In the digital age, cognitive warfare has widely targeted students’ thoughts and feelings through tools such as fake news, propaganda, and algorithmic manipulation. Students, as active users of cyberspace and consumers of educational-media content, are exposed to cognitive and emotional harms caused by cognitive warfare. Lack of sufficient resilience against these threats disrupts not only their academic performance but also their mental health and social participation. This study, focusing on the role of critical thinking as a defensive shield, examines strategies for strengthening students’ resilience in the face of cognitive warfare. The aim of this study is to explore students’ lived experiences of facing cognitive warfare and to explain the role of critical thinking education in building resilience. The research was conducted using an interpretive phenomenological method and semi-structured interviews with 15 undergraduate graduates of public universities. Data were collected based on the participants’ individual experiences and analyzed using the approach of Dickelman et al. The coding process was carried out in three stages: open, axial, and selective, and MAXQDA software was used to organize the data. The findings showed that students who use critical thinking skills are more resilient to manipulated information. The results of this study emphasize the need to integrate critical thinking training into university curricula.