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Analysis

  • Radioactive Thefts and Dirty Bomb Threats

    The recent theft of a truckload of highly radioactive material in Mexico unearthed a series of panicked questions about the homeland security threat of dirty bombs. “What are they?”, “what can they do?”, “who has them?”, and “who could have them?” were questions the media found themselves mostly unprepared to answer. Before long, however, the…

  • Did Snowden Escalate the Cyberwar?

    Edward Snowden is guilty of lot of things. But contrary to Kurt Eichenwald’s recent Newsweek analysis, he did not “escalate the cyberwar.” Eichenwald interviews a host of business, intelligence, cybersecurity, and Asia experts and argues that Edward Snowden’s disclosures deep-sixed any American attempt to restrain China’s epidemic computerized corporate, technical, and military-intelligence espionage. Because the US’s…

  • Football and the Illusive Stability of Coalition Governments in the MENA States

    An Arab Spring political cycle is emerging. Single-party domination gives way to multi-party democracy which crumbles back into single-party domination. Football: An Introductory Anecdote Sitting with a group of western-educated, politically active Tunisians at a restaurant in Tunis, I commented on my surprise at the absence of soccer-playing children. I had been there for ten…

  • The Growing Threat of Maritime Terrorism

    Introduction The 21st century has seen large-scale, well-organized terrorist attacks by Islamist terrorists on nearly every continent. These same terrorists and terrorist organizations have leveraged the cyber domain to support recruitment, training, and attacks. The maritime frontier, however, is perhaps the one that has continued comparatively untouched throughout the history of modern Islamist terrorism. Attacks…

  • Frame Reflection:A Critical Review of US Military Approaches to Complex Situations

    We are pleased to present this monograph on frame reflection. As the authors note: “Our hope is that the insights gained from institutional barriers in the modern military may provide insights for designers in other walks – with ideas on framing messy situations. We have advocated that frame reflection is essential to design practice in…

  • Why “Cyberwar” Isn’t Happening

    “Cyberwar” is an imprecise and ugly term. Equal parts misleading and ambiguous, the term cyberwar has somehow battled its way into our modern lexicon and is used vaguely to describe acts of virtual aggression. Most often, cyberwar is used to describe an ill-defined and inevitable sate of computer-centric conflict between two nation states or groups.…

  • We’re only Human: Addressing the Cyber Threat Origin

    Private entities are pouring money and manpower into creating the best technologies to help mitigate a host of threats in the cyber realm. The US federal government is increasingly following this strategy. Yet, even cutting edge technology cannot determine one of the most critical and elusive intelligence questions: motivation. What drives the adversary? What does…

  • Destruction and Creation

    To comprehend and cope with our environment we develop mental patterns or concepts of meaning. The purpose of this paper is to sketch out how we destroy and create these patterns to permit us to both shape and be shaped by a changing environment. In this sense, the discussion also literally shows why we cannot…

  • Skid Row Terrorist

    The rubric of terrorism studies embeds terrorist TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) within the overall context of motivations and intent that a terrorist are/is presumed to have. This is further fundamentally subordinate to the over-arching al-Qaeda framework. However, if we consider characters such as the ‘dishevelled or nihilist terrorist’ (Flaherty, 2012), then terrorist TTPs have…

  • The Cyber Moscow Rules: Trust no one. Trust no device.

    Lessons learned from US agents who operate in enemy territory have been captured for years and transformed into a code of conduct popularly known as “Moscow Rules.” Those old rules existed for a reason. Real-world experience proved their effectiveness when agents had to operate in the presence of adversaries. Since modern cyber defenders are also…


OODAcasts

  • Adam Shostack on Cybersecurity and What Every Engineer Should Learn From Star Wars

    Adam Shostack on Cybersecurity and What Every Engineer Should Learn From Star Wars

    Adam Shostack is widely known in the cybersecurity world for his pioneering work on disclosing and discussing computer vulnerabilities (the CVE  (common vulnerabilities and exposures) list). He also helped formalize and train leading approaches to threat modeling and wrote the foundational book on the subject (Threat Modeling: Designing for Security). In this OODAcast we seek…

  • Sebastian Mallaby on How Venture Capitalists and Hedge Funds Achieve Success

    Sebastian Mallaby on How Venture Capitalists and Hedge Funds Achieve Success

    Sebastian Mallaby joined the OODAcast for a discussion about the Power Law in venture capital and the rise of the global hedge fund and private equity industries.

  • Former Head of National Intelligence Council Neil Wiley on Intelligence Analysis

    Former Head of National Intelligence Council Neil Wiley on Intelligence Analysis

    Neil Wiley has lead some of the US Intelligence Community’s most important analytical functions. His career in intelligence began as a Naval Intelligence Officer in an operational intelligence center focused on support to critical operational naval missions. He would later serve joint intelligence missions in Europe, would rise to lead all analytical activities at the…

  • Michael Gibson Wants to Light the Paper Belt on Fire

    Michael Gibson Wants to Light the Paper Belt on Fire

    This OODAcast features a fascinating conversation with Michael Gibson, the author of the book “Paper Belt on Fire” who is also the co-founder of the Thiel Fellowship program and the 1517 Fund, both of which focus on identifying unconventional ideas and individuals that can drive disruptive innovation in technology, arts, and science.

  • Jimmy Soni on Why PayPal Was Successful
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    Jimmy Soni on Why PayPal Was Successful

    In this OODAcast, we talk with Jimmy Soni, the author of the book “The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley”. Jimmy takes a deep, historical look at the founding story of PayPal with detailed analysis, interviews, and access that you won’t find in any other telling of the PayPal…

  • Jen Hoar on Corporate Intelligence and Investigations

    Jen Hoar on Corporate Intelligence and Investigations

    In this OODAcast we interview one of our close friends and OODA network members, Jen Hoar. Jen is a former journalist-turned-corporate investigator who has leveraged the potent act of asking, and listening, to turn strangers into sources and contacts into clients. Her expertise, which is clearly also her passion, is identifying and interviewing smart people…

  • Joseph Menn on Observations From Tech Journalism
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    Joseph Menn on Observations From Tech Journalism

    Covering technology issues, and specifically cybersecurity as a journalist is a tough endeavor. Some of these technologies are complex as are the security vulnerabilities often inherent in their deployment and making these topics broadly accessible can be a challenge. Many of the underlying issues touch upon national security and civil liberties creating an interesting nexus…

  • Lawrence Gasman on Assessing the Business Impact of Quantum Technologies

    Lawrence Gasman on Assessing the Business Impact of Quantum Technologies

    Lawrence Gasman has researched and reported on quantum technologies from the beginning of the discipline of quantum computing. He is now the President of Inside Quantum Technology (IQT), which provides in-depth business intelligence for the quantum technology industry. IQT also runs several major quantum technology conferences as well as a quantum industry news service. On…

  • 100 Episodes of OODAcast: Providing actionable insights for future risks and opportunities.

    100 Episodes of OODAcast: Providing actionable insights for future risks and opportunities.

    In 2020, we launched the OODAcast video and podcast series designed to provide insightful analysis and actionable intelligence to decision makers. In this 100th episode, co-hosts Matt Devost and Bob Gourley review some of the key insights from the series. Matt and Bob also discuss a OODA’s recent assessment of risks and opportunities given the…

  • David Greenberg on Decision-making in Volatile Markets

    While the OODA Loop was been heralded in the domain of conflict, we often find the concept in business and there is no greater business analogy to dogfighting that David Greenberg’s experience as a trader on the floor of the world’s largest physical commodities exchange. David’s job required rapid decision making based on constantly changing…

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