The Expert Is the Target

On September 17, the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency released its annual report on foreign efforts to acquire sensitive U.S. technology from the cleared defense industrial base. DCSA received more than 22,000 suspicious-contact reports during fiscal year 2025 and identified roughly 2,900 incidents involving foreign entities seeking U.S. information or technology. The leading method was the exploitation of experts. In this episode of The Watch Floor, I break down what that targeting can actually look like. It may begin with a consulting request, conference invitation, peer review, recruiting approach or research discussion. The interaction can look completely legitimate while giving someone access to the people who understand a technology, its limitations, its supply chain and where development is headed next. We also look at elicitation, front companies and intermediaries, why unclassified knowledge can still have intelligence value, and the warning signs experts should pay attention to when an ordinary professional relationship begins moving in another direction. The episode also covers why former government, intelligence, aerospace and defense personnel remain valuable targets long after their access or clearances are gone. Sometimes the most valuable technology is not sitting inside a secure computer system. It is sitting inside the head of the person who spent twenty years learning how that system works.