IT ONLY TOOK 116 YEARS: The British Secret Intelligence Service better known as MI6 will soon be headed by its first-ever female chief when Blaise Metreweli, who now runs the technology and innovation division, takes over for Sir Richard Moore later this year. For those who know more about MI6 from James Bond movies that from real life, it’s interesting to note (as the BBC did) that the chief is commonly referred to as “C” – but the “C” doesn’t stand for chief as one might think. According to the BBC, “Britain's very first spy agency was called the Secret Service Bureau, established in the 1900s. It was led by a Royal Navy officer, Captain Mansfield Cumming. He always signed his letters "C" and the codename has stuck.” Other secrets we found tantalizing: Captain Cumming apparently wrote in green ink and today, “C” is the only person who does so in Whitehall (the famous home to the spy operation). We’re not really sure what the green thing is supposed to mean, but we’ll be on the lookout. Equally interesting is that “C” cannot grant MI6 agents a “license to kill” but the foreign secretary can. BBC reports that “Under Section 7 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994, an MI6 agent can be authorized to carry out certain actions which would otherwise be illegal – including using lethal force.” No surprise that they also report that granting that authority involves a “long and complicated legal process.” Bond must have had the lawyers on speed dial.
SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED: Speaking of Bond, everyone knows the favorite fictional spy preferred his vodka martinis shaken, not stirred (or was it the other way around) but what do real life spies (or former spies) prefer? The former chief of CIA’s Central Eurasia Division, Rob Dannenberg is out with a new book, A Spy Walked Into A Bar: A Practitioner’s Guide to Cocktail Tradecraft and he’s spilling secrets about how cocktails have been used to celebrate milestones in the world of real-life espionage. A milestone might include the successful end of a tour or the successful recruitment of a spy. Dannenberg and his collaborator on the book, former CIA alum Joe Mullin, (who post CIA became a CSW - Certified Specialist of Wine) include a whole section of intel on martinis. Rumor has it though that Bond – in the books by Ian Fleming - preferred his martinis stirred and not shaken. Some martini snobs apparently think that shaking can bruise the alcohol and detract from its flavor. We’ll have to ask Dannenberg what he thinks. Somehow, we think bruising wasn’t something Bond was terribly worried about. (Note: We’ll update this post with a link as soon as the book is available for purchase.)
BRAIN DRAIN AT THE NSA: The National Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Director Dave Luber, quietly retired at the end of May after serving some 38 years. While his departure was a quiet one, it signals what many fear is a brain drain at one of the world’s most consequential spy agencies. You might remember the abrupt firing of NSA Director Timothy Haugh and his deputy Wendy Noble back in April – news that was broken by The Dead Drop. The concern then was over the reason why the NSA’s senior leadership was fired – apparently on the advice of a social media influencer – and the ripple effect that might have. Luber has kept quiet over his reasons for retiring but his departure is described by some as leaving a mark. “He’s a real pro, with an in-depth understanding of both the cybersecurity and signals intelligence mission,” one insider told us. “He rose through the ranks with steadily increasing levels of responsibility, coupled with a talent for leadership and a great managerial style. He inspired the people who worked for him and energized those with whom he worked. He wasn’t flashy or high profile, but his quiet competence made him a great choice to lead the Cybersecurity Directorate. His retirement was a blow to the Agency, particularly during the dangerous times facing the nation today.”
SPEAKING OF DRINKING:Fox News enthusiastically covered the recent military parade in Washington D.C. with live shots and expert commentary. But as the day turned to night, some of the celebratory mood became a little more obvious. Around 9:30 PM on parade day, the anchors went to a live remote interview with Rebekah Koffler, a former Defense Intelligence officer, to get her take. In a since deleted tweet, Koffler had said that she was supposed to be on earlier, but the event was running long so she would just pour herself another glass of champagne. Apparently, she wasn’t kidding because when she did make it on air, she was very bubbly but slurring her words – and Fox News dumped out of the interview. Talk about a buzz kill.
MARCHING MADNESS: The military parade was intended to celebrate the Army’s 250th birthday (and coincidentally, the Commander in Chief’s 79th) but it didn’t feel all that celebrated on Russian TV. News stations controlled by the Kremlin showed images of Russian, Chinese, North Korean and other impeccably clad troops goosestepping in their own parades – juxtaposed against U.S. Army troops who seemed to be more like ‘ambling’ down the streets of D.C. Donald Trump biographer Michael Wolff said on a Daily Beast podcast that President Trump “reamed out” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for a sloppy parade that fell short of his expectations. Wolff said Trump wanted to project a “menacing” image, but the soldiers appeared to be having too good of a time. The crowd size was also said to be disappointing to the White House (anyone else feeling déjà vu here?). White House communications director Steven Cheung, in his very special diplomatic style, disputed Wolff’s account calling him “a lying sack of s—t” saying “He routinely fabricates stories originating from his sick and warped imagination, only possible because he has a severe and debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his peanut-sized brain.” We’re not really sure what Cheung plans to do after government service. Maybe he could open his own P-R firm.
LOST IN TRANSLATION: Politico recently reported that “Washington has had it with Andriy Yermak”, (stating the obvious for a lot of Washington insiders). Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s top aid and trusted confidant has rubbed senior U.S. leaders the wrong way since the very early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. One source interviewed for the piece described him as a “bipartisan irritator” because he has annoyed senior leaders across multiple administrations. Politico cites 10 people familiar with Yermak’s recent interactions with Washington, describing the former movie producer as a “particularly frustrating interlocutor” with some of them opining that he seems uninformed about U.S. politics and “overly demanding with U.S. officials”. While it’s not a crime to be annoying, perhaps more concerning is a fear that Yermak may not always convey accurate U.S. positions back home in Kyiv. In a statement through a spokesperson, Yermak said that his main mission is protecting Ukraine’s sovereignty saying in part that “I have no ambition to fully grasp how American politics work – I come to speak about the country I know best: Ukraine.” Yermak has certainly served as a protective gate keeper to Zelensky’s and Politico reports that “During the Biden administration, officials worried about filtering Zelensky’s messages to them, and vice versa.”
