COGSEC

R&D Initiatives

ATLAS-23

In 2023, COGSEC focused on development of partnerships and synthesizing past work into a foundation for tools which allow for rapid restructuring and refactoring of large knowledge repositories, development of professional standards, and coherence in crowd intelligence. Through a community experiment with novel approaches to common vulnerabilities and exploits (CVE) databasing, over 1,000 patterns of practice, risk, vulnerability, and other aspects related to cognitive security were accumulated and connected to one another in a Community “ATLAS”, found

here⁠

. This work also resulted in:

a paper setting a “Properties, Perspectives, and Processes” inter-framework (P3IF) standard for representing and synthesizing requirements analysis frameworks for chief information officers and those procuring, designing, or developing information systems,

available here:

The Properties, Processes, and Perspectives Inter-Framework (P3IF): Multiplexing interdisciplinary requirements frameworks to manage information risk and foster cognitive security⁠

⁠

a technical white paper presenting an initial draft specification for a generalized ATLAS,

available here:

ATLAS: A Question Oriented Approach to the Use of Pattern Languages in Knowledge Management⁠

⁠

the necessary partnerships and support to begin refining the specification and developing a generalized ATLAS system.

Our FY 2024 initiative ATLAS-24, builds directly on the outputs of 2023.

Original Call for Collaborators

⁠

Situation

In 2019,

COGSEC.org⁠

set out a “map” designed to harness the interests of the market in order to address some critical aspects of the world’s education and cognitive security related risks. From 2019 to the present moment, COGSEC.org has managed to maintain coherence and productivity in the navigation of this terrain through thoughtful planning, openness, and deference to the broad community of citizens who provide feedback, effort, time, and, perhaps most importantly, hope that the risks we seek to address can be collaboratively mitigated - and that there exists in the nexus among organizations and nations some global coalition of the willing, capable, and available that can, in moments of need, find mission alignment across cultural, linguistic, ideological, and national boundaries to carry weight that no individual could do alone.

Through 2022, COGSEC had impacts beyond our initial expectations, in terms of internal and external publications, collaborations, and influence on other programs and initiatives. While a successful initiative tends to engender a focus on maintenance - it is necessary that we reflect as much on what worked as on what didn’t. Among the most important insights generated from the work of 2019-2022 was that many of the individuals most interested and passionate about participating simply do not have the time or affordances to participate in the kinds of small-team projects we made available, despite having the competence and the will; and that failing to accommodate this would mean that our ability to adequately adjust our headings and incorporate feedback each year would proportionally diminish under the pressure of a rapidly expanding community. As we look at the docket of invitations such as local in-person Cognitive Security chapters (in Davis, California and soon elsewhere), assist with multinational initiatives across multiple fields of application, and facilitate adjacent communities - we recognize the need to adapt in order to surf the exponential wave.

To this end, we focused our attention on recommendations arising from our 2022 volume “

Structuring the Information Commons: Open Standards and Cognitive Security⁠

”, and acknowledged that we cannot wait for the perfect tools to arrive - that we need to begin providing affordances for synthetic intelligence now. This ongoing

initiative in 2023 is called ATLAS⁠

Mission

We want to enable larger numbers of people to impact their own Cognitive Security through meaningful engagement with learning and exploratory materials on patterns of practice and risk - and to impact a larger community and society through contributions to these materials.

Approach

We are now placing significant effort and attention on providing affordances for modular contribution to a collaborative ATLAS, to allow for contribution to community artifacts at a much larger scale. A community ATLAS, in short, is a generalized common vulnerabilities and exploits (CVE) tool comprised of modular publications and mini-publications - this modularity allows different communities with disparate mission, expertise, perspectives and interests to trade in information selectively, and for re-rendering based on use-case or project-scope. In practical terms - imagine being able to rapidly generate the handbook on Your Cognitive Security based on your role, personality and current circumstances, strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities.

For example, here is what it looks like to search for a cognitive pattern

⁠

The current COGSEC ATLAS is an experimental build of an ATLAS using the knowledge and data management platform

Coda.io⁠

. It asks for contributions of writing and discrete answers to questions in modular blocks.

For example, here is what it looks like to submit an answer to a question

⁠

ATLAS is a federated system, or “verified information environment” (VIE), built on community trust, and peer vetting through collaborative work. This is a result of carefully navigating the tradeoff frontier found in the need to confirm an identity of a contributor without necessarily revealing their true or only identity. This federated system requires you to have a

Coda.io⁠

account, but allows for contributors to submit contributions anonymously.

Milestones

There are development and contribution related Milestones on the long road to having a functional, flexible, well-curated ATLAS.

ATLAS build (Alpha)

Alpha Release for early contributors

First 100 internal contributions

ATLAS build (Beta)

First 500 internal contributions

First 1,000 contributions

Technical Paper on Generalization of ATLAS Approaches

Milestones blocked by need for further technology development (see ATLAS-24)

Beta Release to Community for direct, modular contribution

Develop Terms of Use / Terms of Service

Release of First Tailored Field Guide

10,000 external contributions

Admin Log and Signal - How to Get Involved

Through incorporation of feedback and community contribution, ATLAS has evolved over 2022 and early 2023 into the foundation for tools which allow for rapid restructuring and refactoring of large knowledge repositories, development of professional standards, and providing coherence in crowd intelligence. This being the case, COGSEC is in the process of establishing the necessary partnerships with other organizations for hosting the ATLAS and for addressing key Operational, Legal, and Technical factors. Pending the finalization of terms of use / terms of service, the COGSEC ATLAS is not yet publicly available. However, in the interim, we are still requesting feedback on this initiative - if there are insights you may be able to offer, or resources you’d recommend we review, please do not hesitate to reach out.

⁠

Disclaimer Authorship or other forms of contribution under a COGSEC program does not necessarily represent or constitute (i) an endorsement of any other hosted materials, (ii) a formal affiliation with any associated organizations or communities or COGSEC itself, or (iii) contact or association with any other contributor or author, even where they are marked as contributors or authors on the same materials.

⁠

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.