CIA veteran Sheetal Patel helped stand up and then lead the spy agency’s Transnational and Technology Mission Center in 2022, at a time when there was no longer any denying that more outreach to the private sector and a better grasp of the technologies that were available had to become more of a focus if the Agency was to maintain its strategic adv…

Vice Admiral Frank Whitworth sits at the helm of the Intelligence Agency that is helping war fighters and Intelligence analysts better understand the world and what’s beyond it. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) works intensely with the private sector to bring the most critical technological advances to the mission – not just here o…

Despite efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to warm U.S. relations with Moscow amid negotiations for Russia to end its war in Ukraine, Russian sabotage operations, active measures and Gray Zone activities are continuing around the world. Moscow has mastered the art of engaging in operations that push right up to the edge of war, without really c…

When Walter Parkes co-wrote the movie War Games in 1983, he had no idea what he had launched. The movie about a teen hacker played by Matthew Broderick examined what might happen if someone breached the security systems around U.S. nuclear weapons. As it turned out, then-President Ronald Reagan saw the movie and asked the Joint Chiefs of Staff at t…

In this conversation, former Senior CIA Execuvite Chip Usher discusses the recent advancements made by the Chinese AI lab DeepSeq, particularly its new AI models that rival those of American companies like OpenAI. Usher, now the Senior Director for Intelligence at the Special Competitive Studies Project, explains the significance of these developme…

In this conversation, Mike Vigil discusses the recent designation of Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government, a move he says is largely symbolic with little real impact on the cartels' operations. He highlights the complexities of U.S.-Mexico relations, the ongoing fentanyl crisis, and the risks of military escalation. Vig…

Few people have the perspective that Lt. Gen Mike Groen (ret.) has when it comes to Artificial Intelligence and the impact it has and will have in the national security space. Before retiring from the military, Lt. General Groen served as Director of the Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. Today, he’s ringing the alarm about AI. The mi…

Michael Casey is Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the part of the Director of National Intelligence that leads and supports the counterintelligence and security activities of the U.S. Government. NCSC produces the National Counterintelligence Strategy of the United States and includes the National Insider Threat Tas…

The Cipher Brief has been honored to support a number of non-profit organizations over the years that have made giving back their mission – especially in the national security world. In this episode of State Secrets, we’re welcoming David Kramer, a self-described ‘regular guy who wanted to give back’ and Jeremy Morton, a former special operations o…

Cipher Brief Expert and former Senior CIA Officer Glenn Corn is asking the questions of former Governor James Gilmore as this week’s guest host. Gilmore served as Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe under the first Trump Administration and says it’s critical that Ukraine wins this war.…

The Hon. Gilman Louie has had quite the career in national security, one that – despite his family’s background of service – he wasn’t exactly planning on. Now the co-founder and managing partner of America’s Frontier Fund, a phone call early in his career set him on a path that would lead to a 30+ year career “in the business” as they say. Louie’s…

Beijing is building its largest military since the 1930s and Matt Pottinger and his colleagues at Stanford are deeply concerned. First as a former journalist, and then as former Deputy National Security Advisor in the first Trump Administration, Pottinger has been watching what Chinese President Xi Jinping both says and does - for decades. He expla…

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur and author Steve Blank thinks way outside the Washington DC beltway. The Stanford Professor who teaches courses on lean start-ups, innovation and the art of entrepreneurship – also blogs regularly. It may not be a state secrets that one of his blogs published earlier this year about why large organizations struggle with …

The Defense Counterintelligence & Security Agency touches more than 90% of the personnel security background checks that help determine whether a job candidate receives a security clearance. But the agency has other missions as well, all focused on enhancing national security. State Secrets podcast host Suzanne Kelly talks with Director David Cattl…

An Israeli airstrike against a school building in Gaza City earlier this month, killed nearly 100 people. Israel said the school served as an active Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility. Hamas – which regularly sets up operational headquarters in civilian areas - denies it. With so many innocent civilians killed, this is exactly the kind of st…

General Jack Keane (Ret.) talks to State Secrets host Suzanne Kelly about the serious threat posed to the U.S. today, by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. And about how Americans need to take what’s happening in today’s world as a wake-up call and come together in ways we haven’t done since WWII, to ensure future U.S. national security.…

In this episode of the State Secrets Podcast, Brad Christian interviews Mike Vigil, a former DEA Chief of International Operations, about the recent arrest of Ismael Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, and the implications for the drug trade and US-Mexico relations. They discuss the background of Zambada and the Sinaloa Cartel, the timing of…

Christine Abizaid, who has served as director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) for the past three years, sits down with State Secrets Podcast host Suzanne Kelly to talk about how the threat of terrorism has changed dramatically over the years and why the threat to Americans is still very real.…

