WATCHING WHAT YOU WATCH: The MI5 Director General, Ken McCallum, revealed in a recent speech that his outfit has developed AI tools to help British intelligence figure out whether people who watch violent videos are on the road to becoming radicalized, and if they present a terrorism risk. The UK’s domestic intelligence service has reportedly automated the process so that MI5 personnel don’t have to watch the gruesome videos themselves. “Understanding whether, say, a prolific contributor to extreme right-wing online forums is also watching graphic beheading videos, can help in assessing the level of risk they might pose,” McCallum told students at Glasgow University. Apparently, his pitch was in part, aimed at students with tech backgrounds who might be interested in a career in intelligence. But McCallum cautioned that being a spy is not like it is in the movies. “I can confirm mathematically that James Bond is 94.83 percent fiction,” he said. We’re not math majors, but we think there is a 99% chance McCallum was making that part up.
KARMA CATCHES UP, EVENTUALLY: Russian operative Andrey Lugovoy, who has been accused of fatally poisoning anti-Putin dissident Alexander Litvinenko by putting polonium 210 in his tea, has reportedly developed cancer himself. Some people believe Lugovoy’s ailment may have been triggered by his 2006 tea tampering in London. According to The Sun, Lugovoy’s alleged co-conspirator, Dmitry Kovtun, died last year allegedly from “Covid complications.” The Sun probably put the phrase in quotations, just to make clear that not everyone was buying that cause of death. News of Lugovoy’s condition came from leaked emails and health records that apparently were obtained by a Ukrainian hacking group calling itself “Inform-Napalm.” Of course, you can’t rule out that the Kremlin henchman’s health woes (if true) coiuld have been caused by a roll of the cosmic dice and not his dastardly deeds in a tea parlor – but one can’t help but wonder if the wheels of justice and karma finally caught up to him.
CONSIDER THE SOURCE: A publication calling itself CovertAction Magazine recently published an article that caught our eye. The (very long) title is “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Came to Power in Carefully Planned Operations Coordinated by Western Intelligence Services, Says Former U.S. Diplomat.” In case you are not familiar with the publication – it grew out of entities formerly known as CovertAction Quarterly and CovertAction Bulletin that made their name attacking the CIA, other western intelligence agencies, and capitalism. The lengthy title of this latest article raises a number of questions in our minds. For example, how (supposedly) did these intelligence operations manage such a coup? And where who (or what) is the source? The answer to the second question – probably rendered it unnecessary to spend too much time pondering the first. The tale comes from former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter – last seen running around Russia on a “book tour” and singing the praises of his pal Vladimir Putin. Ritter, you may recall, spent three years in prison for attempted sexual contact with minors. Now, he has a video out titled “Agent Zelensky”, saying that the Ukrainian leader is really an agent of MI6 and is being handing by its director, Sir Richard Moore. In the video, Ritter alleges that Zelensky is “in essence a Manchurian candidate whose rise to power was scripted by very powerful people as if in a Hollywood movie.” The claims get wackier – for instance charging that the CIA helped bolster Zelensky’s image by getting his and his wife’s photo on the cover of Vogue magazine. Will those CIA folks stop at nothing? The CovertAction Magazine article contained what was said to be a YouTube link to the Agent Zelensky movie but when first clicking on it, we got a message saying “Video unavailable. This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated.” Subsequently, the message was changed to “This video has been removed for violating YouTube’s Terms of Service.” We’re guessing the same part of CIA that places Vogue cover photos was probably responsible for giving Ritter YouTube headaches.
I FEEL THE NEED, FOR GREEN: If you had any question about whether military retention problems are serious – here are a couple stories that should remove all doubt. The U.S. Navy is offering pilots who hold the rank of commander and are eligible to command a squadron – a bonus of $105,000 to agree to stay in uniform for three more years. In days of yore, aviators would kill (well, maybe not literally) for a chance to command a squadron. Now, it takes financial inducements. Potential enlisted recruits are now being enticed with offers that could amount to up to $140,000 when you combine bonuses and loan repayment. The U.S. Air Force is also telling pilots who might be thinking of bailing out of the service. “not so fast.” They are offering bonuses of $50,00 per year for those who are willing to extend their commitments. The service has left it a little fuzzy about how many years you could extend. We figure that if you sign up for another 20 years, they’d owe you $1 million.
FLEX-TIME SPIES: It is not just the U.S. military that is facing some recruiting and retention headwinds. Apparently, Britain’s MI5, MI6 and GCHQ intelligence organizations are also struggling to keep their ranks filled. According to The Daily Mail, the organizations are offering some candidates a chance to “…work part-time or choose their own hours, while spying on terrorists or foreign agents, while some may even be allowed to job-share.” But wait, that’s not all. Others are said to be offered the chance to squeeze five-day work weeks into four. “Surely,” you say, “these must just be administration jobs and not real spy stuff.” (No, and don’t call us Shirley – a reference from the 1980 movie, “Airplane!” for those who may be culturally deprived.) The Daily Mail says the jobs include “agent handlers” who can work from home – but have to put in at least four days of work per week. Apparently, even 007 can’t be expected to work nine to five these days.
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COVER STORIES: What do you get when you cross a CIA Officer, something that appears to be alien life, and an author? Oh, there are so many answers that could be right for this one, but the right answer is Black Vault, a new Amazon Original Story by CIA Alum-turned author Alma Katsu. Cover Stories podcast co-host Suzanne Kelly talks with Katsu about her latest work of fiction and about the one mission she still hasn’t completed. We hear that you can listen and subscribe to the Cover Stories podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
A CIA DIRECTOR, A PDDNI, A NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL-INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR AND A RETIRED ADMIRAL WALK INTO A BAR: OK, maybe not a bar, but those are some of the incredible speakers at this year’s Cipher Brief Threat Conference. It’s the country’s most prestigious gathering of national security experts from the public and private sectors (if we do say so ourselves). Looking for a seat at the table? Apply now because we hear it’s nearly sold out this year.
A NEW SUNDAY (NATIONAL SECURITY) PAPER: If you love nothing more than a good cup of coffee and a good paper to make you smarter on national security issues on Sunday mornings, you might want to check out The Cipher Brief’s new Sunday Interview Series. Last week, the series featured an exclusive conversation with Cipher Brief Expert General Philip Breedlove (Ret.) and his Sobering Assessment of the War in Ukraine. Look for new expert interviews each Sunday in what we hope will become your favorite Sunday read (other than the Sunday Cyber Read Ahead Newsletter, of course!)
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
PICKING ON PUTIN: If we didn’t know better, we’d think that Vladimir Putin may not be in complete control of the messaging in Russia. As evidence, we offer an article found in the Daily Express which contains a video of a building in the Russian city of Surgut (about 1,300 miles from Moscow.) The office building is one of those places with a scrolling electronic sign at the top featuring the latest news. Either a hacker or disgruntled employee had some words for Putin. The sentiment was said to have been sparked by the problems Russia is having with their economy. In any case, the message is more than a little rude. The British tabloid translated it as: Putin is a “d***head” and a “thief.” Perhaps Putin will take a page from Richard Nixon and declare: “I am NOT a crook.”
WE WOULD LIKE TO STEAL YOUR VERY BEST NEWS TIPS: Point us toward news items we can use in upcoming editions of The Dead Drop by emailing them to: TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
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