A sign for the National Security Agency (NSA), US Cyber Command and Central Security Service, is seen near the visitor’s entrance to the headquarters of the National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort Meade, Maryland, February 14, 2018. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on May 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump announced his plans for the “Golden Dome,” a national missile defense system. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump monitors U.S. military operations in Venezuela, from Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, January 3, 2026. (Photo by Molly Riley/The White House via Getty Images)
Rumored disruptions tied to Venezuela’s oil sector underscore how cyber interference can be used as sustained economic pressure, not just a one-off attack.
An emblem on a rug inside the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland outside Washington, DC. The NSA is the central producer and manager of signals intelligence for the United States. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense and reports to the Director of National Intelligence. (Photo by Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images)
Kirsten Davies testifies during a hearing held by the Senate Armed Services Committee September 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. Davies has been nominated to be the Chief Information Officer for the Department of Defense. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
U.S. Coast Guard fast response cutter USCGC Clarence Sutphin Jr. (WPC 1146) sails alongside a MARTAC T-38 Devil Ray unmanned surface vessel in the Arabian Gulf, June 1, 2023, during exercise Eagle Resolve 23. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. James Webster)
As the Coast Guard embraces these new systems in what it has deemed historic drug hauls, leaders are also wary about how its expansive, but tech-reliant maritime…