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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: July 11

IN THIS WEEK'S EDITION: (Yet) another Russian leader who falls out with Putin, has a really bad week; Reports emerge about Iran's low-budget espionage program in Israel; One of the best (or at least funniest) spy shows is sneaking back into the fall lineup; and how does your hero's garden grow?WERE HIS WINDOWS STUCK? Various media accounts say that former Russian Transport Minister Roman Starovoit was found dead on Monday just hours after Vladimir Putin fired him for no specific reason other than “lack of trust.” Official Russian sources said that Starovoit was found dead in a Moscow suburb [...] Read More

Dead Drop: July 4

IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION: We’re wishing the U.S. a very happy birthday and sending our gratitude to those who are working overseas to help keep the [...] More

Dead Drop: June 27

THIS WEEK: SURPRISES, SECRETS AND SPY COCKTAILS: This week’s best collection of national security gossip is filled with surprises, secrets and a [...] More

Dead Drop Archive

Dead Drop: June 20

IT ONLY TOOK 116 YEARS: The British Secret Intelligence Service better known as MI6 will soon be headed by its first-ever female chief when Blaise [...] More

Dead Drop: June 13

SHOULD GREENLAND AND PANAMA BE (EVEN MORE) NERVOUS: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was engaged in a war of words this week with lawmakers during a [...] More

Dead Drop: June 6

THE TANGLED WEB: For an excellent deep dive into the meaning and mechanics of Ukraine’s stunning deep strike into Russia that destroyed or damaged [...] More

Dead Drop: May 30

A GOLD MEDAL SPORT: Remember those senior members of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s staff who were summarily fired for – well, it was never [...] More

Dead Drop: May 23

IN THIS WEEK’S DEAD DROP RUMINT FILE: The NSA may have a new Deputy Director very soon and that could be followed by a new NSA director being named [...] More

Dead Drop: May 16

CHANGE IS IN THE AIR: On Tuesday, Fox News was the first to report that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard removed the top two officials [...] More

Dead Drop: May 10

CIPHER BRIEF EXPERTS ARRIVE IN KYIV: This week’s DD is a day late. And it’s not because our spies blew their deadline. It’s because a lot of Cipher [...] More

Dead Drop: May 2

THE SIGNALS WERE THERE: President Trump announced Thursday that Mike Waltz will no longer be serving as National Security Advisor and that he is [...] More

Dead Drop: April 25

THE CIPHER BRIEF SPEAKEASY IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS (BRIEFLY): While all the buzz was about The Cipher Brief HONORS Dinner last weekend and the amazing [...] More

Dead Drop: April 18

THE BEST NATIONAL SECURITY BALL OF THEM ALL: The Cipher Brief is hosting its annual HONORS Dinner this week in Washington, recognizing the best of [...] More

Dead Drop: April 11

“LUDICROUS”: CIA Director John Ratcliffe reportedly made a secret trip to Dubai this week to oversee the release of U.S. Russian dual national Ksenia [...] More

Dead Drop: April 4

EXPERTS NEED NOT APPLY: The Dead Drop has learned that NSA Director General Timothy Haugh (who also serves as Commander of U.S. Cyber Command) and [...] More