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Erica D. Borghard is a senior fellow with the New American Engagement Center at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council.

The extraordinary scope and scale of the SolarWinds breach, in which presumptive Russian threat actors gained access to dozens of federal government networks, have reinvigorated outstanding questions about the continued viability of the dual-hat authority structure that governs the National Security Agency (NSA) and U.S. Cyber Command. In the midst of revelations about the SolarWinds breach, it was rumored that the Trump administration would push through an end to one individual sitting at the top of the NSA and Cyber Command in the waning days of the administration. This hasty proposal garnered significant resistance, especially in Congress, and the four legislative commissioners on the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission issued a statement strongly opposing the dual hat split. Yet, this is unlikely to be the end of the debate, and some have argued that, among other things, the NSAs support to Cyber Commands operational requirements could haveinadvertently contributed to the intelligence failure of not anticipating or uncovering the SolarWinds incident. However, calls for the immediate separation of the dual hat are premature. The Biden administration should take a deliberate approach that weighs a number of important equities and concerns.

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When Cyber Command was created in 2009 under U.S. Strategic Command, it was vested with a leadership structure in which the same individuala four-star flag or general officerwould simultaneously serve as the director of the NSA with Title 50 authorities [PDF] and commander of Cyber Command with Title 10 authorities. The decision was likely made for a number of reasons. Cyber Command was a new organization with few resources, including personnel, access, and tools, and NSA could help it develop. There is also a high potential of overlap between military and intelligence operations in cyberspace and a dual-hatted leader could deconflict and reconcile competing prerogatives and interests across NSA and Cyber Command.

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How long the dual hat would last was always uncertain. For instance, in 2016 there were reports that the Director of National Intelligence and Secretary of Defense at the time were recommending its separation. However, in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress established in law specific conditions to be metto which the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense would have to certifythat would enable the dual hats separation to proceed. The question of separation remerged in 2018 after Cyber Command was elevated to a unified combatant command and the Cyber Mission Force achieved full operational capability. However, in the 2020 NDAA Congress amended the existing requirements to raise the bar for its split. Of note, Congress added an additional requirement beyond Cyber Command achieving full operational capabilitywhich at that point had already occurredto include having a demonstrable capability to carry out all of the Defense Departments missions in cyberspace. Congress also strengthened the requirement for Cyber Command to be able to develop its own accesses and capabilities. At this point, there has been no certification to Congress that the conditions specified in law have been met.

Separating NSA and Cyber Command is more of a question of when than if. Since its establishment, Cyber Command had considerably developed in terms of organization, personnel, capabilities, and operational experience. At the same time, with the introduction of the defend forward [PDF] concept, in which cyber forces maneuver outside of U.S.-controlled cyberspace, the scope of its mission has expandedas have the demands placed on the NSA for tactical intelligence support to Cyber Commands operations. Given this, the responsibility for both an operational combatant command with a growing mission set, as well as an intelligence agency with critical cryptological and signals intelligence missions, could be optimally performed by two distinct individuals rather than one.

That said, the Biden administration will have significant discretion to shape the timing and sequencing of what is likely an inevitable split of the dual hat. While the law does stipulate six conditions that would need to be met to precipitate the dual hats separation, Congress did not provide much guidance in terms of metrics corresponding to those conditions. In other words, the type of evidence that would confirm or deny Cyber Commands operational maturity remains underspecified, giving considerable latitude to the executive branch to shape the timing and conditions under which certification would occur.

In evaluating these issues, the Biden administration should take into account three considerations. First, given the implications of the SolarWinds breach, it should immediately conduct a comprehensive review of the SolarWinds intelligence failure, to include assessing the extent to which competing Cyber Command and NSA equities over the prioritization of military versus intelligence missions could have played a role. Second, it should develop measures of effectiveness for Cyber Command that go beyond existing readiness metrics to inform decision-making around the timing of the split. Finally, pursuant to the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Act, the NSA is designated as a combat support agency to provide intelligence support to military operations. In the context of dual-hatted authorities, this function is inherently integrated into the NSA-Cyber Command structure. Therefore, in assessing the conditions under which to separate the dual hat, the Biden administration should conduct a review of how NSA would function in its combat support agency role when split from Cyber Command and provide recommendations to preserve the continuity and institutionalization of that role.

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Taken together, this suggests that, while there are compelling reasons consider splitting the dual hat, the road ahead should be slow and methodical.

