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Tuesday February 19, 2019
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Cipher Brief Stories

Book Review

Under Cover
Putin’s World

An Easy to Read Study for Laymen Interested in Modern Day Russia

February 19, 2019 | Putin's World

BOOK REVIEW: Putin's World By Angela Stent Reviewed by Cipher Brief expert, Michael Sulick Vladimir Putin, enormously popular in Russia yet reviled in the West, avidly courting, and courted, by ...

Fine Print

Walter Pincus

President Trump's Real Emergency

February 19, 2019 | Walter Pincus

OPINION -- Prior to President Trump, only two Presidents have initiated use of the special emergency authority [U.S. Code Title 10, Section 2808] to transfer un-obligated military construction money to ...

Opinion
Steven L. Hall

I Was in the CIA. Trump's Petty Fights and Insults Will Make Us All Less Safe.

February 18, 2019 | Steven Hall

Steven Hall spent more than 30 years in the CIA, the bulk of them running and managing intelligence operations in Eurasia and Latin America.  He has experience both in counterintelligence ...

False Flags in Cyberspace: Targeting Public Opinion and Political Will

February 17, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

Bottom Line: In the digital age, determining the origins of cyberattacks is already difficult, but cyber actors can further muddy attribution by diverting blame for attacks to others. The intention ...

Dead Drop: February 15

February 15, 2019 | Anonymous

WELL, IF SHE SAYS SO: Long-time intelligence watcher James Bamford has a truly bizarre story in The New Republic which declares Russian “student” Maria Butina, innocent. Bamford, who initially gained fame by writing ...

Cipher Select

Congressman Dan Crenshaw

The Special Operations Mission: A View from the Hill

February 15, 2019 | Congressman Dan Crenshaw

It’s been a busy national security week in DC.  Congressional lawmakers and the President managed to reach a deal that would fund the government but leaves the issue of border ...

Fine Print

Walter Pincus

The Serious Trust Deficit Between Washington and Pyongyang

February 14, 2019 | Walter Pincus

OPINION -- Two senior U.S. military commanders in the Indo-Pacific area this week questioned whether North Korea would ever denuclearize, just 12 days before the next scheduled summit in Hanoi between ...

The Iran Brief

February 14, 2019 | Norman Roule

As part of The Cipher Brief's special coverage in the run up to our 2019 Threat Conference in Sea Island, GA March 24-26th, we will be presenting a series of ...

Book Review

Under Cover
Breaking and Entering: The Extraordinary Story of a Hacker Called

World Needs More Alien Hackers

February 12, 2019 | Breaking and Entering: The Extraordinary Story of a Hacker Called "Alien"

BOOK REVIEW:  Breaking and Entering: The Extraordinary Story of a Hacker Called ‘Alien’ By Jeremy N. Smith Reviewed by Niloofar Razi Howe Hacking new technology is an old sport. In ...

Are the U.S. and China Still Destined for War?

February 11, 2019 |

A lot has happened since China expert and Harvard Professor Graham Allison’s best-selling book on China, Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides Trap was published in 2017. ...

Cipher Select

Rob Lively

SOF Leader's Advice For Reaching Full Potential

February 08, 2019 | Rob Lively

The Cipher Brief’s new Friday column, ‘Cipher Select’ talks with retired Command Sergeant Major (CSM) Rob Lively, who spent 28 years in the U.S. Army, where he was part of ...

The Islamic Revolution's Impact on Political Islam and the Middle East

February 07, 2019 | Emile Nakhleh

Cipher Brief Expert Emile Nakhleh is a retired CIA Senior Intelligence Service Officer and founding director of the CIA’s Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program Office. Iran celebrates the fortieth anniversary ...

Cyber Initiator

Mark Weatherford

The U.S. Has Abandoned Leadership of the Internet

February 07, 2019 | Mark Weatherford and Paul G. Doherty

A hundred years from now historians will write that one of America’s greatest contributions to the world was the Internet. Though other countries and foreign citizens contributed to the effort, ...

Cyber Initiator

Melissa Hathaway

The Quickly Spreading Global Cyber Threat

February 06, 2019 | Melissa Hathaway

Cyber has quickly become the global threat that knows no borders, nor does it distinguish between the public and private sectors.  Executives from the world’s largest tech companies gathered at ...

Profile: Tackling the NSA's Innovation Challenge

February 06, 2019 |

Innovation in Government isn’t generally a phrase that rolls off the tongue, but in a relatively unconstrained threat environment, innovation has become synonymous with survival. A few years ago, the ...

Book Review

Under Cover
Strategic Warning Intelligence

Review: Does Strategic Warning Intelligence Matter?

February 05, 2019 | Strategic Warning Intelligence

Strategic Warning Intelligence: History, Challenges, and Prospects by John A. Gentry and Joseph S. Gordon (Georgetown University Press) Reviewed by Jason U. Manosevitz The importance of strategic warning analysis is ...

