The Cipher Brief

Expect Russia to Escalate Its Attacks on our Democracies

From false-flag operations and social media manipulation to AI-enabled influence campaigns, Moscow continues to refine the intelligence tradecraft it has used against democratic societies for decades.

US-RUSSIA-POLITICS-INTELLIGENCE-HACKING-REPRISALS

The Kremlin Files: For many in the West, Russian information warfare still conjures images of hacked emails, troll farms, and social media [...] More

The Open Source Report

Expert Insights

Cipher Brief Experts bring context to today’s global events

Governance Failure and Civil Resistance in Azad Jammu and Kashmir

Governance Failure and Civil Resistance in Azad Jammu and Kashmir

The June 2026 events in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) are the most recent example of a larger governance issue rather than a singular political [...] More

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OLIGARCH LOOKING FOR WORK: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has now publicly acknowledged that sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich slipped into Kyiv earlier this spring in a pitch to be a Kremlin go between with Moscow. Abramovich, a former Kremlin insider and also past owner of the Chelsea Football Club, reportedly carried messages between Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding a potential peace deal. Reportedly one of the conditions of the go between offer was that it remain “silent without any kind of public messages.” So much for that. The Moscow Times is also reporting more details on [...] More

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State Secrets

America's national security challenges are evolving faster than ever—and the traditional defense innovation system is struggling to keep pace.

In this episode of State Secrets, Cipher Brief CEO Suzanne Kelly sits down with two of the most influential voices in defense innovation: Steve Blank, creator of the Lean Startup methodology and co-founder of Hacking for Defense, and Pete Newell, retired Army officer, founder of BMNT, and co-founder of Hacking for Defense.

Together, they discuss how students at leading universities are tackling real-world challenges from the Pentagon, intelligence community, and NASA; why AI is changing the way innovators build solutions; and what it will take for the United States to compete with increasingly adaptive adversaries like China.

The conversation explores defense acquisition reform, the Pentagon's innovation ecosystem, startup culture in national security, the rise of defense venture capital, and why the biggest challenge may not be technology—but people.