SIGNAL Magazine

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced Wednesday the creation of a new advisory-body framework called the Alliance of National Councils for Homeland Operational Resilience – Critical Infrastructure (ANCHOR-CI).

National Defense University (NDU) leaders have officially incorporated the new National Intelligence College (NIC), which marks the sixth college at the Fort Lesley J. McNair-based institution in Washington, D.C. NIC professors and instructors will be responsible for teaching their students how to best serve government leaders by offering officials timely, penetrating and actionable intelligence that is required to give them the advantage and lead to winning the fight.

Nuray Taylor, SIGNAL’s senior reporter and special projects manager, won two individual awards in two different writing categories. “It's an incredible honor to be recognized by APEX for the third year in a row,” she said. “What makes this recognition even more meaningful is that each winning article has been a story I've been especially passionate about.” "Drones and the Goal Toward a Safe FIFA 2026" won in the Feature Writing category.

The Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF 401) announced on June 30 that task force leaders had visited Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, as part of the directed-energy counter-unmanned aircraft systems pilot program, according to a report from Lt. Col. Adam Scher, spokesman for the JIATF. The program began this spring following funding received after the delayed passage of the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.

Hank Costa Hank Costa is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, retired government civilian and career information technology (IT) professional with more than 40 years of experience spanning telecommunications, information management and enterprise IT leadership. His career reflects sustained service across uniformed operations, industry innovation and senior government leadership in support of national defense.

I find a comparison and contrast of the mid-1940s and present-day leadership challenges interesting. First, the obvious. Contextual pressures for performance at international levels created major differences between the mid-1940s and the present. While we have minor and major conflicts today, world wars are not yet driving the nation’s leadership to draft soldiers, ration supplies or call private sector manufacturing goliaths to assist with wartime production needs.

What do you hope to accomplish in 2026 and beyond? 2026 promises to be a pivotal year for NUSTL. We remain steadfast in our mission to test and evaluate the tools and technologies that first responders depend on to advance public safety and homeland security.

Time Is Up—It’s Happening Now The concept of leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to expand adversarial cyber attacks is now well beyond theoretical. AI agents have already proven themselves as the ideal tool for adversaries wanting to cause irreparable harm across all facets of digital infrastructure. At the core, AI agents are large language models that have a set of instructions, context, access to tools and the ability to take action.

Third-Place Winner, 2026 The Cyber Edge Writing Award In March 2024, one of the defense contractors lost a seven-figure sum when a chief engineer accepted an urgent wire transfer via a video call that seemed to be with the CEO and heard his perfect voice, mannerisms and even verbal tics, only to discover an hour later that it was a generative artificial intelligence (AI) deepfake. This is not the only incident, but it is an indication of a paradigm shift in cyber warfare.

In federal and military law enforcement, artificial intelligence (AI) is adding automation and lightening workloads, but more than anything, it is bringing speed to investigations. Given the public trust, law enforcement must leverage AI responsibly, and organizations are taking careful, measured approaches. A year ago, most establishments were just beginning to consider AI, including large language models, generative AI and automatic processes.