The End of Net Neutrality: Implications for National Security
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted 3-2 on Thursday to dismantle their authorities to enforce net neutrality rules that prohibit internet service providers, such as […] More
Tech
Next-Gen Drones: Making War Easier for Dictators & Terrorists
The introduction of armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) permanently altered the modern battlefield. New technological advances in drone technology could do it again: from advanced […] More
Outing Spooks: “Doxing” in the Cyber-Hack Era
Revealing the identities of intelligence officials – a practice known as doxing – could become more common among nation-states, directed in particular at the clandestine […] More
When Terrorists Learn How to Hack
Terrorist groups are expanding their use of the internet beyond mere messaging and disseminating operational know-how, slowly adding a cyber-hacking toolset that could one day […] More
In Defense of Tapping the Internet to Keep You Safe
In one month, the authorities provided under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA) are due to expire unless reauthorized by Congress. […] More
Best Of: What Dirt Does Russia Have on You?
For this year’s Thanksgiving Day feature, The Cipher Brief revisits its coverage of the Kremlin’s strategic use of blackmail to silence dissent at home and […] More
Legal Limbo Leaves Killer Robots Off-Leash
The UN’s Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) met last week to discuss lethal autonomous weapons systems. But while most member […] More
Network Take: A Welcome Cyber Disclosure
The Cipher Brief Cyber Advisory Board’s Bob Gourley commented on the Trump administration’s new process for disclosing software vulnerabilities it has detected – the first […] More
Hacking Secrets: WikiLeaks Drips Out ‘Gift That Keeps on Giving’
The intelligence community has been taking body blows lately – with Friday’s WikiLeaks dump of CIA hacking tools and a report in The New York […] More
Social Media: The Fifth Column in the Fifth Domain
The key question as representatives from Facebook, Twitter and Google testify Tuesday and Wednesday before Congress is not how Russia used social media to interfere […] More
Spread of Cyber Financial Crimes Demands Better Answers
The numbers are staggering, yet only the tip of the iceberg. More than 145 million American citizens are affected by the Equifax data breach disclosed […] More
Civilian Deaths in City Fights Embolden Insurgencies
Urban environments pose special challenges for counterinsurgency efforts as well as for complex operations against criminal gangs and drug trafficking operations. In Brazil, for example, […] More
Street Sense: The Urban Battlefields of the Future
As ISIS’s hold of its capital of Raqqa disintegrates, and the rubble of a razed Aleppo settles, a trend is beginning to emerge – war […] More
Urban Combat: ‘Cities Are Sponges That Soak Up Troops’
In October 2017 – as Iraqi forces mop up in Mosul, fighting rages round Raqqa and Deir Ezzour in Syria, the United States resumes bombing […] More
Quantum Computing Means Unbreakable Codes at Unbeatable Speeds
The field of quantum physics, a century-old science, which found that particles have unique and unexpected properties at the smallest scale, is now at the […] More
Quantum Communication and the Measure of a Paradox
Quantum computing and other technologies, which seek to exploit the bizarre behaviors of particles at the microscopic quantum level, have the potential to revolutionize computing, […] More
Rumbles of the Quantum Computing Revolution in Security
Imagine a sensor that could instantly detect nuclear submarines deep underwater, a supercomputer that can break the strongest encryption in the blink of an eye, […] More
China on the ‘Cutting Edge’ of Unmanned Systems
The United States has long been the dominant designer, user, and seller of military drone technology. But China has quickly grown into a developer and […] More