The Slippery Slope of Intelligence Sharing with Ukraine
OPINION — More than two months into the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a number of key security developments have emerged, some of which have […] More
Archive for ‘Intelligence’
Commercial Intelligence in the Gray Zone
Ian Conway is a private intelligence analyst supporting international legal investigations and investors in high-risk frontier markets. He has more than two decades of analytical […] More
Ukraine Declassified: Intelligence Sharing on the Edge
Wednesday, May 18, 2022, 1:30–2:30pm ET Expert Guests: Beth Sanner, Former Deputy Director for National Intelligence, ODNI Lt. Gen. Bob Ashley (Ret.), former Director, Defense […] More
Call out Chinese Spying for the Threat it Is
OPINION — “The beginning of wisdom”, according to a quote ascribed to Confucius, “is to call things by their proper name.” That saying came to […] More
Disinformation: How Spies Can Help Find Truth
Wednesday, April 13, 2:00–3:00pm With the evolution of technology, a breakdown of trust in once-trusted institutions and U.S. adversaries creating their own facts and pushing […] More
Soviet Espionage Under the Cover of Diplomacy
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last month, the US government expelled 13 Russian diplomats working at the United Nations. It did […] More
US Intelligence is only as Good as what goes into it
OPINION — Officers in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)’s Directorate of Operations (DO) have a penchant for action and readiness to serve in any circumstance. […] More
Putin Likely Didn’t Plan on Publicly Available Information in his War in Ukraine
OPINION — Even a cyber and info war aficionado like Russian President Vladimir Putin must begrudgingly appreciate the karmic role that the slew of publicly […] More
Ukraine and How Private Sector Intelligence is Defining a New World
The Cipher Brief welcomes Kevin Mandia, CEO of Mandiant, for a timely discussion on private sector involvement one of today’s most pressing issues. Wednesday, March […] More
Intelligence Isn’t Just for Commanders Anymore
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Intelligence is for commanders, or at least so I’ve been told. Regardless of the term you prefer—commander, principal, or policymaker—the idea expressed […] More
Ukraine and Using the Righteousness of our Cause Creatively
OPINION — Putin’s invasion of Ukraine will generate immediate waves on the intel front, especially in HUMINT operations. Some effects will follow established patterns, but […] More
The Perfect Storm of Technology, Intelligence and AI
OPINION — The Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution is here and is rapidly becoming a central element of the Great Power Competition. Machine Learning (ML) and […] More
The Real Power of Intelligence ‘Auxiliaries’
The democratization of intelligence is changing how espionage is done – and by whom. How can states best achieve their aims in an age of […] More
Preparing for Great Power Competition in AI and Intelligence
A Virtual Briefing Wednesday, March 2, 2022, 1:30-2:30pm EST This discussion will cover the promise of AI, the growing importance of Open Source to the […] More
Fabrication Operations in War
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday that an attack against a kindergarten in Ukraine is a “false flag operation designed to discredit the Ukrainians”, […] More
The US is Engaging in a Strategy to Share Intelligence on Russia More Broadly. Is it Worth the Risk?
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief […] More
The Intelligence Game is Changing. Are We Ready?
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — As retirees of the Clandestine Service at the CIA, we worked for decades in the shadows around the world, at ease in […] More
Intelligence Reports from the Front Lines of Cyber
A Virtual Briefing | Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 1:30-2:30pm EST We are now living in a constant state of competition in the cyber domain, an […] More
Open Source Intelligence and Uncovering Secrets Hidden in Plain Sight
OPINION — The intelligence community (IC) has long struggled with the idea of Open Source intelligence, or OSINT. For the last 80 years, it has […] More
Corporate Intelligence Playbook: Part 1
FEATURE — Occasionally, we ask Cipher Brief Experts with experience in both the public and private sectors to share their thoughts on security-related issues. The […] More
A Former Presidential Briefer Rethinks Truth to Power
OPINION — “I think we should stop teaching ‘truth to power’,” a CIA analytic instructor once told me. That was more than a decade ago, […] More
The Importance of Tempest Standards
ACADEMIC INCUBATOR — During Trump’s first impeachment trial in 2019, Republican lawmakers accessed the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility—or SCIF, in layman’s terms—that Rep. Adam Schiff […] More
The Urgency of the Moment for Congress on AI and National Security
(Editor’s Note: This article is the fifth and final article in a series first published by our friends at Just Security that is dives into the foundational […] More
From Warsaw with Love
The training for new CIA case officers is, for the most part, practical and vitally important for the grooming and development of those tasked with […] More