The Coming Chinese Storm

February 05, 2019 | Mark Kelton

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats briefed the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week about the comprehensive threat that China poses to U.S. national security. While there were a ...

The Threat Posed by Hezbollah

January 31, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

In a statement for the record presented to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence this week about worldwide threats facing the U.S., Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said that ...

How to Kill Off A Withering Terrorist Organization

January 30, 2019 | Bruce Hoffman

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats released the Worldwide Threat Assessment on Tuesday, with Intelligence Community leaders briefing Senators on the biggest threats facing the U.S. While The Cipher Brief ...

The Next Terrorist Threat

January 28, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

ISIS has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack at a cathedral in the Philippines that left at least 21 people dead and scores injured. Earlier this month, ISIS claimed responsibility for ...

Putin's Great Year

January 23, 2019 | Steven Hall

A recent poll conducted by a Russian polling group, suggests that domestic trust in Vladimir Putin is at its lowest level in more than a decade. Still, it’s important to ...

The Next North Korean Summit

January 19, 2019 | Tim Willasey-Wilsey

President Donald Trump will hold a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in late February. The White House made the announcement following an Oval Office meeting between ...

Get More Briefs
VIEW OUR COLUMNS

Members-Only Briefs & Analysis

False Flags in Cyberspace: Targeting Public Opinion and Political Will

February 17, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

Bottom Line: In the digital age, determining the origins of cyberattacks is already difficult, but cyber actors can further muddy attribution by diverting blame for attacks to others. The intention ...

Dead Drop: February 15

February 15, 2019 | Anonymous

WELL, IF SHE SAYS SO: Long-time intelligence watcher James Bamford has a truly bizarre story in The New Republic which declares Russian “student” Maria Butina, innocent. Bamford, who initially gained fame by writing ...

The Iran Brief

February 14, 2019 | Norman Roule

As part of The Cipher Brief's special coverage in the run up to our 2019 Threat Conference in Sea Island, GA March 24-26th, we will be presenting a series of ...

Are the U.S. and China Still Destined for War?

February 11, 2019 |

A lot has happened since China expert and Harvard Professor Graham Allison’s best-selling book on China, Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides Trap was published in 2017. ...

The Islamic Revolution's Impact on Political Islam and the Middle East

February 07, 2019 | Emile Nakhleh

Cipher Brief Expert Emile Nakhleh is a retired CIA Senior Intelligence Service Officer and founding director of the CIA’s Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program Office. Iran celebrates the fortieth anniversary ...

Profile: Tackling the NSA's Innovation Challenge

February 06, 2019 |

Innovation in Government isn’t generally a phrase that rolls off the tongue, but in a relatively unconstrained threat environment, innovation has become synonymous with survival. A few years ago, the ...

The Coming Chinese Storm

February 05, 2019 | Mark Kelton

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats briefed the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week about the comprehensive threat that China poses to U.S. national security. While there were a ...

The Threat Posed by Hezbollah

January 31, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

In a statement for the record presented to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence this week about worldwide threats facing the U.S., Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said that ...

How to Kill Off A Withering Terrorist Organization

January 30, 2019 | Bruce Hoffman

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats released the Worldwide Threat Assessment on Tuesday, with Intelligence Community leaders briefing Senators on the biggest threats facing the U.S. While The Cipher Brief ...

The Next Terrorist Threat

January 28, 2019 | The Cipher Brief

ISIS has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack at a cathedral in the Philippines that left at least 21 people dead and scores injured. Earlier this month, ISIS claimed responsibility for ...

Putin's Great Year

January 23, 2019 | Steven Hall

A recent poll conducted by a Russian polling group, suggests that domestic trust in Vladimir Putin is at its lowest level in more than a decade. Still, it’s important to ...

The Next North Korean Summit

January 19, 2019 | Tim Willasey-Wilsey

President Donald Trump will hold a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in late February. The White House made the announcement following an Oval Office meeting between ...

Get More Briefs

Latest

Book Review

Under Cover
Putin’s World

An Easy to Read Study for Laymen Interested in Modern Day Russia

February 19, 2019 | Putin's World

BOOK REVIEW: Putin's World By Angela Stent Reviewed by Cipher Brief expert, Michael Sulick Vladimir Putin, enormously popular in Russia yet reviled in the West, avidly courting, and courted, by ...

Fine Print

Walter Pincus

President Trump's Real Emergency

February 19, 2019 | Walter Pincus

OPINION -- Prior to President Trump, only two Presidents have initiated use of the special emergency authority [U.S. Code Title 10, Section 2808] to transfer un-obligated military construction money to ...

Opinion
Steven L. Hall

I Was in the CIA. Trump's Petty Fights and Insults Will Make Us All Less Safe.

