The Realities of Diversity in Spycraft
Sonya Seunghye Lim is a former Chief of Station with the Central Intelligence Agency. Before retiring from the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, she had a […] More
Espionage
The Spyhunter’s Burden
OPINION — A recent email from the current Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Chief of Counterintelligence (C/CI), wherein Agency retirees were reminded of their life-long obligation […] More
What the Wirecard Scandal Tells us about Russian Intel Operations
Sonya Seunghye Lim is a former Chief of Station with the Central Intelligence Agency. Before retiring from the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, she had a […] More
Exclusive: Spy Chief Gets Welcome Endorsement
In a letter obtained by The Cipher Brief this week, former CIA Directors and Acting Directors, including former Director Gina Haspel, endorsed CIA Director Bill […] More
A Glimpse of Bill Burns’ CIA
Walter Pincus is a contributing senior national security columnist for The Cipher Brief. He spent forty years at The Washington Post, writing on topics from […] More
A New World of Global Security: A Briefing with Sir John Sawers
The new COVID-19 national security world is one shaped by a host of national and global security issues that were impacted – both good and […] More
Inside the Bureau of Intelligence and Research
The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, better known as INR, is charged with providing intelligence products in support of U.S. diplomatic efforts around […] More
Operation Fortitude: A Lesson in Deception from D-Day
(Photo caption: Full-size dummy LCTs, codenamed BIGBOB, moored in South East England before the Normandy invasion (British Imperial War Museums, photograph H 42527, public domain). This […] More
Biden’s National Security Test
Cipher Brief Expert John McLaughlin is former Acting Director of the CIA, former Deputy CIA Director and is the Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the […] More
The Russians Have Issued a Wake Up Call
Weeks after a massive cyber breach of U.S. government agencies and private sector companies was publicly announced, there is still not a clear response from […] More
Washington’s Cyber Reckoning
As Washington continues to investigate the true depth of what experts are describing as one of the most damaging cyberattacks in U.S. history, both government […] More
Is the US Staying on Top of its Espionage Game?
As part of The Cipher Brief’s look at known Russian spies, we spoke with Cipher Brief Expert Rolf Mowatt-Larssen about the spy game and a […] More
Recruiting for Mother Russia
Last week, a former Army Green Beret captain was indicted, accused of providing national defense information to Russia in what appeared to be a spying […] More
Putin’s Cloak and Dagger Moves
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is in a coma after doctors at the German hospital where he is being treated say he was poisoned. Last […] More
A Look Inside the Justice Department’s National Security Priorities
Last week, the Justice Department brought an indictment against two individuals accused of working with China’s Ministry of State Security to conduct a decade-long cyber […] More
A Return of Ideological Spying?
Counterintelligence in a Time of Crisis Mark Kelton is a former senior Central Intelligence Agency executive who retired in 2015 with 34 years of experience […] More
The China Problem
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called out China’s claims in the South China Sea this week, saying they are “completely unlawful.” It was a distinctive […] More
Are We on the Brink of an Encounter with China?
OPINION — On the morning of Tuesday, July 7, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Hudson Institute audience, “The greatest long-term threat to our nation’s […] More