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Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is an intelligence gathering discipline that involves collecting information from open sources and analyzing it to produce usable intelligence. In the intelligence community, the term "open" refers to overt, publicly available sources (as opposed to covert or classified sources); it is not related to open-source software. OSINT includes a wide variety of information and sources:
OSINT is distinguished from research in that it applies the process of intelligence to create tailored knowledge supportive of a specific decision by a specific individual or group. OSINT is defined by the Department of Defense (DoD), as "information of potential intelligence value that is available to the general public". OSINT is, as of 2005, defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget under the category of "Forces And Direct Support" and specifically for the DoD under Commercial Code M320 as Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Collection/Processing A wide variety of vendors sell information products specifically within this category. Open Source Intelligence under one name or another has been around for hundreds of years. The significance today of OSINT in the USA is the conflict between military, government and the private sector as to how the bulk of intelligence should be obtained. With the Internet, instant communications, and advanced media search the bulk of actionable and predictive intelligence can be obtained from public, unclassified sources. The major multi-billion dollar US Defense Contractors will soon have the monopoly on military and government OSINT, and are actively seeking to become the sources for countries across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Government Agencies have been slow to embrace OSINT, or believe they already have suitable information feeds from the media, academia and public records. With much fanfare, news releases and statements the US Government has yet to fund any comprehensive movement to an Open Source model. In the EU the multiple languages, political alliances, and historic mistrust of neighbors has created an almost unworkable matrix of requirements to please every member. The high cost of bandwidth, coupled with multiple EU and national data security and privacy standards has created legal barriers to effective collection. In the private sector Competitive Intelligence, focused and directed to specific industries still has opportunities for small and medium businesses to compete in niche markets, but that too is being consolidated by the major information providers. In the media OSINT is considered as nothing new, the everyday operation of a traditional newsroom. Investigative Journalists use searches, databases, primary interviews, sources, and leaks to write every feature. Accredited Journalists have some protection in asking questions, and researching for recognized media outlets. Even so they are imprisoned, even executed for searching out what we know as OSINT. Private individuals remember --- Collecting data for foreign military, known military agents or subcontractors is espionage in most countries.
Value The secret intelligence world, which has resisted any significant expenditures on OSINT for the past fifty years, is finally beginning to slowly adapt to the modern world. 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 all-source SECRET intelligence process for the following reasons (as stated in the report): Process Information 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. However, this is not as great a challenge for those who know how to access local knowledge and how to leverage human experts who can create new tailored knowledge on the fly. History In the fall of 1992, Senator David Boren, then Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, sponsored the National Security Act of 1992, attempting to achieve modest reform in the U.S. Intelligence Community. His counterpart on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence was Congressman McCurdy. The House version of the legislation included a separate Open Source Office, at the suggestion of Larry Prior, a Marine Reservist familiar with the MCIC experience and then serving on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence staff. The Aspin-Brown Commission stated in 1996 that US access to open sources was "severely deficient" and that this should be a "top priority" for both funding and DCI attention. In issuing its July 2004 report, the 9/11 Commission recommended 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. Following these recommendations, in November 2005 the Director of National Intelligence announced the creation of the DNI Open Source Center. The Center was established to collect information available from "the Internet, databases, press, radio, television, video, geospatial data, photos and commercial imagery." In addition to collecting openly available information, it would train analysts to make better use of this information. The Center absorbed the CIA's previously existing Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), originally established in 1941, with FBIS head Douglas Naquin named as director of the Center. In December 2005, the Director of National Intelligence appointed Eliot A. Jardines as the Assistant Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Open Source to serve as the Intelligence Community's senior intelligence officer for open source and to provide strategy, guidance and oversight for the National Open Source Enterprise. The Director of National Intelligence's Chief Information Officer, MG Dale Meyerrose, USAF Ret., has broken with the past and sponsored both an open forum on open standards for information sharing, and a major conference open to foreigners, to discuss all aspects of the U.S. Intelligence Community's Intelink program for sharing and making sense of all sources of information. Note: the original Open Source Information System (OSIS) has been re-named Intelink-SBU. In February 2006 speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld seems to have acknowledged the importance of open media as a component of national security in the information age.• Government The US Intelligence Community's open source activities are dictated by Intelligence Community Directive 301 promulgated by the Director of National Intelligence. The Congressional Research Service produces useful compendiums that support legislative decision-making. Intelligence Generic monitoring and other activities associated with the Foreign Broadcast Information Service, to take one prominent example of open source information capabilities, are not considered OSINT unless--as FBIS has done--they are directly supportive of specific needs such as the hunt for Bin Laden. The Library of Congress sponsors the Federal Research Division (FRD). Military The Under-Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, Dr. Stephen Cambone told the Security Affairs Support Association (SASA) in January 2004 that he required universal coverage, 24/7, and the sub-state level of granularity. Encouraged in part by the Defense Science Board reports on Strategic Communication and Transition to and From Hostilities, he created the Defense Open Source Program (DOSP). As of 5 July 2006 executive agency for this program has not been assigned. U.S. military office that engage in OSINT activities include: Law enforcement The law enforcement OSINT community applies Open source intelligence (OSINT) to the prediction, prevention, investigation, and procecution of criminals including terrorists. Examples of successful law enforcement OSINT include Scotland Yard OSINT; Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) OSINT. INTERPOL and EUROPOL experimented with OSINT units for a time, but they appear to have atropied with the departure of their individual champions. New York Police Department (NYPD) is known to have an OSINT unit. Academia The Institute of Intelligence Studies at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsyvania is a notable example of the academic OSINT community. Increasingly, universities are finding that, in addition to traditional research into the frontiers of science and social science, they can compete for contracts and grants to produce Open source intelligence. An example of one successful academic OSINT enterprise focused on agricultural insurance fraud and other detectable patterns of abuse is the Center for Agribusiness Excellence at Tarleton State University in Texas. Business Business OSINT encompasses Commercial Intelligence, Competitor Intelligence, and Business Intelligence. Businesses may use Information Brokers and Private Investigators to collect and analyze relevant information for business purposes. See also Further reading General Advocacy and analysis of OSINT News and commentary | ||||||||
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