The Potential Danger of Classified Intel Briefings in a Bitter Campaign
NBC’s Wednesday night “Commander-in-Chief Forum” gave some insights into how Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump might handle the job, but I first want to deal […] More
North America
Nation’s Top Spy: U.S. Faces "Perpetual State of Suppression" of Terror
The Russians hack the United States’ systems “all the time,” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a conference of intelligence professionals on Wednesday. He […] More
What the Next President Faces: Tectonics
I was recently asked what I would tell a Presidential nominee or a President-elect to most worry about in today’s world. It was kind of […] More
Cipher Brief Network On Trump's Intelligence Community Comments
On Wednesday, Republican Presidential nominee, Donald Trump, received his first classified intelligence briefing at an FBI field office in New York City. The briefing, which […] More
Zika: A National Security Threat?
Calls for more funding to fight the Zika virus have intensified in the last week as concerns over the implications of a potential crisis in […] More
Mexico’s Energy Reform: Five Factors that will Determine its Future
Mexico has made historic progress in the two and a half short years since it amended its constitution to allow private investment in its energy […] More
50 Former National Security Officials Say Trump would be a “Dangerous President”
Fifty former top national security officials who served in Republican administrations have signed a blistering letter denouncing GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump, warning he ““would […] More
Clinton at the DNC: National Security Implications
The Democratic National Convention wrapped up on Thursday with nominee Hillary Clinton looking to establish herself as the “steady” hand on national security issues, compared […] More
In Defense of Globalization
So, why America’s apparent turn toward nationalism, nativism, and even isolationism? How could the nation most responsible for leading this great and grand strategy to […] More
Federal Cybersecurity One Year After the OPM Breach
One year ago, on July 10, 2015, Katherine Archuleta resigned her position as Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in the face of […] More
Improvements and Uncertainty
It has been a little over a year since the Office of Personnel Management announced that it had been breached. Since that time, the federal […] More
The System Remains Vulnerable
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was the victim of a cyber-attack in 2014. Hackers (the Chinese are suspected) gained access to OPM’s local-area network […] More
The FBI’s Intelligence Mission
In the years since 9/11, the FBI has refocused its efforts beyond law enforcement to include, and even prioritize, intelligence gathering and counterterrorism operations. As […] More
Considering a Domestic Intelligence Service
After the San Bernardino terrorist attack there were the usual cries “to do something” to better protect the nation. We will surely again hear similar […] More
All the Tools in the Tool Chest
When the Cipher Brief asked me to write an article assessing how well the FBI has done since 9/11 in protecting our country from terrorism […] More
Attack in Orlando: The View from the UK
The first thing to state is that we are still not clear about Omar Mateen’s background. The FBI are still investigating possible motives – and […] More
Momentum for Gun Control?
In the days since the Orlando attack that marked the worst mass shooting in modern American history, gun control advocates in both Congress and the […] More
The Security Challenges for Soft Targets in the Wake of Orlando
The choice of soft targets in recent terrorist attacks in Orlando, Paris, Brussels, and San Bernardino has raised questions about the safety and security of […] More