February 18, 2019 | Steven Hall

Steven Hall spent more than 30 years in the CIA, the bulk of them running and managing intelligence operations in Eurasia and Latin America.  He has experience both in counterintelligence ...

Cipher Select

Congressman Dan Crenshaw

The Special Operations Mission: A View from the Hill

February 15, 2019 | Congressman Dan Crenshaw

It’s been a busy national security week in DC.  Congressional lawmakers and the President managed to reach a deal that would fund the government but leaves the issue of border ...

Fine Print

Walter Pincus

The Serious Trust Deficit Between Washington and Pyongyang

February 14, 2019 | Walter Pincus

OPINION -- Two senior U.S. military commanders in the Indo-Pacific area this week questioned whether North Korea would ever denuclearize, just 12 days before the next scheduled summit in Hanoi between ...

Book Review

Under Cover
Breaking and Entering: The Extraordinary Story of a Hacker Called

World Needs More Alien Hackers

February 12, 2019 | Breaking and Entering: The Extraordinary Story of a Hacker Called "Alien"

BOOK REVIEW:  Breaking and Entering: The Extraordinary Story of a Hacker Called ‘Alien’ By Jeremy N. Smith Reviewed by Niloofar Razi Howe Hacking new technology is an old sport. In ...

Cipher Select

Rob Lively

SOF Leader's Advice For Reaching Full Potential

February 08, 2019 | Rob Lively

The Cipher Brief’s new Friday column, ‘Cipher Select’ talks with retired Command Sergeant Major (CSM) Rob Lively, who spent 28 years in the U.S. Army, where he was part of ...

Cyber Initiator

Mark Weatherford

The U.S. Has Abandoned Leadership of the Internet

February 07, 2019 | Mark Weatherford and Paul G. Doherty

A hundred years from now historians will write that one of America’s greatest contributions to the world was the Internet. Though other countries and foreign citizens contributed to the effort, ...

Cyber Initiator

Melissa Hathaway

The Quickly Spreading Global Cyber Threat

February 06, 2019 | Melissa Hathaway

Cyber has quickly become the global threat that knows no borders, nor does it distinguish between the public and private sectors.  Executives from the world’s largest tech companies gathered at ...

Book Review

Under Cover
Strategic Warning Intelligence

Review: Does Strategic Warning Intelligence Matter?

February 05, 2019 | Strategic Warning Intelligence

Strategic Warning Intelligence: History, Challenges, and Prospects by John A. Gentry and Joseph S. Gordon (Georgetown University Press) Reviewed by Jason U. Manosevitz The importance of strategic warning analysis is ...

VIEW OUR COLUMNS
Dead Drop

PARTS IS PARTS:  In 2013, then SOCOM commander, Admiral Bill McRaven, announced that the military was creating a bullet-proof exo-skeleton for elite warriors.  So, what happened to the project dubbed 'Iron Man'?

Get the Drop
Intel Brief
Soufan Center

The Islamic State Will Live on Through Its Affiliates

February 19, 2019 | Intel Brief

  Bottom Line Up Front Even after the collapse of the territorial caliphate in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State will live on through its franchise and affiliate groups. Among ...

Get More Intel

Matt Olsen

Former Director, National CounterTerrorism Center
The Cipher Brief has emerged as the go-to source for analysis and insights on cyber and national security. As the global security landscape has become increasingly complex, The Cipher Brief has become indispensable -- providing a non-partisan platform for experts from government and business to share views, learn from each other, and work together to find new partners and solutions.
2018-10-20T16:31:07+00:00
Former Director, National CounterTerrorism Center The Cipher Brief has emerged as the go-to source for analysis and insights on cyber and national security. As the global security landscape has become increasingly complex, The Cipher Brief has become indispensable -- providing a non-partisan platform for experts from government and business to share views, learn from each other, and work together to find new partners and solutions.
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/testimonials/matt-olsen

Ambassador Joseph Detrani

Former Director of the National Counterproliferation Center
The in-depth analysis The Cipher Brief provides, an all issues affecting our national security, written by some of the most senior and knowledgable public and private sector experts, is truly unique and invaluable. It's a must read for anyone interesting in world affairs.
2018-10-20T16:43:25+00:00
Former Director of the National Counterproliferation Center The in-depth analysis The Cipher Brief provides, an all issues affecting our national security, written by some of the most senior and knowledgable public and private sector experts, is truly unique and invaluable. It's a must read for anyone interesting in world affairs.
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/testimonials/ambassador-joseph-detrani

Sponsored Content

January 01, 1970 | Sponsored Content

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Network Spotlight

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen

Prior to his appointment as a senior fellow at the Belfer Center, Mr. Rolf Mowatt-Larssen served over three years as the Director of Intelligence and Counterintelligence at the U.S. Department of Energy. Prior to this, he served for 23 years as a CIA intelligence officer in various domestic and international posts, to include Chief of the Europe Division in the ...

Read More

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