The Russian spies arrested last month and traded back to Moscow have mostly been introduced to the American public as a hot girl and a bunch of bumbling Borises and Natashas. But people who crossed paths with one of the recently deported spies, a Bostonian calling himself Donald Heathfield, suggest that [...]

The relationship between a national security reporter and a confidential source is one of the most guarded and prized in Washington. Now, an audacious Web site is upending the way sensitive leaks find their way to daylight, and with it, the media’s influence over information. Is the Obama administration taking notice? Read my new piece [...]

Or do they just help investigators find someone after he’s blown something up? In light of the failed attack on Times Square, I joined “Word of Mouth” on New Hampshire Public Radio to talk about the pros and cons of surveillance cameras. Do we need more? Or are they giving us a false sense of security?

Harold Koh made big news last night, laying out for the first time the administration’s position that drone strikes against terrorists and militants are legal. Here’s my first take for the Atlantic on the news and what it means for the administration.

The New York Times review is in today’s paper. Eric Lichtblau, no stranger to the opaque world of surveillance, gave it strong praise:

“it uses smart technical analysis and crisp writing to put the reader inside the room with the watchers and to help better understand the mind-set that gave rise to the modern surveillance state.”

“At its best ‘The Watchers’ provides an insightful glimpse into how Washington works and how ideas are marketed and sold in the back rooms of power, whether the product being peddled is widgets or a radical model for intelligence gathering.”

This week, I’ll have an online discussion at Slate with my friend and fellow intelligence author, Patrick Radden Keefe. We’ll be talking about The Watchers, my relationship with John Poindexter, the limits of surveillance, and the future of privacy.

This week’s broadcast of “To the Best of Our Knowledge,” from Wisconsin Public Radio, features an interview about my book, the rise of the surveillnace state, and the future of cyber war.

Check out this essay in the Wall Street Journal based on my book.  I take an in-depth look at what’s wrong with the U.S. security system, and how to fix it.

The United States is fighting a new kind of war, but the first shots were fired a generation ago. Check out my feature story in Washingtonian about the rise of cyber security in the U.S. government, told through the tales of two key actors.

A judicial ruling on drug tests for athletes blossoms into a huge Fourth Amendment case.
Read the full story in National Journal.