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 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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. ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

February 05, 2019 | Walter Pincus

OPINION -- The “tremendous progress” with North Korea that President Trump has repeatedly claimed does not approach the success that Kim Jong Un has achieved, based on the status of ...

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 ...

February 04, 2019 | Rhea Siers

It’s difficult to feel anything other than disappointment after reading Reuter’s investigation of activities by a U.S. contractor in the UAE.  The allegations that former NSA analysts working for a private ...

February 04, 2019 | Jason Brodsky

Last month, the U.S. Department of State marked the 35th anniversary of the U.S. designation of Iran as a state-sponsor of terrorism. Tehran is part of an exclusive club—partners in crime ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

January 17, 2019 | Christopher Johnson

General Michael Hayden, the co-host of The Cipher Brief’s Annual Threat Conference for the past two years, has famously said that the world has been more dangerous in the past, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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. ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

January 17, 2019 | Christopher Johnson

General Michael Hayden, the co-host of The Cipher Brief’s Annual Threat Conference for the past two years, has famously said that the world has been more dangerous in the past, ...