CI Press, Episode 96: COL Dave Acosta on Cognitive Warfare and the Modern Information Battlefield

Can a single state build its own counterintelligence defense, without waiting on Washington? Florida is trying. Hosts Joe Sheridan and Jeremy Clark sit down with Florida State Representative Danny Alvarez to break down Operation Secure Florida, a bold push to build state-level CI capability from the ground up. Alvarez pulls back the curtain on the gaps in local and state defenses, why 911 systems and law enforcement coordination need a hard modernization push, and how the National Guard and fusion centers are becoming frontline players in a fight that used to be purely federal. He makes the case for why states can't just wait on Washington, how smarter classification and better training can protect critical infrastructure, and why civil liberties safeguards have to be built in, not bolted on, when confronting foreign adversaries and influence campaigns. This is a rare, practical look at bipartisan state-level security policy in action: educating lawmakers, mobilizing statewide resources, and defending people, technology, and infrastructure from threats that don't respect jurisdiction. Topics: state-level counterintelligence, critical infrastructure security, foreign influence operations, fusion centers, National Guard, civil liberties, insider risk

What if the real risk window opens long before a formal recruitment pitch? On this episode of CI Press, hosts Dave Turner and Jeremy Clark challenge ten common counterintelligence assumptions and make the case for shifting focus "left of recruitment," to the conferences, LinkedIn messages, academic ties, consulting relationships, and supply-chain exposure where collection, influence, and cyber techniques quietly overlap. Dave and Jeremy unpack what it really takes to protect corporate and government "crown jewels," why adversary motivations go far beyond money, and how tradecraft and insider-risk programs need to evolve to catch activity earlier, before it becomes a full-blown case. Essential listening for CI professionals, insider-risk leads, and security leaders who want to move from reactive to proactive: recognize, react, report.

Counterintelligence and insider risk are no longer theoretical concerns for business leaders. Organizations face increasingly sophisticated threats, from intellectual property theft and employee exploitation to insider activity and workplace violence, often with significant financial and operational consequences. In this episode, hosts Joseph Sheridan and Jeremy Clark examine what counterintelligence means for the C-suite and why executives need to understand not only what they are protecting, but who may want it, how they could get it, and how the organization would know it was being targeted. Listeners will learn practical steps C-suite leaders can take to strengthen their organizations, including:

Why do trusted insiders betray their organizations? In this episode, Joe Sheridan, Scott Sparks, Dave Turner, and Jeremy Clark break down the MICE framework (Money, Ideology, Compromise/Coercion, and Ego) and examine how counterintelligence professionals use it to understand insider motivations. Through classic and recent case studies, we explore how these motivations can develop, how they manifest through behavior, and how insider threat tradecraft plays out in the real world. We also discuss the strengths and limitations of MICE, alternative frameworks such as RASCALS, behavioral indicators that may warrant attention, and the critical role of reporting vulnerabilities under SEAD-3. Most importantly, we examine how awareness, training, and a strong reporting culture can help organizations identify and mitigate insider threats before they become a serious problem. Listen now and join the conversation on one of the most enduring questions in counterintelligence: What makes someone betray trust?

In this episode, hosts Joe Sheridan and Jeremy Clark take a closer look at the 21 July 2026, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) open hearing titled “25 Years After 9/11: Confronting the Next Generation of Threats.” Using the hearing as the foundation for the discussion, they examine the evolving counterintelligence threat landscape and what it means for the United States. The conversation explores warnings from national security leaders about state-backed threats from China and Russia, the rapid advancement of emerging technologies, and the growing threat of economic and industrial espionage. The hosts discuss how these challenges are increasingly converging across government, industry, academia, and the broader economy. We also examine what a modern, effective counterintelligence strategy should look like, from developing a true whole-of-government CI campaign and strengthening public-private coordination to expanding local and state-level training and protecting critical AI, research, development, and intellectual property. The episode ultimately focuses on a central question: Are we adequately organized, resourced, and synchronized to prevent the next major counterintelligence incident, or are we waiting for another incident to expose the gaps? Drawing directly from the themes raised during the 21 July HPSCI hearing, this conversation explores the need to move beyond awareness and toward a coordinated, properly resourced counterintelligence enterprise capable of addressing the threats facing the United States today.