Open source intelligence

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Open source intelligence or "OSINT" refers to an intelligence gathering discipline based on analyzing information collected from open sources, i.e. information available to the general public. These sources include newspapers, the internet, books, phone books, scientific journals, radio broadcasts, television, and others. The term OSINT is unrelated to the term open source as that term is used in the computer software community to refer to programs whose source code is publicly available (and modifiable). OSINT should also not be generally confused with OSIF (Open Source Information) on which OSINT is based. OSIF is any information that is publicly available; OSINT is analytically-tailored OSIF designed to answer a specific tasking or to support decision-making.

Although intelligence is thought to deal only with secrets or secretive information, this is not always the case as so much information that is essential to the intelligence process may be found in the open or may be obtained by unclassified means. As a result of the informationexplosion, more information is available to analysts.

Collection in OSINT is generally a different problem from collection in other intelligence disciplines where obtaining the raw information to be analyzed may be a major difficultly, particularly if it is to be obtained from non-cooperative targets. In OSINT, the chief difficulty is in identifying relevant, reliable sources from the vast amount of publicly available information. Obtaining the information itself is comparatively easier since it is, by definition, publicly available.

Sometimes overt HUMINT is considered part of open source intelligence. Overt HUMINT is the use of non-clandestine human information sources; for example, the interrogation of refugees, debriefing of legal travellers, and public reports from overt agents such as attachés and ambassadors.

The current definitive guides to OSINT are the NATO Open Source Intelligence Handbook, the NATO Open Source Intelligence Reader, and the NATO Intelligence Exploitation of the Internet guide. A history of OSINT in recent times is contained in the 30 volumes of Proceedings from the annual OSINT conference sponsored by OSS.Net

Why Open Source Intelligence is Important to the Intelligence Process:

According to The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction report submitted in March 2005, OSINT must be included in the intelligence process for the following reasons (as stated in the report):

1. The ever-shifting nature of our intelligence needs compels the Intelligence Community to quickly and easily understand a wide range of foreign countries and cultures. - … today’s threats are rapidly changing and geographically diffuse; it is a fact of life that an intelligence analyst may be forced to shift rapidly from one topic to the next. Increasingly, Intelligence Community professionals need to quickly assimilate social, economic, and cultural information about a country—information often detailed in open sources.

2. Open source information provides a base for understanding classified materials. Despite large quantities of classified material produced by the Intelligence Community, the amount of classified information produced on any one topic can be quite limited, and may be taken out of context if viewed only from a classified-source perspective. Perhaps the most important example today relates to terrorism, where open source information can fill gaps and create links that allow analysts to better understand fragmented intelligence, rumored terrorist plans, possible means of attack, and potential targets.

3. Open source materials can protect sources and methods. Sometimes an intelligence judgment that is actually informed with sensitive, classified information can be defended on the basis of open source reporting. This can prove useful when policymakers need to explain policy decisions or communicate with foreign officials without compromising classified sources.

4. Only open source can “store history.” A robust open source program can, in effect, gather data to monitor the world’s cultures and how they change with time. This is difficult, if not impossible, using the “snapshots” provided by classified collection methods. (The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities, 378-379).

The United States National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States issued a report in July 2004 recommending the creation of an open-source intelligence agency, but without further detail or comment. Subsequently, the WMD Commission (also known as the Robb-Silberman Commission) report in March 2005 recommended the creation of an Open Source Directorate at the CIA.

In November 2005, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) announced the creation of the Open Source Center (OSC).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The OSC’s functions include the collection, analysis and research, training and information technology management to facilitate government-wide access and use of OSIF. The OSC builds on the expertise of the CIA’s Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), which has provided the U.S. Government a broad range of open source products and services since 1941 (including world media content available to the public through World News Connection). The top operational OSINT unit in the US military is the Open Source Intelligence Branch of the Special Operations Command Joint Intelligence Center (SOCJIC).

Many other nations maintain open source intelligence gathering operations, for example Australia's Office of National Assessments (ONA), the UK's BBC Monitoring Service (BBCM) and the Swiss Army GeneralStab. Collection and analysis tasks are allocated in different ways by different agencies: for example, the ONA is responsible for analysis and is an Australian government intelligence agency, while the BBCM is government-funded civilian organization concerned solely with collection and aggregation of news sources, and which employs civilian journalists.

In a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in February 2006, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld seems to have acknowledged the importance of open media as a componant of national security in the information age.


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See also

Category:Intelligence websites

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References

<references /> The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, report, March 2005.

Shulsky, Abram N. and Schmidt, Gary J. (1993). Silent Warfare: Understanding the World of Intelligence. Washington, DC: Blassey’s (US).

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External links

ja:オープンソース・インテリジェンス no:Frikildeetterretning fi:OSINT

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