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Time to End the Dual Hat? - Council on Foreign Relations

EXCLUSIVE: Fox has put in development Red Widow, a one-hour CIA thriller based on Alma Katsus forthcoming book, which Sarah Condon (HBOs Bored to Death, Looking) is executive producing. A search is underway for a writer to pen the adaptation via an open writing assignment.

In Red Widow, the lives of two female CIA agents become intertwined around an internal threat to the Agencys Russia Divisionas they navigate the mostly male world of intelligence. The novel captures the kind of thorny, manipulative behind-the-scenes machinations that take place inside intelligence headquarters that only a true insider would know.

Author and former NSA/CIA senior intelligence analyst Katsu, whose book Red Widow is set for release March 23 by Putnam, is attached as an executive producer. Fox Entertainment is the studio. The project is not related to the 2013 ABC series Red Widow or the Dutch drama on which it was based.

Related Story'Blood Relative': Dascha Polanco, Tracie Thoms & Sarah Catherine Hook Cast In Fox Drama Pilot

Katsu spent three decades in intelligence as a senior analyst and in management at CIA and NSA. She has also been a senior analyst at Rand and currently is a consultant to government and private industry on technology forecasting and analytic methods. Her most recent novel, The Deep, is a reimagining of the sinking of Titanic and its sister ship Britannic. She is best known for The Hunger, an award-winning reimagining of the story of the Donner Party with a horror twist. The Hunger made NPRs list of the 100 Best Horror Stories and was named one of the best novels of 2018 by the Observer, Barnes & Noble, and other outlets. The Taker, her debut novel, was named a Top Ten Debut Novel of 2011 by Booklist and has been published in over ten languages. It was the first in an award-winning trilogy that includes The Reckoning and The Descent. Katsu is repped by Angela Cheng Caplan of Cheng Caplan Company, Richard Pine and Eliza Rothstein of Inkwell Management, and attorney Allison Binder of Goodman Genow Schenkman.

Condon most recently served as executive producer on Dare Me, which aired for one season on USA Network. She previously served as an executive producer on all three seasons of HBOs Bored to Death and on both seasons of Looking. She also was an executive producer on HBOs Mrs. Fletcher. Condon is repped by Bob Myman at Myman Greenspan Fox.

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Red Widow CIA Drama Based On Book In Works At Fox With Sarah Condon Producing - Deadline

Columns share an authors personal perspective.*****

Here is a book you should have, Mr. Director.

With that, Jacqueline Kennedy handed CIA director Allen Dulles a copy of From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming, the latest novel in the series about lethal British agent James Bond. Their 1957 encounter in Palm Beach, Florida, bears on national security, essential by definition.

Effective intelligence gathering and analysis is vital to any nation. The 2020 deaths of actor Sean Connery and author John Le Carr add poignancy to this distinctive, complex subject.

Connery was the first James Bond in the durable movie franchise. Le Carr is arguably the most successful, as well as subtle and challenging, among contemporary spy novelists on either side of the Atlantic.

Peter Gross includes Mrs. Kennedys comment in Gentleman Spy, a comprehensive biography of Dulles. At the time, her husband was emerging as front-runner for the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination.

John F. Kennedys fondness for Bond novels sparked the durable movie franchise. Hollywood Bonds fetish for high-tech equipment, however, contrasts with Bond of Flemings novels.

Both Dulles and Fleming served as intelligence officers during World War II, as did le Carr during the Cold War. Anglo-American intelligence cooperation began in World War I, grew close after World War II began.

Agent Fleming recommended in detail the sort of American to head a new office in New York. Dulles fit Flemings description, and got the job.

Dulles later managed operations in Switzerland, a neutral arena for agents of the Allies and Axis. A vast cast of characters in between encompassed fanatics, fools, fraudsters and geniuses. Electronic surveillance existed, but the working environment and challenges were essentially human.

Dulles handled an overwhelming job skillfully, contributing to ultimate Allied victory and President Dwight Eisenhower picked him to run the CIA. Then and later, the agency effectively combined human and technological means. The less visible NSA (National Security Agency) favors sophisticated electronic surveillance.

By contrast, the British traditionally and currently place a much higher priority on human intelligence. Arguably, this has been one factor among others in their success in handling varied insurgencies. This observation holds during their long colonial history, and since.

Human intelligence was important in finally achieving the extraordinary peace agreement in Northern Ireland at the turn of the century. Skillful negotiation, where former U.S. Senator George Mitchell (D-Maine) was a leader, was also important.

