CIA Deputy Director Says Cyber Intelligence Supported Operation Absolute Resolve

Summary

CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis said cyber teams built intelligence that helped U.S. forces locate and apprehend Nicolás Maduro. He also discussed elevating the CIA’s cyber center and speeding technology acquisition.

Key points

• Ellis said CIA cyber teams built the intelligence picture that supported Operation Absolute Resolve and helped U.S. forces locate and apprehend Nicolás Maduro.
• Ellis said forces apprehended Maduro within four minutes of landing; the article provides no details on the cyber methods, systems or sources involved.
• The CIA elevated its Center for Cyber Intelligence to a full mission center to prioritize cyber work and align resources with intelligence missions.
• The agency created a Directorate of Mission Systems to speed technology delivery. Ellis said it completed more than 400 purchases within a six-month acquisition target, compared with a previous average of two to three years.
• Ellis said AI can reduce some work from hundreds of hours to hours and help analysts process large intelligence sets; he described it as bringing greater speed and scale to cyber operations.
• Reports attributed power outages during the operation to a cyberattack, but experts cited in the article said physical attacks could plausibly explain them.

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