People
Keep Senate confirmation for top intelligence lawyers, civil liberties groups urge
A provision in the 2026 annual intelligence community bill would lift Senate confirmation rules for the chief counsels of the CIA and ODNI. Advocates warn the change would weaken transparency and public oversight of the intelligence community.
Defense
Fresh evidence shows Iran’s nuclear program was ‘severely damaged,’ CIA director says
The claim follows reports of a DIA assessment that had determined the program was set back by only a few months.
People
CIA is terminating some probationary employees
Recent U.S. intelligence has signaled that foreign adversaries are increasing efforts to recruit disgruntled federal employees in sensitive national security roles.
People
Senate confirms John Ratcliffe to lead CIA
Ratcliffe, the former director of national intelligence in the final months of Trump’s first term, drew controversy over perceived politicization of intelligence assessments.
People
Trump pick for CIA chief pledges to remain apolitical amid past controversies
John Ratcliffe was questioned over whether he’d remain an impartial national security official after past incidents as Trump’s former director of national intelligence.
Acquisition
A decade-old risk led to ‘phenomenal partnership’ between AWS and the intel community
The move to bring highly classified systems to the cloud was uncharted territory for both the company and the CIA.
Artificial Intelligence
CIA looks to fast track AI adoption through cloud contract
A CIA official said the agency is working with the five recipients of its Commercial Cloud Enterprise contract to “get commercial [large language models] up into our high-side environments.”
Artificial Intelligence
The US intelligence community is embracing generative AI
Intelligence agencies are using generative AI for a variety of purposes, including content triage and assisting analysts.
Cybersecurity
IC leaders drill in on diversity issues at House hearing
Although there have been some gains in the representation of women and minorities in the IC workforce overall, the highest ranks are less diverse.
Cybersecurity
ODNI plans recruitment ad campaign
Intelligence agencies are seeking STEM employees and a more diverse workforce.
Cybersecurity
CIA nominee: Cyber threats are 'ever greater risk' for U.S. society
William Burns, the president's nominee to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, said the SolarWinds attack was a "harsh wake-up call" about the country’s vulnerabilities in both critical infrastructure and supply chains.
Cybersecurity
Intel and BYOD
The intelligence community is warming to the concept of bringing your own device to work -- except when it comes to highly classified work.
Cybersecurity
How zero trust solves the 'weakest link' problem
Many government agencies currently have components of zero trust already in their infrastructure, including identity credential and access management and continuous monitoring, so moving to a comprehensive zero trust model would just strengthen what is already there.
Cybersecurity
Spy chief sees 2020 election security as 'number one goal'
Gen. Nakasone's remarks come as a group of former senior officials seek funds to counter the "extraordinary challenges" posed by coronavirus pandemic and foreign interference to state and local election administrators.
Cybersecurity
Report: Lax cybersecurity at CIA unit led to Vault 7 leaks
An internal CIA report pins the theft of valuable hacking tools in 2016 on a workplace culture that didn't do enough to emphasize cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity
How petabytes are crushing the security classification system
The official in charge of overseeing the federal government's information classification policy is warning that the current system is beginning to break – and he wants help and money to fix it.
Cybersecurity
Sue Gordon resigns as ODNI deputy
The second highest ranking intelligence official in the federal government resigned, leaving the top two positions at ODNI without permanent leadership. The move coincides with the departure of ODNI chief Dan Coats, as President Trump looks to reshape the intelligence community.
Cybersecurity
Data-crunching spies of the future
The U.S. intelligence community is attempting to transform the way it uses and manages digital information.
Cybersecurity
JEDI and C2E: Is it worth comparing the DOD and ODNI cloud plans?
The intelligence community's top IT official said that DOD is "where we were five years ago" when the CIA opted to pursue a single vendor, single cloud solution.
Modernization