Ideas

The End of the Dan Coats Era

Whoever takes over from Coats permanently could serve as a needed voice of clarity about America’s biggest challenges—or see the intelligence community further sidelined.

Policy

Dan Coats Spoke Truth to Trump. Now He’s Out.

The director of national intelligence won plaudits for laying out the intelligence community’s assessments on issues ranging from Iran to Russia.

Threats

FBI Director Names China the Nation's Most ‘Severe Counterintelligence Threat’

Russia also shows no signs of stopping its election interference efforts ahead of 2020, Christopher Wray told lawmakers.

Policy

NSA Launches Cybersecurity Directorate

The group is charged with defending the country’s national security infrastructure and defense contractors against digital threats.

Ideas

Don’t Expand the Covert Agents Secrecy Law

A House measure would put not only the press but the intelligence community at risk.

Threats

The Making of a Russian Spy

An ethnic Russian serving in Estonia’s military had something to hide. Now he’s in prison as a convicted traitor.

Science & Tech

How the CIA is Working to Ethically Deploy Artificial Intelligence

As the agency uses new technology, insiders are thinking critically about issues around privacy and bias.

Threats

The Partisan Divide on How to Read the Intelligence on Iran

Adam Schiff lays out his worries on the intelligence, but the Trump administration is pushing back.

Science & Tech

Microsoft Unveils Two Secret Data Centers Built for Classified Government Data

Microsoft is building data centers and expanding security capabilities to compete with Amazon to host sensitive government data.

Science & Tech

The US Is Investing in AI for High-Powered Satellite Imagery Analysis

The Intelligence Community envisions a system combining archives with real-time surveillance footage from drones and other aircraft.

Ideas

What ‘Game of Thrones’ Teaches Us About Intelligence

George R.R. Martin’s maesters are close to Kent’s ideal intelligence professional — with illuminating similarities and differences.

Business

NSA Gave Contractors $630M in Incentives. Its Watchdog Has Questions.

More than half of the incentive-based contracts reviewed by the agency's inspector general lacked proof that such incentives were necessary.

Science & Tech

The Newest AI-Enabled Weapon: ‘Deep-Faking’ Photos of the Earth

Step 1: Use AI to make undetectable changes to outdoor photos. Step 2: release them into the open-source world and enjoy the chaos.

Threats

How Many Civilians Die in Covert US Drone Strikes? It Just Got Harder to Say

Trump has revoked an Obama-era reporting requirement even as the CIA has resumed lethal strikes.