In this sponsored episode of the State Secrets podcast, host Suzanne Kelly talks with Sujit Raman, Chief Legal Officer at TRM Labs about how the private sector is working with government to address some of today’s most pressing national security challenges and how professionals like Raman, who also served as Associate Deputy Attorney General at the…

Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges (Ret.) Former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Europe, talks to State Secrets host Suzanne Kelly about this week’s NATO Summit in Washington DC, what Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky wants, what Europe needs to ensure its own future security and why Hodges thinks that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s greatest weapon is…

When former Google CEO Eric Schmidt launched the bipartisan Special Competitive Studies Project – known as SCSP - in 2021, he did it with the intention of bringing together the best and brightest minds in technology to make recommendations that would strengthen America’s long-term competitiveness in an increasingly complex world – a world where tec…

In this episode of the State Secrets podcast, we’re talking with Cipher Brief Expert, Nick Fishwick, a former senior member of the British Foreign Office, about his column in The Cipher Brief titled, “The Lights are Going Out all over Europe”. Fishwick is talking about Europe’s relationship with Russia as it considers the possibility of war after M…

In this episode of State Secrets, we’re talking with Cipher Brief Expert, retired General Frank McKenzie. General McKenzie served for forty-two years in the U.S. military as a Marine and retired as the fourteenth commander of U.S. Central Command. He also served as Director of the Joint Staff. Perhaps one of the missions he is best known for was ov…

Former Senior CIA Officer Ed Bogan spent a decades-long career at CIA focused on the most urgent issues of our time ranging from counterterrorism to Russia in Ukraine. In this episode of State Secrets, Bogan shares his journey from law school to joining the CIA and his experiences in counterterrorism and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He emphasizes t…

“Havana Syndrome” - reported by hundreds of U.S. officials, diplomats, CIA Officers, FBI Agents and White House staff - as well as some members of their families – is described as including severe headaches accompanied by loss of balance and often followed by cognitive issues. Some doctors have concluded that the likely source is a directed energy …

The Cipher Brief made its first reporting trip to Ukraine in February of 2022. That’s when we first met Tymofiy Mylovanov, the President of the Kyiv School of Economics. When we sat down with him then, Ukraine was preparing to mark one year since Russia’s brutal invasion. Mylovanov was sober at the time about what it would take to win the war and r…

Dave Pitts was the CIA’s last man on the ground in Afghanistan as U.S. troops pulled out of the country in 2021. Even though he began his career as a humble private in the U.S. military, he quickly moved into special operations and eventually, to the CIA where he retired last October as the Assistant Director of CIA for South and Central Asia. In h…

Retired Rear Admiral Mike Studeman is the former Commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence. He has extensive experience in intelligence, foreign policy, defense and China. So, it wasn’t a surprise when Taiwan’s Vice President-Elect Hsiao – someone he had briefed along with President Tsai when he was the Navy’s Indo-Pacom Director for Intelligen…

Former Director of CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence (and Cipher Brief Expert) Andrew Boyd talks to State Secrets about the dynamic relationship between villains, victims and vendors operating in cyberspace. The CIA, he says, has been paying close attention to cyberspace “since the dawn of IP”, so what lessons can he share about how spies, thieve…

Recent U.S strikes against Iranian proxy groups in Syria and Iraq may be just the beginning of a multi-tier response by the U.S. after the killing of three service members in Jordan last month and it’s raising questions about just how far the U.S. should go in limiting Iran’s ability to use these groups to launch attacks against Americans. Former C…

Former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos recently wrote an article exploring the intriguing dynamics of Gen Z in the CIA workplace, sparking a controversial debate. While research suggests Gen Z may display slower independence behaviors and cause tension with older workers in professional environments, they're redefining things like work-life balance…

Former NSA Chief of Innovation Kevin Keaton left his government job last year – before the age of retirement - to accept a role as a founding partner at a venture capital firm. Today, he’s focused on closing a gap between government and the private sector that he believes is a serious issue when it comes to U.S. national security. In his first podc…

Alan Kohler spent 27 years at the FBI, where his priority for decades, was hunting down spies who were operating in the United States. As Assistant Director of the Bureau’s Counterintelligence Division, Kohler had a hand in nearly every espionage operation the Bureau conducted. He also served as Acting Executive Assistant Director of the National S…

In his first-ever podcast interview, former 6-time CIA Chief of Station and 35-year CIA veteran Ralph Goff talks with Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly about what’s happening now in the Middle East and the likelihood that the war will continue to spread beyond Gaza, Lebanon and the Red Sea. Goff also talks candidly about his career, which …

