Threats

The Next Wave of Cyberattacks Won’t Steal Data — They’ll Change It

America’s intelligence chiefs say data that goes missing may become the least of our cyber worries.

Threats

Should the US Use Hidden Data To Warn Industry About Attacks?

If tipping off the private sector would compromise intelligence sources, it’s not clear when government should act.

Threats

Report: NSA Gave Germany Access to Powerful Internet Surveillance Tool

Germany's internal spy agency traded surveillance data on its citizens for access to XKeyscore, Die Zeit newspaper says.

Threats

Germany Charges Own Spy With Spilling Secrets To US, Russia

The spy, arrested last summer, is accused of accepting more than $100,000 from the CIA to snoop on Germany.

Threats

The Ashley Madison Hack Is Not OPM (But the Government May Be Watching It Anyway)

Thousands of the site’s affair-seeking users registered from .mil and .gov domains — at least ostensibly.

Ideas

The Intel Community Needs A Better Media Strategy

As press watchdogs stiffen their spines, intel agencies must decide what secrets truly need protecting and why.

Science & Tech

Russia’s Troll Army Is Making Life Harder for US Spies

How Moscow’s robotic feeds and paid social-media commentators complicate open-source intelligence gathering.

Science & Tech

How Uber Could Help Change Spycraft

The U.S. intelligence community wants feedback from the innovative car-sharing company and other commercial startups on its 5-year data-analysis roadmap.

Business

The Original NSA Whistleblower Is Still Rebuilding His Life

Working in an Apple store in Bethesda, Thomas Drake is advocating heavily for more protections for national security whistleblowers.

Science & Tech

What’s Inside the Justice Department’s Secret Cybersecurity Memo?

Despite calls for its release, the government will not make public a memo that Sen. Ron Wyden says is crucial to the Senate’s looming cybersecurity debate.

Science & Tech

An Unexpected Voice Speaks Out Against Backdoored Encryption

Former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff joins the league of technologists who have come out against the FBI’s push to put holes in privacy technology.

Threats

Former Pentagon Intel Chief Says Military’s Clandestine Service Is Growing

The original vision for the Defense Clandestine Service was scaled back, but Michael Vickers says the new agency is still building up.

Business

Why Lone Wolf Attacks Are So Hard To Predict

Events like the shootings in Tennessee show the possibilities and limitations of predictive analytics.

Science & Tech

Suddenly, Everyone Wants the NSA's Cyber Defense Tech

Orders are rolling in, from banks and agriculture companies alike, for the spy agency’s newly available commercial products.

Science & Tech

The Best Way To Stick It To Dictators, Help Dissidents, and Boost Privacy

It makes the Internet safer and allows people living under autocracy to get around government censors. But the FBI wants to break it.

Science & Tech

FBI Director Warns Lawmakers ISIS Is Using Encryption To Order Killings

'This is not your grandfather’s al-Qaida,' James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Ideas

FBI Director Comey Is Wrong: Strong Encryption Makes Us All Safer

Forcing companies to keep cyber back doors for law enforcement gives adversaries a way in, too.

Science & Tech

How To Break Into the CIA’s Cloud on Amazon

Looking to steal America’s spy data from Amazon? Hope you’re up for a challenge.

Ideas

Espionage Lessons from the OPM Hack

It's been nearly a month since the mammoth breach. Here's a few lessons the government can immediately pick up about espionage in 2015.

Science & Tech

FBI Director: Encryption Is Great As Long As It Lets Us In

Ahead of Capitol Hill hearings, James Comey blogs that a good-guys-only backdoor would keep Americans safer than universal strong encryption.