The Pentagon often wargames future scenarios for when ‘all hell breaks loose’ with the idea of training for the worst-case scenario. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made clear when he took the helm at the Pentagon earlier this year, that – consistent with President Joe Biden’s focus on climate change – the DOD would include climate as a threat to national security in the next iteration of the National Security Strategy. He also said that the impacts of climate change will be included in wargaming future military exercises.
As part of The Cipher Brief’s Climate Series, Co-Editor Kristin Wood talked with the author of All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon’s Perspective on Climate Change, to get a sense of where the US military may be headed when it comes to dealing with the current and future impacts of climate change.
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The U.S. Needs a Stronger Cyber Defense Against Russia
April 6, 2021
The Newsletter
Paul Kolbe, Director, Intelligence Project, Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Paul Kolbe is Director of The Intelligence Project at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He previously served 25 years as an operations officer in the CIA and was a member of the Senior Intelligence Service, serving in Russia, the Balkans, Indonesia, East Germany, Zimbabwe, and Austria.
Biden Prodded to Take Muscular Approach to Cybersecurity CYBERSECURITY
1/22/2021
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Officials and analysts are urging the Biden administration to be more aggressive than its predecessors in dealing with cyber threats from adversaries such as Russia and China as well as non-state actors.
A December report by the Aspen Institute, “A National Cybersecurity Agenda for Resilient Digital Infrastructure,” offered a scathing critique of the U.S. posture.
“The increasing costs of malicious cyber activities demonstrates that current processes and structure are insufficient to safeguard national security, economic prosperity, and public health and safety,” said the study. “Numerous adversaries, whether nation-states or cybercriminals, can attack consumers, businesses and government agencies with relative impunity.”