Archive

national security

An Undeclared War: UnDisruptable27, Critical Infrastructure Systems, and Cyber Threats at Critical Effect DC ‘26

Presented by ICS Village in partnership with IST’s UnDisruptable27 project and Akin, Critical Effect DC ‘26 brought together leaders across operational technology, industrial control systems, national security, and public policy, with a sharp focus on safeguarding human life and essential services.

critical infrastructure, energy, healthcare, national security, public safety, resilience, Volt Typhoon, water

August 4, 2026

National Security and Policy Implications of World Models

LLMs were never the whole of AI—only its first commercial frontier. Though models like ChatGPT have captured the global spotlight, text-based AI has inherent limitations. Enter world models. This primer unpacks what these models do, and why the transition matters.

artificial inteligence, LLMs, national security, world models

July 30, 2026

June 30, 2026 11:00 am

Contractors at the Keyboard? Private Offensive Cyber Operations Authorities in the FY2027 Senate NDAA

Defense contractors play a vital role in U.S. national security, but do not currently execute "hands-on-keyboard" cyber operations. That role might be about to change with the Senate-reported NDAA for FY2027. On Tuesday, June 30, IST and friends had a discussion on the implications of this potential shift.

cyber command, cyber offense, cyber operations, defense contractors, national security, NDAA, offensive cyber

June 30, 2026

Last Mile Cybersecurity

Federal funding bills rarely require cybersecurity for the infrastructure they finance, even as adversaries target U.S. water systems, power grids, and government networks. "Last Mile Cybersecurity" outlines concrete policy fixes to close that gap.

critical infrastructure, cybersecurity, energy, grants, national security, OMB, public funding, resilience, risk-mitigation, water

June 22, 2026

June 17, 2026 8:00 am

Critical Effect 2026

Presented by ICS Village, in partnership with IST’s UnDisruptable27 project and Akin, the two-day Critical Effect conference returned to Washington, DC on June 17 and 18. With 2027 getting closer, we prioritized ideas that lead to real, actionable impact.

critical infrastructure, energy, healthcare, national security, public safety, resilience, Volt Typhoon, water

June 16, 2026

June 8, 2026 10:30 am

A Policy Response to the Mythos Moment: Breaking down the AI and Cybersecurity EO

What does the newly-released AI and cybersecurity Executive Order mean for cyber defenders? How does it respond to the "Mythos moment"? On June 8, IST hosts a pop-up webinar to explore these questions and more.

artificial intelligence, critical infrastructure, CVE, cybersecurity, Executive Order, national security, vulnerability disclosure

June 5, 2026

How to End the Iran Crisis

For Foreign Affairs, former European Commission VP Federica Mogherini & IST Senior Fellow Sahil V. Shah examine the trajectory of the Iran-U.S. peace talks, and the future of the nuclear file.

Iran, national security, nuclear, nuclear energy, United States

April 13, 2026

Giving Tuesday 2025: IST’s Impact

Every day, the work we do at IST makes a difference, from driving Congress to consider new approaches to intractable problems, to bringing national security leaders together to ensure they consider the existential threat of AI, to arming K-12 schools with the tools they need to defend against ransomware. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, this is only possible because of the generous support of our partners and donors.

AI, artificial intelligence, critical infrastructure, cybersecurity, Giving Tuesday, national security, Ransomware

December 2, 2025

The Missing Middle: How to Close America’s Deep-Tech Financing Gap in Strategic Competition with China

The United States and China are locked in competition to finance & deploy foundational technologies that will underwrite economic leadership and ensure national security for decades to come. Building on the prior work of IST’s Strategic Balancing Initiative, "The Missing Middle" digs into the systematic gap between early-stage capital and late-stage financing facing American deep-tech companies and the strengths and weaknesses of China's bifurcated system.

capital, China, deep tech, finance, hardware, national security, quantum, venture capital

October 31, 2025

IST launches the AI Risk Barometer project in partnership with the Future of Life Institute

IST, with support from and in partnership with the Future of Life Institute, is launching the AI Risk Barometer project to elucidate AGI and ASI capability thresholds; potential benefits and harms, including a catastrophic AI loss of control scenario; timelines; the efficacy of potential governance approaches to mitigate risk; and policymakers’ risk appetites given tradeoffs.

AGI, AI, artificial intelligence, ASI, capability threshold, governance, loss of control, national security, risk

October 14, 2025

What Cyber Policy Needs Next: Through the Looking Glass of the Ransomware Task Force – Megan Stifel at CyberNextDC

Megan Stifel delivered keynote remarks at CyberNextDC on October 8, 2025 to view cyber policy 'through the looking glass.' "I think the White House, and Director Cairncross in particular, have a unique opportunity in their forthcoming strategy to let the good flourish, push the bureaucracy to overcome the bad, and lead the country to tackle the ugly," she said.

critical infrastructure, cyber, international collaboration, national security, policy, Ransomware, Salt Typhoon, secure-by-design

October 8, 2025

Announcing the Energy FIRST Initiative at IST, led by Dr. Steven Burns

IST is announcing the launch of Energy FIRST, an initiative to fortify the reliability, affordability, and security of the energy systems that power modern life and national defense, led by IST Vice President for Energy and National Security Dr. Steven Burns.

critical infrastructure, cyber-physical, energy, grid, national security, power, resilience, security

October 6, 2025

Q&A: National security, competition, and risk reduction — AI at IST

As AI models continue to proliferate and gain prominence, what are the cross-sector implications for national security, strategic competitiveness, and more? In this month's edition of the TechnologIST, Lillian Ilsley-Greene sat down with IST AI experts Jennifer Tang, Gabrielle Tran, and Fatima Faisal Khan to hear about how their work addresses the potential risks and opportunities of AI.

AI, antitrust, CFIUS, China, chips, competition, national security, NVIDIA, outbound investment, TechnologIST, venture capital

August 29, 2025

IST Statement on President Trump’s AI Action Plan and Related Executive Orders

In February, IST submitted comments in response to the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s request for information on the development of an AI Action Plan. We were heartened to see many of the key issues we raised reflected in the Trump Administration’s recent AI executive orders.

AI, artificial intelligence, chips, compute, distributed energy, energy security, export control, national security, risk reduction

July 25, 2025

IST Launching AI Chip Export Control Initiative with Support from Open Philanthropy

Malicious actors continue to exploit loopholes to access the powerful microprocessors required to train AI. IST, with support from Open Philanthropy, is launching an effort to investigate compliance failure and develop a framework to strengthen AI chip export policy & enforcement.

AI, chips, dual-use, microprocessors, national security

May 28, 2025

Responding to the Unknown: Simulating AI-Driven Crises

In April, Mariami Tkeshelashvili and Jennifer Tang hosted an AI crisis simulation exercise at the Johns Hopkins SAIS Emerging Technologies Symposium. The hands-on exercise asked participants to explore challenges at the intersection of AI and national security, and used IST’s research to set the stage before diving into immersive crisis scenarios.

AI, cyber, national security, risk reduction, risk-mitigation, scenarios, workshop

May 13, 2025