Beyond the Google Search: Open Source Intelligence Opportunities
posted Jan. 26 by Eileen RatzerOn November 29, the Washington Post published an article that shed light on a closely guarded network of tunnels in China allegedly used to transport nuclear weapons. While the research offered interesting information regarding the breadth and sophistication of China’s arsenal, it was the derivation and authors of a cited report that struck a chord with those of us invested in advancing open source intelligence (OSINT) analysis as a professionalized trade. After a few years of research, a handful of dedicated Georgetown students seem to have achieved what many professional intelligence analysts strive for throughout their career. The students referenced online photos, videos and translated foreign media reporting as some of their primary sources in reaching their conclusions. While it may take years to reach a full assessment of something as complex as China’s nuclear arsenal, it can’t be denied that we are living in an environment where one’s digital footprint has become increasingly difficult to hide. The proliferation of open geospatial information, burgeoning social networking sites and eventual mainstreaming of facial recognition technology creates new opportunities for intelligence and law enforcement analysts to detect and disrupt criminal, terrorist or violent political activity. This evolving information environment also begs the question – How do intelligence and law enforcement organizations exploit these opportunities in a resourceful, cost-effective way? And is open source intelligence analysis “so easy anyone could do it?”
It is important to recognize that some US government agencies rely solely on open sources, while others use it to complement classified information. However, the perception that open source intelligence work is any less sophisticated than other types of intelligence work is one that is sure to change as Internet-based sources become more critical indicators and warnings for activity of interest. The national security community is becoming, and will continue to be, eager to attract individuals who can nimbly maneuver these sources to collect and identify information to help protect the United States and its assets. In a recent study performed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, law enforcement agencies polled specifically about their social media use cited security concerns as the number one barrier while developing and implementing social media policies, even though it helped 56 percent of those agencies solve crimes. Only 38 percent reported receiving training while in service. Traditional critical-thinking coursework must now be complemented with instruction on the importance of metadata and geo-location information, sophisticated search techniques, evolving adversary behaviors in Internet spaces and operational security while using new open source tools with varying privacy settings.
BAE Systems understands the true potential of open source as a low-cost, high-benefit tradecraft. We currently support several government customers with open or unclassified sources and methods. We keep our analysts’ tools and techniques competitive by pioneering new ways to get timely, relevant and actionable information to our national security and law enforcement partners. We have expertise in several areas in which open source intelligence is a natural component, including social network analysis, media monitoring, data harvesting and entity extraction, cyber analysis, threat finance and geospatial intelligence analysis. Our multidisciplinary team of thought leaders is dedicated to maintaining a strategic framework for focused execution of our OSINT programs. With our roots in IT, we are well-positioned to complement our sophisticated methods of open source collection and analysis with cutting-edge technology. BAE Systems has designed proprietary software applications and keeps current on other available programs to enable its workforce. We forge partnerships to share our analytical expertise with universities or organizations positioned to provide training certification such as the International Association of Law Enforcement Intelligence Analysts (IALEIA). Our customers rely on us to shape best practices for utilizing open source tools to support their current and future missions. We are committed to supplying our defense and homeland security customers with the best analysts in the industry and look forward to serving as the premier provider of OSINT solutions.
Perhaps OSINT analysis can be performed by college students, but true practitioners understand that their work requires far more than merely performing a Google search. The OSINT analyst’s unique skill set must be cultivated and repeatedly nurtured through deliberate planning, focused execution and investment in training. Without these three things, organizations practicing OSINT will certainly drown in the perpetual flood of information, or waste a lot of time swimming upstream.
This blog post is the first in a series of entries on open source intelligence and social media topics. Please revisit for the next post on adversarial use of social media.