Modern technology greatly facilitates surveillance. Americans seem more aggressive than British regarding this dimension, a bias that undermines effectiveness.

In 1967, amid public unrest, U.S. Army General William P. Yarborough, Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, initiated illegal domestic surveillance involving Army Intelligence and CIA as well as the NSA. The following decade, public exposure by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee led by Senator Frank Church (D-Idaho) ended this. Nonetheless, since the 9/11 attacks, security agencies have renewed broad public surveillance, especially electronically.

From the early 1950s, various investigations and developments revealed five British government professionals were Soviet spies. The U.S. also has had such traitors, including recently Aldrich Ames (CIA) and Robert Hanssen (FBI); both are now serving life sentences.

Late in 2020, Britain left the European Union and the U.S. elected a new president. This provides an opportunity to review frayed cooperation, including the right balance between human and technical intelligence.

Likewise, reasonable balance between civil liberties and national security is inherently challenging, but ultimately essential.

Learn more: John le Carr, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, book, film and miniseries.Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of After the Cold War (NYU Press and Macmillan). Contact acyr@carthage.edu.

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Cyr column: Intelligence involves art along with science - HollandSentinel.com

On 28 January 2021 the EU Commission published the fifth amendment to its 19 March 2020 Temporary Framework on state aid in reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak (see our blog post).

The guidance document was previously amended on 3 April 2020 (see our blog post), on 8 May 2020 (see our blog post), on 29 June 2020 (see our blog post) and on 13 October 2020 (see our blog post).

The EU Commission noted in the fifth amendment to the Temporary Framework that it expects the European economy to barely return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022. It therefore decided to prolong the availability of the measures set out in the Temporary Framework until 31 December 2021, including the instrument allowing governments to cover part of companies' fixed costs and the temporary removal of all countries from the list of "marketable risk" countries under the short-term export-credit insurance Communication (STEC).

Additionally, the fifth amendment raises the aid ceilings for certain instruments and introduces a new possibility to convert repayable aid measures into non-repayable forms of aid.

Lastly, it clarifies the conditions of compensation under Article 107(2)(b) TFEU.

Prolongation until 31 December 2021

Considering Member States positive feedback and the ongoing second wave of the pandemic, the EU Commission adopted a further six-month extension of the Temporary Framework, thereby prolonging it until 31 December 2021. Member States wishing to extend their national aid measures approved by the EU Commission under the Temporary Framework need to notify the EU Commission and provide the required information set out in the fifth amendment's annex.

The EU Commission will evaluate before 31 December 2021 whether the Temporary Framework needs to be further extended or adapted.

Increased aid ceilings

The EU Commission has increased the ceilings set out in section 3.1 (limited amounts of aid) and section 3.12 (aid in the form of support for uncovered fixed costs) of the Temporary Framework. Both had been or were about to be exhausted due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Therefore, the overall aid ceiling for all industries (excluding primary agriculture, fishery, and aquaculture) is increased from EUR 800 000 to EUR 1.8 million per undertaking.

The aid for companies active in primary agriculture is increased from EUR 100 000 to EUR 225 000.

The ceiling per undertaking active in fishery or aquaculture is increased from EUR 120 000 to EUR 270 000.

As before, the above aid ceilings can be combined with de minimis aid of up to EUR 200 000 per company (up to EUR 30 000 per company operating in fishery and aquaculture and up to EUR 25 000 per company operating in agriculture) over a period of three financial years, subject to complying with the requirements of the relevant de minimis

Additionally, the ceiling for aid in the form of support for uncovered fixed costs is increased. Due to the pandemic, many companies are struggling to cover their fixed costs. To help these companies, the EU Commission introduced a measure allowing governments to contribute to a part of their fixed costs (see our blog post).

The respective aid measures can now be prolonged until 31 December 2021 and cover uncovered fixed costs incurred between 1 March 2020 and 31 December 2021. Compared to the previous ceiling of EUR 3 million, going forward the overall aid shall not exceed EUR 10 million per company and may be granted in the form of direct grants, tax, and payment advantages, or other forms such as repayable advances, guarantees, loans, and equity.

Possibility to convert repayable aid measures into non-repayable forms of aid

To create an incentive to initially choose repayable forms of aid, the EU Commission has provided for the possibility to convert repayable forms of aid (such as repayable advances and loans) into non-repayable forms of financial support such as grants.