WHAT DOES THE INTEL SAY: Amid speculation about whether the U.S. might join Israel in launching attacks against Iranian nuclear facilities, President Trump was asked why he believed that Iran was “very close” to obtaining a bomb – when his Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard had recently testified otherwise. “I don’t care what she said,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. Now, we’re guessing that Gabbard’s testimony was based on both the collection and the confidence levels of the intelligence community, but who are we to question? The DNI told reporters that she and the president are “on the same page” but we’re still not exactly sure what page that is. Politico says that White House communications director Steven Cheung told them that Trump “has full confidence in his entire exceptional national security team” and insisted that “efforts by the legacy media to sow internal division are a distraction that will not work.” We don’t wanna sow internal division, we just wanna know what the intel says.
WHAT’S THE STORY: The Wall Street Journal reported recently that several Washington Post journalists have possibly been the victims of targeted cyberattacks by hackers who wanted access to their email accounts. The journalists were said to include those who report on national security and economic policy matters. The Post reportedly informed their staffers of the breach, but the WSJ says those involved were told not to discuss the matter externally. An internal notification from Post executive editor Matt Murray said, “We do not believe this unauthorized intrusion impacted any additional Post systems or has had any impact for our customers.” Feels like there are some important unanswered questions here for inquiring minds – like who’s behind the attack?
PIZZA-INT: Want to know when the U.S. may be cooking up some military activity? Well, some folks think that one way to keep an eye on potential world crises is to track pizza deliveries near the Pentagon. Fast Company reports that an X account called Pentagon Pizza Report noted a “HUGE surge in activity” in the early evening of June 12, just prior to news breaking about Israel’s attack on Iran. No matter how you slice it – this is not a new phenomenon. The Soviets used to keep an eye on the pies back during the Cold War. That said, we have a low confidence that this is really a reliable means of intel gathering. In fact, some trained analysts might even call it tasteless.
READING BETWEEN THE LINES: Here’s an interesting item spotted by one of our loyal readers: according to the BBC, papers written by computing and codebreaking trailblazer Alan Turing were recently sold at auction for £465,400 (about $625,000 at current rates.) The documents, which include Turing’s PhD dissertation, were originally gifted to one of Turing’s friends, Norman Routledge, who died in 2013. They then fell into the possession of Routledge’s sister and when the sister was moved into a care home – so that woman’s daughter got them and apparently “considered shredding everything” until someone suggested the docs might have some value. The auctioneer, Jim Spencer, said "This was the most important archive I've ever handled. "The papers came within inches of being destroyed, and instead they've captured the world's imagination. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime discovery – not just for collectors, but for the sake of preserving the story of one of the greatest minds in history." Maybe a good lesson in the benefits of reading between the lines, eh?
I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE:The Jerusalem Post reported on June 10th that Israeli police and the Shin Bet had arrested a 13-year-old boy in Tel Aviv for carrying out missions on behalf of Iran. The lad now says he was contacted via the Telegram app and offered cash for small tasks like spraying pro-Iranian graffiti in Tel Aviv. He also was asked to take photos of the Iron Dome air defense system but apparently did not complete that job.
NOT TO BE OUTDONE: Reuters reported on June 12th about a Canadian 17-year-old who was recruited by Russia to carry out intelligence gathering tasks in Europe in exchange for small sums of cryptocurrency. The lad, named Laken Pavan, apparently got cold feet – and drunk -- in Poland and asked a receptionist at a budget hotel to call the police. Perhaps before sobering up, he admitted to working with the FSB and that he had previously promised to pass information about the Polish military to his Russian handler. Pavan pleaded guilty in December 2024 and is serving a 20-month prison sentence. Reuters reports that “Since the full-scale invasion in 2022, dozens of teenagers in Ukraine and at least 12 teens elsewhere in Europe – in Germany, Poland, Britain and Lithuania – have been arrested in Russia-linked cases of sabotage and spying.” The WHY this is happening apparently is because so many Russian intelligence operatives have been expelled from European countries that Team Putin has resorted to offering candy to little kids.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
GRAND OLD FLAG: In addition to being the birthday of the U.S. Army President Trump, June 14th also marked “Flag Day” in the U.S. So, we can all agree that it was entirely appropriate that the Department of Defense posted on social media a post saying “Let us honor the emblem of our nation and the stars and stripes that unite us all.” What some people don’t agree with however, was the graphic that accompanied the post. It had “Flag Day” in big white letters and included the DOD seal…but it also included what appeared to be two small Russian flags next to a much larger Old Glory. Elon Musk’s AI Grok explained that “Most likely, it was a total design mix-up” but probably just a “whoopsie” and not a sneaky message. In any case – the Pentagon has not removed the post and appears to have decided to let their freak flag fly.
NCAA ATTACKS THE MARINES: The NCAA reportedly filed a petition in court to block the U.S. Marine Corps’ application to trademark the phrase “Sousa’s March Mania” – to describe a competition for marching band performances. The NCAA refers to its own college basketball tournament as “March Madness” (even though it now ends in April) and they apparently object to someone using the word “march” near “mania” which they say is a synonym for “madness.” We think the NCAA may have thrown a brick on this one and hit a sour note. Their complaint strikes us as madness.
IF YOU HAVE ANY NEWS WE CAN USE, MARCH TO YOUR COMPUTER AND SEND YOUR BEST NEWS TIPS TO: TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com DOING OTHERWISE WOULD BE MADNESS.
