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The Cipher Brief
Site URL: www.thecipherbrief.com/
Feed URL: www.thecipherbrief.com/feeds/intelligence.rss
Posts: 30
Followers: 1
From Secrets to Sensors: Why Open Source Data Must Drive Modern Intelligence
Published: February 5, 2026 18:17
THE BLUF / COLUMN — The Department of Defense is on a tear to revamp technology for warfighters. Secretary Hegseth signed an AI strategy on 9 January. Prior to that he called for an Enterprise Command and Control Program Office that would provide a real…
The Kremlin Files: Russian Double Agents and Operational Games
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/the-kremlin-files-russian-double-agents-and-operational-games
Published: February 4, 2026 16:21
THE KREMLIN FILES / COLUMN — There are similarities among intelligence agencies worldwide. All professional services rely on tradecraft to recruit and manage assets. They all operate within bureaucratic systems and ultimately answer to political leaders.…
The Kremlin Files: Russia, the Modern Surveillance State
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/russia-surveillance-state
Published: January 8, 2026 15:35
THE KREMLIN FILES / COLUMN — Ask any Russian intelligence officer about “naruzhka,” and you’ll see them nod knowingly. It’s the term for physical, trailing surveillance: watchers on the street who follow targets, track meetings, and report patterns. The…
2025: 10 Events That Changed the World
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/2025-10-events-change-world
Published: December 22, 2025 11:00
SPECIAL REPORT — In a turbulent year, one of the biggest national security stories came in the form of a document.The administration’s National Security Strategy (NSS), released earlier this month, upends longstanding U.S. policy toward allies and…
Russia’s Intelligence Services After the War
Published: November 20, 2025 16:28
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Russia’s intelligence services (RIS) have failed spectacularly in Ukraine: in planning, execution, and analysis, yet they will face no reckoning. Vladimir Putin cannot afford to hold the SVR, GRU, or FSB accountable because they are…
The Downside to Mission Focus: Why the Intelligence Community Should Not Forget to Look Inward
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/intelligence-community-inntrospection
Published: November 19, 2025 18:36
OPINION — Not long ago, I was talking to an old friend and China analyst about the need for Intelligence Community (IC) analysts to spend significantly more time looking at themselves and their own agencies, processes, procedures, habits, biases, etc.—in…
The Future of U.S. Intelligence: Leaner, Smarter, and Tech-Focused
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/intelligence-community-technology-reform
Published: October 10, 2025 13:47
EXPERT OPINION — It is time to reimagine the US intelligence community (IC). The 1947 National Security Act established the CIA which arguably had the biggest impact on the modern age of U.S. intelligence. Subsequent changes to the National Security Act…
How We Got SSCI with a Little Help from CIA
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/ssci-cia
Published: September 18, 2025 16:36
OPINION — You’ve probably seen that iconic photo of Senator Frank Church (D-ID) holding up a CIA poison dart gun, right? Or perhaps the one of Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) aiming it at the sky? They came from the Church Committee’s live hearings on…
Cutting Cyber Intelligence Undermines National Security
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/odni-cyber-intelligence
Published: September 3, 2025 16:45
OPINION — America’s cyber intelligence capabilities are being eviscerated while the threats to national security emanating from cyber space are increasing. The latest cuts to the cyber capabilities within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence…
Spy Versus Spy: Iran’s Playbook for Espionage in Israel
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/iran-israel-spy-war
Published: August 26, 2025 15:19
OPINION — Israel’s intelligence penetration of Iran played out in dramatic form over the course of the 12-day war this summer, but Iran is running an aggressive recruitment and spying operation of its own targeting Israel. And while the two espionage…
Intelligence Reform Should Include an Updated Probability Yardstick
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/intelligence-reform-probability
Published: August 22, 2025 04:59
OPINION — The US Intelligence Community (IC) is experiencing tumult and facing critique, and all things point to significant reform, creating an opening for the analytic community to rethink how it articulates probability in a way that is useful for…
Expert Q&A: Undersea Cables Under Attack, from Outside and Within
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/undersea-cable-attacks
Published: August 15, 2025 13:39
EXPERT Q&A — Reports of damage to undersea cables across the world are on the rise, with suspected foul play in many of these incidents. These cables are crucial conduits for communications, financial transactions, Internet traffic and even intelligence,…
Here’s How Russia’s Covert War Could Undermine its Own Goals
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/russia-sabotage-backfires
Published: August 14, 2025 20:06
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE / OPINION — The July 2025 sanctioning and indictment by the United Kingdom of three units and 18 individuals affiliated with the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces - the GRU - highlighted clandestine…
I Sat Across the Table from China’s Spies. Here’s How They Operate in Fragile States
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/china-intelligence-fragile-states
Published: August 13, 2025 18:05
OPINION — In 2016, I sat across the table from China’s Director of Operations for the Ministry of State Security (MSS). Their visit to Kabul was tightly scripted, speaking only from prepared documents, with translators on hand, and never deviating from the…
Are Undersea Cables a “Backdoor for Espionage” Against the U.S.?