The respective aid ceilings (i.e. in most sectors up to EUR 1.8 million per company) will apply in case of a conversion. Member States can convert their measures until one year after the Temporary Framework's expiry, applying transparent and non-discriminatory conditions. These conversion conditions must be notified to the EU Commission.

Extension of temporary removal of all countries from the list of marketable risk countries under the STEC

The EU Commission continues to see a lack of sufficient private insurance capacity for short-term export-credits in general and considered all commercial and political risks associated with exports to the countries listed in the Annex to the STEC as temporarily non-marketable initially until 31 December 2020.

Considering the continuing disruptive impact of COVID-19 on the European economy, the EU Commission has therefore again prolonged the temporary exception of all countries from the list of "marketable risk" countries under the short-term export-credits until 31 December 2021 (previously until 30 June 2021).

Clarification regarding measures allowing compensation under Article 107(2)(b) TFEU

Article 107(2)(b) TFEU allows Member States to grant compensation for damage directly caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. So far, that damage has been defined as caused "by quarantine measures precluding the beneficiary from operating its economic activity."

The updated Temporary Framework extends the definition by including damage caused by "restrictive measures precluding the beneficiary, de jure or de facto, from operating a specific and severable part of its activity."

According to the EU Commission, de facto restrictions comprise, for example, measures capping attendance for specific activities (e.g., events, entertainment, trade fairs). However, less restrictive measures, like general social distancing measures, are not grounds for compensation under Article 107(2)(b) TFEU.

Additionally, guidance to avoid overcompensation has been added to the new Temporary Framework. Compensation can be given only for strictly quantifiable damage resulting directly from the restrictive measure, and is limited to the profit that could credibly have been generated by the beneficiary in the absence of the measure.

"As the coronavirus outbreak persists longer than we were all hoping for, we need to keep making sure that Member States can provide businesses with the necessary support to see it through."

Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager

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EU Commission publishes fifth amendment to its Temporary Framework for state aid in relation to the COVID-19 crisis - Lexology

Walker dramatizes key scenes, such as an early dust-up between an Oakland police officer and a car packed with four gun-toting Panthers. When the officer asks for Newtons phone number, he tersely answers, Five, referring to the Fifth Amendment. When firearms are discovered in the car, the tension ratchets up. A stickler for gun laws, Newton cites his constitutional right to bear arms, explaining that his piece is unloaded because it is illegal to carry a loaded rifle in a car; stepping out of the vehicle, he loads it. Not a single shot was fired, and no one was injured, Walker writes. But war had been declared.

When the text boxes start piling up, though, the tone can dry out: Having made a name for themselves in Oakland, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was asked by Eldridge Cleaver and the RAM-affiliated Black Panther Party of Northern California to help provide security for Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcolm X. Fortunately, as an artist Anderson is just as good at rendering static shots as he is at depicting action, and his gift for warm, uncluttered portraiture lionizes familiar figures. In an early sequence, he depicts 31 slain civil rights activists, their names largely lost to us. Most of them are smiling, yet all are shaded, heartbreakingly, in a ghostly blue. Though each panel is just 1.5 inches by 2.25 inches, the depth of emotion could fill an entire page.

A mixture of bravery and dread hangs over much of the book. For all the partys talk of guns, they are only shown being discharged toward the end. Fred Hampton, who had joined the Chicago branch of the Panthers at the end of 1968, found himself the national spokesman the following year, fixing him on the F.B.I.s radar. Walker and Anderson depict his murder by plainclothes policemen without showing any gore. Their machine guns fire 31 times across 19 orderly, crimson-tinged panels, the sound of each shot (BLAM) obscuring the terrified dialogue of the eight other Panthers in the house at the time. Its a turning point in the groups history, chillingly rendered.

The only scene of political resistance in Jim Terrys memoir, COME HOME, INDIO (Street Noise, 234 pp., $16.99), appears at the end, as the cartoonist travels with his sister and a friend to join the Standing Rock protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The son of a Native (Ho-Chunk) mother and an Irish-American jazz musician father, who divorced when he was young, Terry grew up in the Midwest, bouncing between two worlds. His devotion to Standing Rock is sincere, but he doesnt have the instant moment of connection that he was hoping for. He worries that it isnt his place that hell somehow be seen as an impostor.

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Can a Comic Book Contain the Drama and Heat of Activism? - The New York Times