THEY’RE COMING FOR YOUR BRAIN: (well, sort of…)It got our attention this week when former senior CIA officers Dave Pitts and J.D. Maddox made a rather compelling case in The Cipher Brief that U.S. adversaries - including China and Russia - are effectively using cognitive warfare strategies against Americans and that the U.S. needs to get smart on the strategy…real fast. The two define ‘cognitive warfare’ as “activities conducted across a broad spectrum to achieve specific strategic objectives by influencing individuals, groups, and societies at the cognitive level—through information activities, but also through a wide range of actions and pressures that can influence cognition. Our perceptions and beliefs, what and how we think, how we make decisions, the decisions we make, and even our will and resolve are under unprecedented assault.” The piece provides insightful observations on the issue and offers some ways for all of us private citizens to defend ourselves.
YOUR BRAIN ON POLITICS: With a U.S. presidential election just days away, another piece in The Cipher Brief by terrorism experts Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware question what’s going on in people’s heads as fears of a U.S. civil war following the election continue to circulate. The two point to some historical instances when violence was linked to politics in this country and assess how likely we are to see some of this election’s campaign rhetoric turn violent after the vote. The obvious observation here is that people choose to live in our democracy so that they can have peaceful transitions of power, right? Or maybe the U.S. adversaries who are coming for our brains have actually captured some of them already.
MAYBE AI CAN TELL ME WHAT TO THINK: Russia Media Monitor Julia Davis captured a clip of Russian propaganda outlet RT chief Margarita Simonyan admitting (or claiming?) that many of the TV hosts who appear on her network don’t exist and are completely AI generated. Many of these simulated journalists have social media accounts, she said. Simonyan also says journalism and a myriad of other professions will soon cease to exist. At least we think it was Margarita making this claim – but perhaps it was just an AI generated version. This did get us thinking though, why shouldn’t RT use AI? If the idea is to provide state-sponsored messaging instead of critical independent, objective reporting, do you really even need a human in the picture?
TRYING TO PLUG THE LEAKS: There was a great deal of buzz when highly classified U.S. intelligence documents started showing up online around October 18th. The documents appeared to demonstrate U.S. knowledge of forthcoming Israeli attacks on Iran – which happened just a few days later. The documents were dated October 15 and 16. About a week later, CNN reported that the FBI was believed to be zeroing in on where the leaked documents were printed. The network noted that the FBI was working with Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) investigators (which might offer a hint as to where officials think the leaker or leakers might have been working). One of the documents that was posted online was said to have been compiled by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and another was said to be an NGA document derived from National Security Agency information. White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters last week, that it was uncertain whether the breach was a leak or a hack but said there was no indication of any “additional documents like this finding their way into the public domain.” Which raises the question – if you don’t know how the leak or hack happened, how do you really know?
A SPINNING WARTIME COMPASS: Our wartime compass is spinning in Ukraine when it comes to who is doing what on the battlefield. First came word that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has dispatched 10,000 North Korean soldiers to Russia (detailed in a great interview on The World Deciphered with former Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk). Now, we hear that nearly 200 North Koreans with military backgrounds who defected to South Korea in recent years, are banding together to help Kyiv launch a psyops campaign against the Kim commandos. Apparently, some of them think they can convince their kin heading to Ukraine to switch sides. And if that’s not enough - The Cipher Brief’s Open Source Report this week included a bit from The Independent quoting U.S. envoy to the United Nations Robert Wood warning that North Korean soldiers deployed by Russia to Ukraine “will surely return in body bags.” Still, escaping the Kremlin clutches may be easier than crossing the Korean DMZ. It seems Ukraine’s “I Want to Live” surrender hotline may soon have Korean-speaking operators standing by.
“LE AGENCY?” About 20 months ago, The Dead Drop told you about a planned Showtime TV series based on the French drama “Le Bureau des Legendes.” George Clooney had signed on to direct the Americanized version of the series which at the time they planned to call “The Department.” Well, the series is now set to premier on Showtime/Paramount + on November 29. A trailer has dropped but information about the ten-episode series is still sketchy. We’ve learned that the cast includes Richard Gere, Michael Fassbender and Jeffrey Wright and the name has been changed from the boring “The Department” to the nearly as boring “The Agency.” But the change is fitting since the producers say it is about a covert CIA “agent” who is ordered to abandon his undercover life and return to the Agency’s London station. Let us know what you think of it. We think it’s a little insane. You’ll understand if you watch the trailer.
ABOVE AND WAY BEYOND: There seems to be a never-ending fascination with UFOs (or UAPs or whatever you want to call them.) MGM+ has just launched a new documentary called “Beyond: UFOs and the Unknown.” The trailer looks like the conventional collection of fighter pilots stunned by what they did or didn’t see – and researchers who think the government is hiding the ugly truth from us. One episode has streamed and there will be at least three more in the coming days but so far, sentiment about the documentary is about as mysterious as UFOs themselves. At last check, The Rotten Tomatoes website had not rated the series because too few people had watched it.
UNIDENTIFIED FICTIONAL OBJECTS: If you don’t have patience for documentaries – you might prefer a published list of “12 TV Shows About Aliens Living Among Us, Ranked” courtesy of the folks at TV Insider. Who knew there had been so many shows about aliens? Admittedly, there are several on the list we had never heard of – but in the category of ones we had – there was #10 “My Favorite Martian,” #5 “Mork and Mindy,” #3 “3rd Rock from the Sun,” #2 “Doctor Who,” and #1 on their list “The X-Files” which ran for ten seasons between 1992 and 2002 – and then reappeared with new stuff in 2016 and 2018. (And come on, who didn’t love the X-Files?)
AN ADMIRAL WALKS INTO A BAR WRITES A LOVE SCENE: Cipher Brief Expert and retired Admiral Jim Stavridis’ new novel The Restless Wave offers an entertaining historical take on the life and times of a young Navy officer as he navigates his way through World War II. As with any of Stavridis’ books (and there have been many), this one does not disappoint but one thing that took Cover Stories co-host Suzanne Kelly by surprise was how the Admiral tackled writing a love scene. (Yes, she had to ask.) You can find out the answer by listening to the latest Cover Stories podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts. (How’s that for a tease?)
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
SCARED SCIF: And since we’re talking about podcasts, if you haven’t had enough spooky stuff this Halloween season, we’d like to recommend the most recent episode of the CIA’s podcast – The Langley Files. In this edition, hosts Dee and Walter (last names unknowable) tell ghost stories of odd happenings around CIA headquarters including mysterious doings in Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs) and spaces known as “vaults” where Agency spooks do their thing. If listening to podcasts is not your thing – a written collection of ghostly spy stories is also on the Agency’s website.
IT WOULD BE QUITE A TRICK IF WE COULD GET YOU TO TREAT US TO SOME NEWS WE CAN USE BY SENDING NEWS TIPS TO US AT: TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com
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