectiveness of Cyber Cognitive Attacks: A Behavioral Metric for Disinformation Campaigns

Bonnie Rushing·Shouhuai Xu
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Abstract

As disinformation-driven cognitive attacks become increasingly sophisticated, the ability to quantify their impact is essential for advancing cybersecurity defense strategies. This paper presents a novel framework for measuring the engagement effectiveness of cognitive attacks by introducing a weighted interaction metric that accounts for both the type and volume of user engagement relative to the number of attacker-generated transmissions. Applying this model to real-world disinformation campaigns across social media platforms, we demonstrate how the metric captures not just reach but the behavioral depth of user engagement. Our findings provide new insights into the behavioral dynamics of cognitive warfare and offer actionable tools for researchers and practitioners seeking to assess and counter the spread of malicious influence online.

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Bonnie Rushing, Shouhuai Xu. 2025-10-17. Quantifying the Engagement Effectiveness of Cyber Cognitive Attacks: A Behavioral Metric for Disinformation Campaigns. https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.15805

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