A Personal Message of Thanks from The Cipher Brief
A PERSONAL MESSAGE / OPINION — In this space that’s normally reserved for world-class reporting and analysis of global security issues, we thought we’d do […] More
United States
The U.S. is in the Midst of a Perfect ‘Cognitive Warfare’ Storm
During the 2024 Cipher Brief Threat Conference, Dave Pitts joined Brad Christian, Mike Vickers, and Ralph Goff in a discussion about Gray Zone Operations; a […] More
America’s National Security Wake-Up Call
SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – A recent report issued by the Congressionally-mandated Commission on the National Defense Strategy paints a bleak picture of future U.S. national security […] More
National Security Lessons from Crowdstrike’s Global Disaster
SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE ANALYSIS – As the world gets back online after a global outage that impacted some 8.5 million individual devices around the world, national security […] More
The Latest
Outgoing NCTC Director Lays Out Today’s Very Real Terrorist Threat
EXPERT Q&A — Christine “Christy” Abizaid was sworn in as director of the National Counter-Terrorism Center (NCTC) in June of 2021, as the threat of […] More
Assassination Attempt on Trump Could Fuel FBI’s Biggest Fear: Terrorism
EXPERT Q&A – As the FBI investigates the reasons why 20-year-old suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks may have targeted former president Donald Trump at a campaign […] More
‘Havana Syndrome’ – and a Possible Russia Connection
SUBSCRIBER+ INTERVIEW — Who – or what – is to blame for the debilitating symptoms known as “Havana Syndrome”? The question has been asked repeatedly […] More
The West’s Weapons Problem: Growing Threats, Dwindling Stockpiles
SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — As the U.S. and NATO deepen their involvement in a pair of major global conflicts, western nations face a critical security challenge: […] More
What Might a CIA-tasked ‘Red Cell’ on China Tell us?
OPINION / EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — After 9/11, the Directorate of Intelligence (DI) at CIA created a ‘Red Cell’ that was given the mission of truly […] More
The Best Reads of 2023: A Holiday Gift Guide
HOLIDAY SPECIAL REPORT – In this season of giving, your friendly neighborhood Cipher Brief “Undercover” team – which spends the bulk of the year publishing […] More
A Letter to Congress on the Impact of Section 702
[Ed note: The House of Representatives is considering the renewal of surveillance authorities this week that a number of former government officials say are critical […] More
Who’s Really Winning the Global 5G and Cloud Computing Infrastructure Race?
SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE REPORTING — As the new era of fifth generation (5G) mobile communications advances, China remains steadfast on dominating the field. That poses a national […] More
DoD’s Replicator Drone Concept Builds on Lessons Learned in Ukraine
“Small, smart, cheap, and many” is the way Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks describes the characteristics of the drones that the Pentagon intends to put […] More
EXCLUSIVE: Manila’s Envoy to Beijing Weighs-In On Recent US-China Tensions
EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBER+ INTERVIEW — An old friend of Beijing returned to China this week in a move that harkens back to a time when Manila […] More
The Path to 2024’s Election Is Engulfed With Novel Threats
CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING — The former head of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) could scarcely be more clear in his evaluations of […] More
NATO’s Four Big Challenges: A Subscriber+Exclusive Interview
Exclusive Subscriber+Interview — This week’s NATO Summit in Vilnius may have fallen short of the clear path to membership that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has […] More
NATO Intel Chief Warns Russia: Ukraine ‘belongs in the NATO family’
CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – In late 2021, NATO Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Security David Cattler traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, just around the time Russian […] More
Erdogan’s ‘Poker Game’ Uses Sweden As Chip: A Subscriber+Exclusive Interview
Exclusive Subscriber+Member Interview — In a flurry of negotiations on the eve of the NATO summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed himself as the […] More
U.S.-Iran Stand-Off Hints of Old “Tanker War”
CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – Less than a month ago, with global attention fixed on the Ukrainian offensive, U.S. Admiral James Stavridis (ret.) sought to open […] More