Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

The Honors Awards
cipherbrief

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

The Cipher Brief: National Security news, analysis and expert commentary.

Killing Mencho

Did the U.S. Supercharge the Hunt for Mexico’s Kingpin of Kingpins?

The National Guard In Mexico Conducts An Operation Following The Death Of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, "El Mencho," Leader Of The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, At The Hands Of Federal Forces

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING — Exactly who tracked El Mencho, the world’s most wanted and feared drug lord, to a heavily armed safe house in a remote [...] More

AmericasNorth America
Open Source Report logo

The Open Source Report

AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN-CONFLICT

Global Intelligence Report for Friday, February 27, 2026

Pentagon shoots down Customs and Border Protection drone

Trump’s claims about Iranian missile unsupported by U.S. intelligence, say sources

Pakistan declares ‘open war’ with Afghanistan’s Taliban as cross-border attacks escalate

Anthropic rejects Pentagon pressure as Hegseth threatens supply chain action


Access Today’s Report

Expert Insights

Cipher Brief Experts bring context to today’s global events

Breaking Down our "Red October" Moment for AI

Mark Munsell

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE/OPINON -- In the climax of the 1990 movie “The Hunt for Red October”, the Soviet captain of the V.K. Konovalov makes a fatal error. Intent on destroying the defecting Red October submarine, he orders [...] More

The Transparency Challenge: Europe’s Defense Supply Chain Blind Spot—and Why the Pentagon Went to War Footing

Joey Gagnard

Welcome to The Iron Triangle, the Cipher Brief column serving Procurement Officers tasked with buying the future, Investors funding the next generation of defense technology, and the Policy Wonks analyzing its impact on [...] More

AmericasJoey GagnardNorth AmericaUnited States
View More ›

News & Analysis

Tracing the Evolution of Russian Hybrid Warfare

Tracing the Evolution of Russian Hybrid Warfare

KREMLIN FILES/ANALYSIS: Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 did not emerge from a strategic vacuum. It was the culmination of [...] More

EuropeUkraine

Opinion

Purpose-Built or Perilous: Congress Faces a Critical FBI Headquarters Decision

Purpose-Built or Perilous: Congress Faces a Critical FBI Headquarters Decision

Richard A. Hauser

Purpose-Built or Perilous: Congress Faces a Critical FBI Headquarters Decision

OPINION – Congress is weighing a decision with critical National Security implications for generations to come: where to locate the next FBI [...] More

Alternative Perspectives

What’s on The Cipher Brief’s Digital Channel

Book Reviews

A Narrow Lens on China's Red Revolution
A Narrow Lens on China's Red Revolution

The Struggles for a Two-State Solution – An Israeli Perspective
The Struggles for a Two-State Solution – An Israeli Perspective

The Gray Man’s Back—And the Body Count’s Rising
The Gray Man’s Back—And the Body Count’s Rising

dead dropdead drop

The Best National Security Gossip

IRAN AMOK: If you read Friday’s Nightcap newsletter, then you already knew - just hours before the U.S. and Israel began launching attacks against Iran - that there were a number of signs that it may happen this weekend. A wave of attacks and retaliatory attacks has kept cable networks going 24/7 – but here are a few oddball items you might have missed:LOOSE LIPS? On Friday afternoon, attorney Mark Geragos was reportedly chowing down at a well-known DC restaurant, Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab just before he was planning to go record a podcast from the bar with TMZ boss Harvey Levin. But four men sitting at a [...] More

Get The Drop

Events

Live Events

The Cipher Brief 2026 HONORS Awards

The Cipher Brief 2026 HONORS Awards

Join us for the third annual Cipher Brief Honors Dinner, the evening of March 13, 2026. This Black-Tie event is invite only, please apply here for a [...] More

Upcoming: 13 March, 2026

Podcasts

State Secrets

Sir Richard Moore gets serious with the State Secrets podcast about the impact that intelligence alliances will have on future security, shares what he knows about China and Russia, lays out the ways in which AI and other technologies will impact the intelligence mission and oh yeah, aliens. We actually asked him about that. Find out what he had to say in this episode of the State Secrets podcast - recorded just as he prepares to accept this year’s Cipher Brief HONORS Award for Impact in Alliance.

Cover Stories: Spies, Books & Entertainment


David McCloskey, former CIA Analyst turned novelist is out with his fourth book, The Persian, about an Iranian dentist who is recruited by Mossad to take on a dangerous mission inside Iran. Cover Stories Host Suzanne Kelly digs in on how McCloskey’s real-life Intelligence background fueled his latest novel, and discovers a few of McCloskey’s own secrets along the way.