Intelligence Officer - Sources of Intelligence

Sources of Intelligence

Intelligence officers make use of a variety of sources of information, including

  • Open source intelligence (OSINT): Derived from publicly available sources such as the Internet, library materials, newspapers, etc.
  • Communications intelligence (COMINT): Eavesdropping and interception of communications (e.g., by wiretapping) including signals intelligence (SIGINT) and electronic intelligence (ELINT).
  • Imagery intelligence (IMINT): Derived from numerous collection assets, such as reconnaissance satellites (e.g., the Key Hole series) or aircraft (e.g., Lockheed U-2).
  • Human intelligence (HUMINT): Derived from covert human intelligence sources (agents or moles) from a variety of agencies (e.g., the United States Intelligence Community) and activities.
  • Measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT): Derived from collection assets that collect and evaluate technical profiles and specific characteristics of certain targeted entities (e.g., E-8 Joint STARS).
  • Technical intelligence (TECHINT): Based on scientific and technical characteristics of weapons systems, technological devices and other entities.
  • Financial intelligence (FININT): The gathering of information about the financial affairs of entities of interest.

Read more about this topic:  Intelligence Officer

Famous quotes containing the words sources of, sources and/or intelligence:

    “On board ship there are many sources of joy of which the land knows nothing. You may flirt and dance at sixty; and if you are awkward in the turn of a valse, you may put it down to the motion of the ship. You need wear no gloves, and may drink your soda-and-brandy without being ashamed of it.”
    —Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)

    “I count him a great man who inhabits a higher sphere of thought, into which other men rise with labor and difficulty; he has but to open his eyes to see things in a true light, and in large relations; whilst they must make painful corrections, and keep a vigilant eye on many sources of error.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “You have to begin to lose your memory, if only in bits and pieces, to realize that memory is what makes our lives. Life without memory is no life at all, just as an intelligence without the possibility of expression is not really an intelligence. Our memory is our coherence, our reason, our feeling, even our action. Without it, we are nothing.”
    —Luis Buñuel (1900–1983)