Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

cipherbrief

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

Espionage

POKROVSK, UKRAINE - OCTOBER 7: A general aerial view shows the destroyed city covered in morning fog, following months of intense fighting near the front line, on October 7, 2025 in Pokrovsk, Ukraine.

Global Intelligence Report for Friday, November 7, 2025

07:16 America/New_York Friday, November 7 [...] More

The Latest

Behind the Mask: The Politics of Hidden Intervention

BOOK REVIEW: COVERT ACTION: NATIONAL APPROACHES TO UNACKNOWLEDGED INTERVENTIONBy Magda Long (Editor, Contributor), Rory Cormac (Editor, Contributor), [...] More

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te (William Lai) delivers a national day address, during the National Day Ceremony, outside the Presidential Office in Taipei, Taiwan, on October 10, 2025.

Global Intelligence Report for Friday, October 31, 2025

06:03 America/Chicago Friday, October 31 [...] More

A ship crosses the Baltic Sea at sunrise

The War You Can’t See: Gray Zone Operations Are Reshaping Global Security

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE -- In the middle of the night, with no witnesses, a single ship flagged out of Hong Kong drags its anchor across the Baltic Sea. [...] More

Checkmate, Comrade: Espionage, Surveillance, and the Quiet Rebellion over the Chess Board

BOOK REVIEW: Spy’s Mate, A NovelBy Brad Buchanan / Thinkers PublishingReviewed by: Jean-Thomas NicoleThe Reviewer — Jean-Thomas Nicole is a Policy [...] More

How We Got SSCI with a Little Help from CIA

OPINION — You’ve probably seen that iconic photo of Senator Frank Church (D-ID) holding up a CIA poison dart gun, right? Or perhaps the one of [...] More

China’s Gray War on America

OPINION — In early 2024, the American public received a stark warning from top U.S. security officials. Chinese state-sponsored hackers, known as [...] More

The Sword of Freedom: Blueprint for Survival and Resilience

BOOK REVIEW: THE SWORD OF FREEDOM: Israel, Mossad and The Secret WarBy Yossi Cohen / Broadside BooksReviewed by: Jean Thomas NicoleThe Reviewer [...] More

Spy Versus Spy: Iran’s Playbook for Espionage in Israel

OPINION — Israel’s intelligence penetration of Iran played out in dramatic form over the course of the 12-day war this summer, but Iran is running an [...] More

Expert Q&A: Undersea Cables Under Attack, from Outside and Within

EXPERT Q&A — Reports of damage to undersea cables across the world are on the rise, with suspected foul play in many of these incidents. These cables [...] More

Here’s How Russia’s Covert War Could Undermine its Own Goals

Here’s How Russia’s Covert War Could Undermine its Own Goals

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE / OPINION — The July 2025 sanctioning and indictment by the United Kingdom of three units and 18 individuals affiliated with the [...] More

Expert Q&A: The Silent Chinese Spy Threat Under the Waves

EXPERT Q&A — There is increasing focus on the vulnerability of undersea cables — a critical infrastructure which is key to much of global [...] More

I Sat Across the Table from China’s Spies. Here’s How They Operate in Fragile States

OPINION — In 2016, I sat across the table from China’s Director of Operations for the Ministry of State Security (MSS). Their visit to Kabul was [...] More