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/undersea-cables-china-backdoor
Published: August 12, 2025 19:44
CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and members of Congress are warning that China may be engaged in underwater espionage – accessing government and private-sector data that travel via the vast global network of undersea…
When Truths Are Classified and Falsehoods Are Free
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/cia-intelligence-classified-truth
Published: August 7, 2025 15:13
OPINION -- What happens when an intelligence officer who has sworn to protect classified information can’t refute an erroneous news report or a mention in a book about him or her? I was yet again reminded of that conundrum when mention of me in author Tim…
Two Existential Threats: CIA’s Reputation vs. Democracy’s Survival
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/twcias-reputation-vs-democracys-survival
Published: July 29, 2025 17:29
OPINION -- In his recent Cipher Brief essay, CIA's Latest Existential Challenge, former CIA senior officer Mark Kelton argues that the Central Intelligence Agency faces an “existential challenge” - a crisis of public trust in a hyper-partisan America. He…
CIA's Latest Existential Challenge
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/cia-s-latest-existential-challenge
Published: July 16, 2025 13:53
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE / OPINION -- Today, the Central Intelligence Agency faces a crisis of trust. While CIA officers have long confronted adversaries abroad, the Agency now finds itself navigating an increasingly politicized relationship with the American…
To Counter China, Reform U.S. Intelligence for the Digital Age
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/to-counter-china-reform-u-s-intelligence-for-the-digital-age
Published: July 4, 2025 16:45
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE / OPINION -- The United States is facing a quiet and rapidly growing threat across the digital landscape, an unseen mathematical space of binary code and shadowy actors. This landscape demands more, not less, attention, and urgently, if…
The Downward Spiral of Western Counterintelligence
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/counterintelligence
Published: June 30, 2025 16:54
OPINION — Counterintelligence is one of the most vital functions of the intelligence community, helping protect against foreign threats. Counterintelligence was heavily emphasized during the Cold War, as spying and unregistered foreign agents were at an…
Former CIA Director on the Priority Intelligence Requirement in Iran
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/former-cia-director-on-the-priority-intelligence-requirement-in-iran
Published: June 24, 2025 03:26
EXPERT INTERVIEW – Tehran’s response on Monday to U.S. attacks against its nuclear facilities over the weekend was measured and possibly calibrated to what appears to be growing impatience by U.S. President Donald Trump over demands for the country to give…
U.S. Counterintelligence in the 21st Century: Confronting the Russia–China Threat Nexus
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/counterintelligence-russia-china
Published: May 29, 2025 04:15
OPINION — Geopolitical rivalry with China and Russia is growing, and this is making counterintelligence even more critical to U.S. national security. Russia and China's intelligence agencies conduct aggressive, multidomain campaigns, endangering U.S.…
Where are the Sage Advisors When You Need Them?
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/gates-trump
Published: May 27, 2025 11:45
OPINION -- “There are few things you can do that are more gratifying and more satisfying, and when you look back, being able to say that maybe, you made a difference in keeping the nation [the U.S.] safer or the nation better off.”That was Robert M. Gates,…
The President's Daily Brief: No Assembly Required?
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/the-presidents-daily-brief-no-assembly-required
Published: May 23, 2025 10:00
EXPERT INTERVIEW — It’s a document that rarely makes news, for obvious reasons: the whole point of the President‘s Daily Brief (PDB) – a summary of intelligence and analysis about national security threats and the world’s hot zones – is that it’s put…
The Enduring Value of HUMINT in Countering Russia and China
Published: May 6, 2025 14:50
OPINION — We are in a high-tech surveillance, cyber espionage, and big-data era and it would be simple to assume that old-fashioned human intelligence (HUMINT) has passed its time. Instead, recent history shows HUMINT espionage remains the lifeblood of…
Facing Threats in the ‘Fourth Era’ of American Counterintelligence
Published: April 22, 2025 15:50
OPINION — In their article “An All-of-Society Approach to U.S. Counterintelligence,” Calder Walton and Greg Levesque noted the comprehensive nature of contemporary PRC and other foreign intelligence threats. What we now consider foreign counterintelligence…
20 Years Later, Assessing the Value of the ODNI
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/20-years-later-assessing-the-value-of-the-odni
Published: April 22, 2025 04:55
EXPERT INTERVIEWS — The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) marks an anniversary today — 20 years since its creation as the top oversight entity within the U.S. intelligence community (IC).The ODNI was born in the aftermath of the…
The ODNI, 20 Years After Its Creation: Reflections From the First Director
Published: April 17, 2025 04:48
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – The Office of the Director of National Intelligence – the ODNI - was born twenty years ago this month, in response to recommendations made by the 9/11 commission, and a concern that the United States intelligence community (IC) needed…
Allies Weigh In On The Future Under Trump 2.0
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/allies-weigh-in-on-the-future-under-trump-2-0
Published: April 6, 2025 21:06
EXPERT INTERVIEWS – Over the past two and a half months, as President Donald Trump's administration has upended long-standing policies and assumptions about America’s role in the world, The Cipher Brief spoke to experts in multiple countries, all of which…
The Signal ‘Disaster,’ and Ensuring It Doesn’t Happen Again
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/the-signal-disaster-and-ensuring-it-doesnt-happen-again
Published: March 26, 2025 22:15
BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT — When the heads of the intelligence community (IC) came to Capitol Hill Tuesday to present the Annual Threat Assessment, they were met by questions about something else: the leak of a Signal group chat, in which U.S. military attack…