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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: April 5 - 11

CLOUD COVER: Iran has been targeting American tech companies in the Gulf with drone and missile strikes since the war began. Oracle was on the list — the IRGC cited the company's cloud and AI contracts with the Pentagon and founder Larry Ellison's ties to the Israeli government as a reason for targeting them. When debris from an intercepted Iranian drone hit the facade of an Oracle building in Dubai Internet City, authorities confirmed they responded to a "minor incident" — no injuries reported. Amazon Web Services later confirmed that two of its data centers in the UAE were directly struck, [...] Read More

Dead Drop: March 29 - April 4

DIA - UNCONFIRMED – We’re hearing from the rumor mill that DIA Deputy Director Christine Bordine’s last day in that role was today (Wednesday) and [...] More

Dead Drop: March 22 - 28

YOUR PRIVACY TOOL IS WATCHING YOU: The whole point of a VPN (virtual private network) is to hide who you are and where you are. Turns out, that may [...] More

Dead Drop Archive

Dead Drop: March 15 - 21

THE BUZZ AT BARKSDALE: Earlier this month, a swarm of unidentified drones repeatedly buzzed Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, home to [...] More

Dead Drop: March 8-14

CLAWS FOR CONCERN: While the administration has spent a lot of time talking about waste, a government watchdog outfit called “Open the Books” quietly [...] More

Dead Drop: March 1-7

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND JOB INSECURITY: In a move that came as a surprise to almost no one (including apparently, the prediction markets) President [...] More

Dead Drop: February 22-28

WHAT’S THE STRATEGY HERE? ABC News was the first to report this week that Madhu Gottumukkala, who has been serving as acting director of the [...] More

Dead Drop: February 15 - 21

FROM A BUNKER IN UKRAINE: TWO FORMER CIA OFFICERS SHARE INTEL — In this week’s State Secrets podcast, former CIA Chiefs of Station Ralph Goff and [...] More

Dead Drop: February 8-14

BLANKET COVERAGE: Turns out the turbulence at the Department of Homeland Security isn’t just contained to the border or even in the briefing room. A [...] More

Dead Drop: February 1-7

OUT WITH THE FACTS — After first being launched in 1962, the CIA’s World Factbook is no more. As the agency described on its website, the World [...] More

Dead Drop: January 25 - 31

REEL INTELLIGENCE: BEIJING TAKES SPIES TO THE SILVER SCREEN: If you plan on being in China to celebrate the Lunar New Year (around February 17), you [...] More

Dead Drop: January 18 - 24

HEAD GAMES ON THE USS FORD - Fresh from supporting U.S. operations off the coast of Venezuela, the USS Gerald R. Ford appears locked in a stubborn [...] More

Dead Drop: January 11 - 17

LICENSE TO EXPEL — DIPLOMACY GETS THE BOOT: Russia has ordered an unnamed British diplomat to leave Moscow within two weeks, accusing the official of [...] More

Dead Drop: January 4 - 10

NSA ENDS DEPUTY DIRECTOR DROUGHT: After a notably long stretch without a permanent senior civilian at Fort Meade, the National Security Agency has [...] More

Dead Drop: December 28 - January 4

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE DEAD DROP: If 2026 is anything like 2025, there will be no shortage of headlines full of absurdities, oddities and just plain [...] More