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Dead Drop

NOUN

  1. A location to secretly pass information without a face-to-face meeting.

Each week we hope to give our readers tidbits of gossip from the world of national security and intelligence. The Dead Drop is a source of fun or intriguing news you can’t get anywhere else.

Got a tip for us? Email us at  thedeaddrop@thecipherbrief.com  and share the scoop. We promise to protect our sources and methods.

Below is our recent intelligence collection:

Dead Drop: December 28 - January 4

IRAN’S SPY CRACKDOWN SETS A GRIM RECORD – Iran is recording its highest number of executions in roughly two decades, with nearly 2,000 carried out in 2025, according to human rights monitors. The UK’s The Telegraph reports that many of those who were put to death were accused of espionage following closed proceedings and confessions that were reportedly obtained under coercion. The spike comes amid heightened tensions with Israel and persistent domestic unrest, underscoring how broadly Tehran now defines “national security.” In practice, espionage has become a flexible, fast, and fatal [...] Read More

Dead Drop: December 21-27

YOU SUNK MY BATTLESHIP – If you are among those who spent the holidays dreaming of big beautiful battleships on the near horizon like the one [...] More

Dead Drop: December 14-20

COAST GUARD BACKS AWAY FROM “SWASTIKAS ARE JUST DIVISIVE” POLICY. SENATE BREATHES AGAIN -- After a week of self-inflicted chaos, the Coast Guard [...] More

Dead Drop Archive

Dead Drop: Week of December 7

THERE’S SOME WHACKY SH*T GOING ON AT NSA: It’s like leadership roulette at the National Security Agency (NSA), now with 100% more chaos. According to [...] More

The best national security gossip

THE MISSING ADMIRAL: There’s been a lot of media attention over the past few days about Frank “Mitch” Bradley – who back on September 2nd was a [...] More

Dead Drop: November 24

CODENAME 'INTELACCESS': For the first time ever in its decade of publishing national security insights from insiders, The Cipher Brief is offering a [...] More

Dead Drop: November 16

WHAT ABOUT THE SCULL AND CROSSBONES? The Washington Post reported recently that the U.S. Coast Guard had modified its stance on whether swastikas and [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of November 9

SIGNS OF THE TIMES: We assume the Trump administration elected to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War to send a [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of November 2

RECKLESS PEACEMAKER: MILEAGE MAY VARY – The Institute for Global Affairs — a think tank that measures global risk and public mood — just dropped a [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of October 26

RIGHT AND WONG: To say that there is a little sniping going on between federal government spokespeople and the media – might be underselling it just [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of October 19

WRECKING BALLROOM: There has been a ton of discussion over the past few days about the demolition of the East Wing of the White House to make space [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of October 12

‘MUST SEE’ TV: Pete Hegseth has ordered Defense Department leaders to verify that every member of the Department has watched or read a transcript of [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of October 5

BIGGEST CROWD FOR A PROMOTION CEREMONY EVER! PERIOD! We are sure that is what Sean Spicer would say about this week’s event where Pete Hegseth [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of September 28

HOLD MY BEER (IN CYBER) — Imagine the nightmare scenario of a cyberattack depriving you of your favorite beer. That may soon be the sobering reality [...] More

Dead Drop: Week of September 21

UH, SECURITY RISK ANYONE? Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has ordered hundreds of U.S. military senior ranks to the Marine Corps base at Quantico next [...] More