In this episode Cipher Brief COO Brad Christian talks with former CIA officer and Cipher Brief Expert Marc Polymeropoulos. Marc served 26 years in the CIA before retiring from the Senior Intelligence Service in June 2019. His positions included field and headquarters operational assignments covering the Middle East, Europe, Eurasia and CounterTerro…

Welcome to a special episode of the State Secrets podcast. Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly recently welcomed the Director of CIA’s Open Source Enterprise Randy Nixon, to the virtual studio for a special briefing to talk how CIA uses OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) in its daily analytic tradecraft. He also talked about a new tool CIA jus…

Cyber Initiatives Group (CIG) Principal and former Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Cyber, Risk, Resilience and Infrastructure Matt Hayden sits down with CISA’s Executive Director Brandon Wales to dig in on just how the government will implement the new National Cybersecurity Strategy and what it means for business.…

Earlier this month, the National Counterintelligence & Security Center - better known in the Intelligence world as the NCSC – along with the FBI - issued a joint bulletin warning stakeholders in US companies, journalists, academics and researchers who work in China about how an updated counterespionage law passed in Beijing that could put employees…

In this episode of the State Secrets Podcast Brad speaks with Cipher Brief Expert Ambassador Joe Detrani. Ambassador Joseph DeTrani is the former Special envoy for Six Party Talks with North Korea, as well as former CIA director of East Asia Operations. He also served as the Associate Director of National Intelligence and Mission Manager for North …

A new memoir by former Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Dr. Michael G. Vickers offers incredible insights into some of the most consequential intelligence and special operations missions of our time. From the killing of Osama bin Laden to his efforts to try and stop Iran from getting a bomb, to forcing Russia out of Afghanistan, the forme…

We’re letting a secret out of the bag this week. The Cipher Brief traveled to Kyiv to host The Kyiv Economic & Security Forum on the eve of Ukraine’s counteroffensive. Cipher Brief CEO Suzanne Kelly, COO Brad Christian and a group of national security professionals traveled in and out of the country with Cipher Brief Expert Gen. David Petraeus (Ret…

One man knows better than most, just what cyber tactics Russia has been using to attack Ukraine – not just since the full invasion in February of 2022 – but since the war began in Crimea in 2014. Since then, Ukraine has served as an unwitting testing ground for Russian cyber aggression with an impact that has often spread well beyond the country’s …

Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly interviews the former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen Robert Ashley to discuss Ukraine, Russia, China, and the impact of technology on todays complicated world. Listen in on what Gen. Bob Ashley has to say about the private sector’s mission in today’s security landscape.…

State Secrets Host Suzanne Kelly is joined by co-host Brad Christian in this conversation with Lt. General Michael Groen (Ret.) on the basics of AI and how it’s impacting U.S. National Security.By The Cipher Brief

In this week’s State Secrets, host Suzanne Kelly talks with Dr. Trent Maul. Dr. Maul was appointed to Director of Analysis for the Defense Intelligence Agency in May 2021. Dr. Maul discusses the Defense Intelligence Agency’s global outlook on the Russia-Ukraine war and the possibility of Russia trying to expand its influence in the region to other …

Ambassador Joe DeTrani has spent much of his career centered on China. He is not only a former Special Envoy for Six Party Talks with North Korea, he is also a former director of East Asia Operations at the CIA. In this episode, Cipher Brief COO Brad Christian sits down with Ambassador DeTrani to discuss senior leadership changes in Beijing and a p…

Former Senior CIA Officer and Cipher Brief Expert Marc Polymeropoulos was in Moscow in late 2017, when he woke up in his hotel room with a blinding headache. It was the beginning of a 5-year journey that landed him in Walter Reed’s Traumatic Brain Injury Program. What happened? Marc believes he was the victim of a targeted microwave weapon attack –…

In this episode of State Secrets, Suzanne Kelly talks about the ways in which the war in Ukraine is changing the world with author Rajan Menon. Menon, a nonresident scholar in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is co-author of the book, Conflict in Ukraine: The Unwinding of the Post-Cold War Order. Men…

State Secrets host Suzanne Kelly and guest co-host Brad Christian talk with the former NATO Allied Supreme Commander (and former F-16 pilot) about what comes next in Ukraine and what is actually needed in order to win.By The Cipher Brief

In this week’s State Secrets Podcast, Host Suzanne Kelly talks with The Hon. Susan M. Gordon, a career Intelligence Officer, former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence and current member of the Defense Innovation Board, about Balloons, China, Ukraine, Russia and the new world order as well as the role that AI plays in all of it.…