Pakistan’s ruthless Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has mastered the art of putting pressure on the declared representatives of Western intelligence services. From expulsions and blown covers to skilful honey traps and the occasional slap, the ISI stops at nothing.
Published on 13/10/26 at 13:25 GMT: The withdrawal of all its military forces engaged in Iraq means that Paris is now able to redeploy its capacity to the Gulf. High on Macron’s agenda are new anti-aircraft defence deployments to support the five Gulf countries he plans to visit next week.
After establishing a new political platform in which the more powerful ethnic armed forces are most prominent, the Burmese resistance is now focusing on intelligence. Covert operations have shifted to building networks of informants and a joint intelligence framework is being set up.
Recent upheavals within the US administration are now impacting the private sector, contributing to the emergence of consultancy services offering support to governments and businesses in tackling information manipulation.
At least eight naval drones from the British company Kraken have been deployed to Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency, Intelligence Online can reveal. These platforms, which were used in strikes on Sochi in September, are being tested in the Black Sea with the support of UK operators.
The death of a research scientist in Irkutsk in early October forced the FSB to operate out in the open where it usually prefers to remain undetected. Over the last few years, the security service has seen its role strengthened in the fight against epidemics, high-risk laboratories and international cooperation over the plague and other pathogens handled by the deceased researcher.
The owner of Aqua1 Foundation, the company that invested $100m in World Liberty Financial, was a member of the 48 Group, a London-based club suspected of having links to the Chinese government.
Formidable to foreign intelligence services and their spies stationed in Pakistan, the ISI is also feared within the country’s own intelligence apparatus. As all-powerful military chief Asim Munir’s enforcement arm, the agency has asserted itself as the only one able to safeguard national security.
South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean’s contract with the Royal Thai Navy for its future frigate is under serious threat due to budgetary constraints and looming legal risks.
All-powerful at home, closer than ever to Washington, and still an ally of Beijing, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence appears to be riding high. A favourable context for the country’s strongman Asim Munir to turn his full attention to the enduring existential threat from neighbouring India.
This week, Intelligence Online paid a visit to Le Président, an iconic Chinese restaurant in the Belleville neighbourhood of Paris.
A high-level Indonesian defence delegation is expected to visit the French capital in early November, providing an opportunity for France to revive sluggish bilateral contracts between both countries.
The recent resignation of influential US ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was close to Donald Trump, has taken place as Washington continues to push two important energy deals in southeastern Europe. Her ousting is likely to play in favour of her counterpart in Ankara.
The aircraft manufacturer, which has taken over the French cybersecurity firm, hopes to persuade its government clients to make greater use of its audit and reverse engineering services, which are grouped under the QLabs brand.
As well as scaling back its course offerings, the new National Intelligence College, which has been taken over by the Pentagon, remains without a director. Yet there is no shortage of candidates.
The new Israeli start-up Senaï caused a stir among cyber-intelligence specialists at the latest ISS exhibition this month. Developing an AI tool that analyses videos on TikTok and Instagram, it is run by several Franco-Israelis who previously worked for industry giants such as NSO, Cognyte and Voyager Labs.
Concerned about a possible resurgence of IS in Syria, the French and British intelligence services are stepping up exchanges with their Syrian counterparts. Meanwhile, Damascus is making gestures of goodwill towards the West and has requested its assistance.
Published on 19/10/26 at 15:00 GMT: The French DNRT territorial intelligence agency, which vastly underestimated the scale of the protests in France on Saturday which were followed by rioting and looting across the country, finds itself under intense scrutiny. All the more so after President Emmanuel Macron highlighted “failures in foresight and intelligence” in his national televised address on Sunday.
A Singapore-based company offering surveillance solutions appears to be linked, through its shareholder, to a Vietnamese group that is in the Ministry of Public Security’s good books.
The deputy director of the international department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party has chosen Reykjavik as the first stop on his European tour, scheduled for later this month.
The French intelligence systems integrator is fine-tuning its “DSLR Sentinelle MK1” aerial platform outside the DGA procurement agency’s official Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance (MALE) programme. Specialising in electronic intelligence, Asman Technology’s drone has just begun ground roll-out tests ahead of its maiden flight.
Drastic staff cuts at the strategic CASI institute resulting in its near-certain closure have set alarm bells ringing among experts in Washington and in Congress who rely on its specialist research into the Chinese military.
