Interdisciplinary Intelligence Preparation of Operations – (I2PO)

Whether you are

• a HUMINT case officer in military intelligence,
• a detective in the police force,
• a SIGINT analyst in an intelligence service,
• an investigator supporting or conducting due diligence businesses cases,
• or a journalist researching for a new article,

you should have extensive knowledge of OSINT techniques.

Now why should these roles, especially the HUMINTer or SIGINTer, be proficient at OSINT? The following article will explain a concept of work that I call ‘Interdisciplinary Intelligence Preparation of Operations’, I2PO in short. The basic idea is that every element working within an intelligence cycle requires OSINT knowledge to either prepare, enable, conduct or support operations. In the future, I will also make a point on how this concept easily transfers to business cases, such as due diligence checks, and journalism as well.

First, let us define what OSINT actually is. Open Source Intelligence is acquiring information from generally  accessible sources. This includes data found on the internet as well as within traditional print media, TV- and radio broadcasts. I tend to use the term ‘generally accessible’ as opposed to ‘publicly available’ or ‘openly accessible’, as the data is accessible, however, sometimes in closed networks, behind paywalls or not traceable without extensive knowledge of OSINT. This, in my opinion, rules out the use of ‘publicly’ or ‘openly’, which implies that everyone could access the data easily.

Another important aspect is the term ‘intelligence’ within OSINT. Merely collecting data is not OSINT. Connecting the dots, looking for missing links, assessing the data and producing customer driven reporting is what makes intelligence out of it. This requires knowledge, experience and instinct; a combination which is very hard to replicate using fully automated OSINT tools. Thus, the most important element of OSINT is the analyst, no matter how many software-based tools and gadgets he or she uses.

Before considering how OSINT should be used in combination with other intelligence collection types (ICT), I want to point out some of the advantages when working with OSINT. OSINT data is usually available the moment you start working on a case and often published in near- or real-time, especially when following events on social media. Cases in which you work in a real-time environment, with changes occurring momentarily, bring us to the most important OSINT rule:

If you see it, save it!

You will never know if the data will still be there the next time you intend to look for it.

Depending on the case, you will also be dealing with mass data (or big data). This is where a certain degree of automation might be helpful, keeping in mind that the final assessment shouldn’t be performed solely by an AI. When speaking of quantity, you must consider the quality of the collected data as well. Especially in times like these, verifying information and filtering out disinformation is vital!

After years of work within government intelligence structures and working on business cases, I have therefore developed the concept of I2PO to define my work. This is also something I use as a theoretical basis in the OSINT and INTEL classes I teach. As mentioned before, the general idea is that many different jobs require OSINT skills in order to successfully achieve their goals. Therefore, I highly recommend an interdisciplinary approach. This means not only relying on one ICT, but also having an understanding on how OSINT can support HUMINT and SIGINT operations, police investigations and business cases and vice versa, just as well as OSINT provides information for decision makers as a standalone ICT.

In the following weeks, I will post examples of I2PO in different lines of work (e.g. SIGINT, HUMINT, police investigations, due diligence, journalism and more) to emphasize and further explain this concept.

To start out, I’ll describe I2PO when applied in a military intelligence environment supporting military operations.

I2PO to Support Military Operations

Military operations, such as the ongoing coalition missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, have heavily relied on intelligence collection through SIGINT and HUMINT in the past. These two ICTs demand a large amount of preparatory work and in times in which our adversaries are more cautious and OPSEC-aware, these two ICTs are hitting boundaries. HUMINT sources are having a harder time receiving information from core target networks and communications encryption is on the rise, creating new challenges for SIGINT. At the same time, the amount of information available through the extensive use of social media, even in the aforementioned crisis areas, is vastly growing on a daily basis. In Syria for example, information on troop movements or combat actions find its way across Twitter in near real-time.

In order for decision makers on the battlefield to react to situational changes in a timely manner, it is essential to have forward deployed intelligence elements able to conduct OSINT as it happens. In many cases, this work is done by special OSINT teams, many of them not even being in the actual combat zone. This will always lead to a time delay when disseminating information to the final intelligence customer and decision maker. As with tactical SIGINT or HUMINT, which are close to or in some cases organic to their intelligence customers, tactical OSINT is the answer. Sending a dedicated OSINT analyst forward to support operations is one solution. However, training existing intelligence personnel, enabling them to independently conduct OSINT on a case-by-case basis is another option. On these terms, the training would enable personnel to answer requests for information as they come in, rather than relaying these requests to another element, thus again resulting in a time delay.

This is what I understand as I2PO. Having an all-source analyst who is able to conduct OSINT research and to immediately verify the collected information when needed in time critical situations to support before, during and after military operations. In this example, two different skill sets (one being the all-source analytical expertise) being used in an interdisciplinary approach is the core factor of I2PO.

MW-OSINT / 16.08.2018