Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence just released its Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, which analyzes worldwide threat trends relevant to the national security of the country, highlights the most pressing threats to U.S. national interests, and reflects the collective insights of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). The assessment states, “Both state and non-state cyber actors threaten our infrastructure and provide avenues for foreign malign influence threats.” The greatest nation-state threats, in both the cyber and physical realm, stem from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. These countries are profiled in detail and each of them has the capability to target and disrupt critical infrastructure. Russia, according to the report, is particularly focused on improving its ability to target critical infrastructure, including industrial control systems.

Furthermore, the assessment analyzes transnational security threats, such as global health, climate change, emerging technologies, and global terrorism, among others. The report stresses that transnational threats “interact in a complex system along with more traditional threats such as great power competition, often reinforcing each other and creating compounding and cascading risks to U.S. national security.” The IC assesses that terrorism remains a persistent threat to U.S. interests at home and abroad. And it notes that individual and small groups inspired by a variety of ideologies likely present the greatest terrorist threat to the country.  

On Tuesday, the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines discussed the latest threat assessment during testimony before the House Intelligence Committee. Director Haines emphasized, “the interconnected global security environment is marked by the growing specter of great power competition and conflict, while transnational threats to all nations and actors compete not only for our attention but also our finite resources.” Access the Full Assessment Here and read Director Haines testimony here.