Collection Disciplines Flashcards
HUMINT
- Intel collected from human sources
- Includes: overt data collected by diplomats, debriefings of foreign nationals and US citizens who travel abroad, and direct observation
HUMINT Strengths2
- Insight into plans and intentions
- Relatively inexpensive
HUMINT Weaknesses3
- Risks lives and political fallout
- Requires time to acquire and validate sources
- Problems of dangles, false feeds, and double agents
OSINT
- Intel from open sources
- Publicly available information appearing in print, electronic forms, radio, television, newspapers, journals, the Internet
OSINT Strengths2
- Readily available
- Usefulness as place to start all collection
OSINT Weaknesses3
- Large volume
- Credibility of sources
- Less likely to offer insights available from clandestine INTS
GEOINT
Information describing, visually depicting, and accurately locating physical features and human activities on Earth
- Imagery, analyses, maps, and navigation charts
- IMINT
GEOINT Strengths4
- Graphic and compelling
- Familiar to policymakers
- Ready availability of some targets
- Can be done remotely
GEOINT Weaknesses5
- Requires interpretation
- Static snapshot
- Problems of Wx, spoofing, D&D
- Expensive
- Overly compelling
SIGINT
Signals Intel; is information gathered from data transmissions,
- COMINT, ELINT, FISINT
SIGINT Strengths4
- Insight to plans, intentions
- Voluminous material
- Military targets tend to communicate in regular patterns
- Can be done remotely
SIGINT Weaknesses4
- Signals may be encrypted or encoded
- Voluminous material
- May use silence, secure lines, spoofing
- Expensive
MASINT
Measurement and Signature Intel; information produced by quantitative and qualitative analysis of physical attributes of targets and event in order to characterize and identify them
MASINT Strengths2
- Extremely useful for issues such as proliferation
- Can be done remotely
MASINT Weaknesses3
- Expensive
- Little understood by most users
- Requires extensive processing and exploitation
FININT
Financial Intelligence
- Gathering of information about the financial affairs of entities of interest, to understand their nature and predict their intentions
FININT Strengths3
- Extremely useful for issues such as counterterrorism and proliferation
- Can reveal covert relationships
- Can be done remotely
FININT Weaknesses3
- Often depends on fragile sources of information
- Requires time for actions to be effective
- Effects implemented by commercial entities