Ideas

Expand Five Eyes to Nine? That's Four Too Many

The proposed expansion would force the original members to stop spying on the new ones.

Threats

The Pentagon’s New UFO Office Has a Specific Job

Defense leaders want to make sure they can spot and track “phenomena” trespassing over training ranges.

Threats

Adding India to the Five Eyes Would Cause a New Cold War, Pakistani Official Says

Proposal in the U.S. Senate draws harsh words as Islamabad works up a new anti-terrorist effort.

Threats

Taiwan Emerges as a ‘Pre-eminent Issue’ For CIA’s New China Directorate

A takeover might look like Russia’s takeover of Crimea and might be coordinated with the Kremlin.

Threats

A Quartet of Warnings Highlight Climate-Related Threats

Agencies vow to heed climate change in all strategy planning, but experts say that won’t be enough.

Ideas

It’s Not About Submarines. It’s about Software

Important as AUKUS submarines are in the military balance, the new way of deterrence will be about the strength, speed, and resilience of software.

Policy

NSA Cyber Chief Spells Out Near-Term Priorities

Ransomware is a top concern, but the agency is also looking ahead to defending networked weapons and post-quantum encryption.

Threats

Vulnerabilities May Slow Air Force’s Adoption of Artificial Intelligence

More data on the battlefield means a wider attack surface, something the Defense Department has yet to prepare for, experts say.

Ideas

Promote Open Source to a Full Member of the Intelligence Community

The exploitation of publicly or commercially available information must be recognized alongside spies, signals intelligence, and other established branches of practice.

Policy

Biden Goes After China’s Cyber Attackers

U.S. and allies blame China’s government, announce new measures to fight a massive cyber criminal ring akin to Russia’s, but threaten no sanctions yet.

Ideas

How the Intelligence Community Can Get Better at Open Source Intel

Several factors make it harder to use publicly available information in all-source assessment than classified information.

Science & Tech

CIA’s Last Classified Fax Machines Are About to Retire

A secure email system dubbed Gray Magic will replace the legendary analog technology.

Science & Tech

How to Detect Sarcasm with Artificial Intelligence

Humans make inferences about tone and meaning, but algorithms can find hidden relationships between words to detect irony and intentional falsehood.

Ideas

America Needs Competitive Intelligence

Agencies ought to be thinking about how to bring U.S. capabilities to bear on adversaries’ vulnerabilities, in competition as well as in conflict.

Science & Tech

Former NGA Head to Join Satellite-Imagery Firm

An intelligence chief who embraced transparency says AI will shape the next chapter of imagery analysis.

Science & Tech

A Better Way to Spot Deep-Faked Satellite Images

Training AIs to look at 26 subtle features may help thwart attempts to peddle fraudulent imagery.

Threats

Petraeus Trashes Biden Decision to Quit Afghanistan

Pulling out now is an “unforced error,” the former commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan said. Other former war leaders say the threat can be managed.