Technology, New FBI Powers Needed to Combat Terror

By David R. Shedd

David R. Shedd served in the U.S. government for nearly 33 years. In August 2014, he was named Acting Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency following four years of service as Deputy Director. Until January 2015, he led the Defense Intelligence Enterprise workforce comprising more than 16,500 military and civilian employees worldwide. From May 2007 to August 2010, Shedd served as the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Deputy Director for Policy, Plans and Requirements. Prior to that, Shedd served in a number of capacities in the DNI, National Security Council, CIA, and in U.S. embassies overseas. Since leaving the federal government in February 2015, Shedd has been serving as a Heritage Foundation Distinguished Fellow and an Adjunct Professor at Patrick Henry College. He works as an independent national security consultant, serves on several corporate Boards, and is actively supporting several Missions/NGOs such as Justice & Mercy International and Samaritan's Purse.

After a multi-faceted attack in London on Saturday evening that saw a van with three assailants drive into pedestrians on London Bridge and then attack victims in the popular Borough Market shopping area nearby, the United Kingdom has now been the victim of terror three times in as many months. The Cipher Brief’s Callie Wang asked David Shedd, the former Acting Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, about ISIS’ strategic and tactical evolution, how law enforcement and intelligence can get closer to disrupting lone wolf plots, and whether “lone wolf” is the right way to frame the issue.

The Cipher Brief: The attack in London comes just after the attack in Manchester. What struck you about these latest London attacks? Could it be a result of a ‘contagion effect’?

“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 in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62

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