Annual National Counterintelligence Strategy

Key Chapter Title List

1. Vision and Mission
2. Foreign Intelligence Threat Landscape
3. First Pillar—Countering Foreign Intelligence Entities
4. Objective 1: Detect, Understand, and Anticipate Foreign Intelligence Threats
5. Objective 2: Counter, Weaken, and Deter Foreign Intelligence Activities and Capabilities
6. Objective 3: Combat Foreign Intelligence Cyber Activities
7. Second Pillar—Protecting U.S. Strategic Advantages
8. Objective 4: Protect Individuals from Foreign Intelligence Targeting and Collection
9. Objective 5: Protect Democracy from Foreign Malign Influence
10. Objective 6: Protect Critical Technologies and U.S. Economic Security
11. Third Pillar—Investing in the Future
12. Objective 9: Build Counterintelligence Capabilities, Partnerships, and Resilience

Document Introduction

The United States currently faces unprecedented threats from Foreign Intelligence Entities (FIEs), characterized by their exceptional scope, scale, complexity, and impact. These entities include nations such as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, as well as non-state actors. Through various means including espionage, cyber attacks, data theft, and malign influence, they target a wide range of objectives such as U.S. government agencies, the private sector, academic institutions, critical infrastructure, and supply chains, posing a serious threat to U.S. national security, economic well-being, democratic processes, and social cohesion.

To address these dynamically evolving threats, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), in collaboration with federal government and Intelligence Community partners, has developed the "2024 National Counterintelligence Strategy." This strategy provides strategic guidance for the U.S. federal government and the counterintelligence community over the next three years. Aligned with national-level strategies such as the U.S. National Security Strategy, it updates counterintelligence priorities based on current and anticipated foreign intelligence threat landscapes. Its aim is to integrate resources and promote coordinated action to outpace and contain the malicious activities of foreign intelligence entities.

The strategy establishes an overall framework of three core pillars and nine objectives: The first pillar focuses on countering foreign intelligence entities, encompassing three objectives: detecting and anticipating threats, countering and weakening their capabilities, and combating their activities in the cyber domain. The second pillar centers on protecting U.S. strategic advantages, covering five objectives: protecting individual security, defending democratic institutions, safeguarding critical technologies and economic security, securing critical infrastructure, and mitigating supply chain risks. The third pillar is dedicated to investing in the future, aiming to build a foundation for addressing current and future threats by developing counterintelligence capabilities, partnerships, and resilience.

The strategy emphasizes a whole-of-society collaborative approach, requiring enhanced cooperation among federal, state, and local governments with the private sector, academia, and foreign allies to share information, identify vulnerabilities, and strengthen defenses. In terms of implementation, it focuses on leveraging advanced technologies (such as artificial intelligence and big data analytics) to enhance counterintelligence effectiveness, while also prioritizing talent development, authority integration, and process optimization. It also clarifies the coordinated use of offensive and defensive counterintelligence actions. The goal is to effectively safeguard U.S. national and economic security, as well as its way of life, through comprehensive, multi-layered measures.