Overview of Open Source Intelligence Robert D Steele

® Overview of Open Source Intelligence Robert D. Steele, OSS CEO <bear@oss. net> 1

® What’s on the other side of the hill? All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavor to find out what you don’t know by what you do; that’s what I called “guessing what was at the other side of the hill”. Duke of Wellington quoted in John Wilson Croker, The Croker Papers (1884)2

® BURUNDI EXERCISE: 6 Phone Calls Top Ten Journalists/Top Ten Academics Tribal Orders of Battle and AOs Pol-Mil Overviews Soviet 1: 100, 000 Combat Charts 100% Commercial Imagery <3 Years Old 3

® THOUGHTFUL OPINIONS “The Intelligence Community has to get used to the fact that it no longer controls most of the information. ” The Honorable Richard Kerr, former Deputy Director of Central Intelligence “…(IC) should not satisfy requests for analysis when such analysis could be readily accomplished using publicly available sources… Aspin-Brown Commission on Intelligence, page 17 You’re on your own! 4

® OSINT DEFINITIONS Open Source Data Open Source Information Only the in-house analyst can do this. Open Source Intelligence Validated Open Source Intelligence 5

® WHAT OSINT IS NOT. . . “…nothing more than a collection of news clippings”. “…the Internet. ” “…a substitute for spies and satellites. ” 6

® Commercial Online Books & Journals Maps & Commercial Imagery Telephone Surveys OSINT Universe Conferences & Dissertations Complex Human & IT Services Gray Literature Internet 7

® Schools & Universities Public & Special Libraries Information Brokers & Private Investigators Niche & Mass Media OSINT Islands Business Information Government Information Intelligence Communities WWW Virtual Library 8

® OSINT IS A PROCESS DISCOVERY--Know Who Knows Just enough from just the right mix of sources DISCRIMINATION--Know What’s What Rapid source evaluation and data validation DISTILLATION--Know What’s Hot Answer the right question, in the right way DELIVERY--Know Who’s Who It’s not delivered until right person understands 9

® Feedback Loop Internet Stream Q A Commercial Feeds Maps & Images DIRECT ACCESS TOOLKIT MEDIATED ACCESS TOOLKIT Offline Stream Human Experts “Temp Hire” Approach: World Class/One Day Only PRODUCTION TOOLKIT PROCESSING TOOLKIT INTEGRATED ONE-STOP SHOPPING PROCESS Call Center -- Multi-Level Security -- Umbrella for Unified Billing 10

® REPRESENTATIVE PRODUCTS Ground Reconnaissance (Legal Travelers) Mission Rehearsal, Precision Targeting Subject-Matter Experts on Demand Rapid Response Collection & Analysis Recurring OSINT Briefs, Biographics 11

® OSINT ISSUE AREAS Operational Security Copyright Compliance Foreign Language Coverage Source Validation 12

® OSINT UTILITY Tip-Off/Warning Context Collection Management Cover/Information-Sharing Within Own Force With Civil/NGO/Coalition 13

® OSINT “RULES OF THE GAME” 80% of what you need is not online • 50% of that has not been published at all 60% of what you need is not in English 90% of the maps you need do not exist • but commercial imagery can address overnight 90% of the information is in private sector • must leverage distributed private knowledge 14

® OSINT SUPPORT TO THE A TEAM Strategic Planning • History • Context Operational Coordination • Current Awareness • Key Personalities/Motivators Tactical Employment • Imagery & Image Maps • Translation Support Acquisition Design • Strategic Generalizations • Critical Technologies 15

® REQUIREMENTS OFFICER/ COLLECTION MANAGER INTERNET SPECIALIST PRIMARY RESEARCH SPECIALIST COMMERCIAL ONLINE SPECIALIST EXTERNAL SERVICES SPECIALIST Leverage!!! EDITOR/ANALYST PRESENTATION MANAGER 16

® PACOM’S Virtual Information Center Remote Sensing NGOs IOs UN Business Community F I L T E R S F U S I O N Predictive Modeling A N A L Y S I S Embassy Host & Adjacent Govts JTF Internet J-8’s Idea! 17

® Decision-Maker Integration, Reflection & Decision Information Management Staff Collection Management, Fusion, Analysis & Presentation R A N D O M EXISTING INPUT normal staff process, counterparts, family/friends OPEN SOURCE INPUT Internet & private sector fee-for-service INFORMATION UNIVERSE Relevant and Irrelevant -- Open and Secret S E C R E T 18

® And now for some specific sources, software and services…. 19