France’s 2027 draft budget reveals the French intelligence services’ degree of technical cooperation with other European agencies. Most of their current programmes are designed to support a major shift towards Eastern and Northern Europe.
Appointments, financial results, new contracts: every Wednesday, we report on events both big and small that matter in the global corporate intelligence community.
Narrowing in on a decision for its next consignment of fighter jets, the Royal Airforce of Oman (RAFO) has been in discussions for a deal on the JF-17 Thunder with Beijing and Islamabad, Intelligence Online has learnt.
The former head of the French luxury brand’s security, Gaël Marchand, is also a Freemason who has steadily risen through the order’s ranks. During his time at Louis Vuitton, he commissioned one of the company’s consultants to carry out at least one internal investigation into the French Masonic Grand Lodge.
India and Bangladesh are keen to resume talks on water-sharing and cross-border cooperation, despite India having granted asylum to the former Bangladeshi leader, who was ousted from power by protests in August 2024.
The rift between Kyiv and Warsaw has not prevented Polish defence contractors from being in contact with the Ukrainian front line. WB Electronics supplies the elite Omega unit with FlyEye drones, while former Formoza commandos are contributing to the fight against Russian drones.
Gary Zimmerman, who once did business with Pentagon and was later involved in an intriguing privatisation scheme in the telecoms sector in Uzbekistan, has now joined IKA, a tech company with links to the small island nation’s ruling family.
Senior staff at the French foreign intelligence agency feel they are not being given their fair share of management and executive posts.
Alongside the Japan-US ‘Keen Sword’ military exercise, the Japanese navy general staff is looking to step up its strategic posturing towards China.
The week of an important state visit to London by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, the UK’s leading defence group is said to be optimistic about securing new maritime contracts with Muscat. But the complex history of BAE’s naval partnerships in Oman makes the task more difficult.
Interaxions, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2025 and which the head of the French foreign intelligence service Nicolas Lerner had hoped to expand, remains operational but is no longer seeking to raise the agency’s visibility.
The representative for Connecticut is getting ready to chair the House intelligence committee should the majority flip. A big opportunity for the experienced lawmaker to hold CIA Director John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Kash Patel to account over Trump administration policies.
The appointment of a new ambassador may have created the sense of a fresh start at the British embassy in Abu Dhabi. But as a secretive Sharjah money laundering probe targeting UK expatriates appears to come to an end without charges, the foreign office is facing new accusations of meekness.
Published on 23/10/26 at 11:25 GMT: Milorad Dodik, the former leader of the Serbian separatist Republic of Srpska, is planning a visit to the United States in the hopes of currying further favour with the Trump administration. Meanwhile, scrutiny of the US consultants he has hired to lobby on his behalf is ramping up.
Mounting frustration is being felt by the organisation’s Indo-Pacific Four regarding their relations with European members, who are calling for ambitious cooperation while remaining reluctant to share their intelligence.
Trent Maul, the head of analysis at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, has seen his powers increase. The agency’s relations with the CIA and the White House, however, have remained strained since the highly controversial tenure of its former director, Tulsi Gabbard.
Faced with the Russian threat to its energy infrastructure in the European sea, the Netherlands is trying to address its shortcomings in anti-submarine warfare. As such, Saab’s subsidiary UMS Skeldar, which already operates in the mine warfare sector, has secured a contract.
The recent revelations about the luxury group’s former head of security have caught the attention of both the foreign and domestic French intelligence services. But are the “fundamental interests of the nation” genuinely being threatened?
The Vietnam People’s Army’s Command 86 is issuing an increasing number of tenders and placing orders with domestic suppliers as it seeks to enhance its capabilities while retaining as much autonomy as possible.
As well as scaling back its course offerings, the new National Intelligence College, which has been taken over by the Pentagon, remains without a director. Yet there is no shortage of candidates.
The appointment of a new ambassador may have created the sense of a fresh start at the British embassy in Abu Dhabi. But as a secretive Sharjah money laundering probe targeting UK expatriates appears to come to an end without charges, the foreign office is facing new accusations of meekness.
At least eight naval drones from the British company Kraken have been deployed to Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency, Intelligence Online can reveal. These platforms, which were used in strikes on Sochi in September, are being tested in the Black Sea with the support of UK operators.
Alongside the Japan-US ‘Keen Sword’ military exercise, the Japanese navy general staff is looking to step up its strategic posturing towards China.
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