U.S. Should Sanction Iran's ICT Minister

by Tzvi Kahn

Days after nationwide protests began in late 2017, Iran’s minister of information and communications technology (ICT) sounded an alarm. “A Telegram channel is encouraging hateful conduct, use of...

A Very Personal Take on Threats to Strip Security Clearances

by Doug Wise

I served the United States for 48 years in various national security roles that required me to hold a security clearance.   I saw it as a privilege, granted by our government, and reflecting the...

Helsinki Summit: A Time for Choosing

by Rolf Mowatt-Larssen

Cipher Brief Expert Rolf Mowatt-Larssen is the former Director of Intelligence and Counterintelligence at the U.S. Department of Energy.  He is currently senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy...

Special Operations DEPTEMPO and the National Security Risk

by Stu Bradin

Most of my adult life was spent as a soldier in special operations. One of the most persistent issues throughout my career was finding the right balance of deployment tempo (DEPTEMPO) with time in...

Keeping the Role of the White House Cyber Security Coordinator in Perspective

by Dr. Barbara George

Protecting the technology networks connecting more than two million employees working in over 400 government agencies serving about 325 million Americans is a herculean feat. In May, the Office of...

The Short-Sightedness of Obama-Era Cyber Operations Policy

by James Van de Velde

The Trump Administration is likely deliberating now the U.S. Department of Defense’s role in defending US interests via cyberspace – specifically, whether to continue President Obama’s...

How Journalists Pin Down the President

by Walter Pincus

Journalists need to find a way to pin down President Trump, and his June 10 press conference in Singapore provided a clear example of one way to do it. The subject was whether Trump had brought up...

The President's Summit Adventure Through an Intelligence Lens

by David Priess

OPINION: The eyes of an intelligence officer are trained to look for what a person’s behavior uncovers about his or her motivations and aspirations, which can then help predict future...

N. Korea, the U.S. and the Strange Path to Singapore

by Admiral Sandy Winnefeld

  One wonders what the alien creature Griffin, portrayed by Michael Stuhlbarg in Men in Black III, and capable of seeing all possible futures, would see in the range of outcomes for the upcoming...

Why Cyber Norms are Dumb and Serve Russian Interests

by James Van de Velde

  During the Cold War era, there was an adage that arms controllers hated but proved prophetic, “When relations are bad, you don’t want arms control; when relations are good, you don’t...