[ISN] Secrecy News -- 05/02/01

From: InfoSec News (isnat_private)
Date: Sun May 06 2001 - 11:46:58 PDT

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    I'm posting this because InfoSec News is probably one of the best
    outlets of free open source information on information security news,
    at least that's what I hear from readers, and new subscribers to ISN.
    
    As I find bits of news here and there on open source intelligence I
    will post them every so often since I also wonder what everyone does
    with all of this information after its posted.
    
    Cheers!
    
    William Knowles
    isnat_private
    
    
    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    Date: Wed, 02 May 2001 14:23:12 -0400
    From: Steven Aftergood <saftergoodat_private>
    To: secrecy_newsat_private
    Subject: Secrecy News -- 05/02/01
    
    SECRECY NEWS
    from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
    May 2, 2001
    
    **      CIA COVERT ACTION IN ITALY
    **      INTELLIGENCE AND THE OPEN SOURCE CHALLENGE
    **      FISA ACTIVITY REACHES ALL TIME HIGH
    
    
    INTELLIGENCE AND THE OPEN SOURCE CHALLENGE
    
    The U.S. intelligence community is belatedly recognizing that it has
    failed to fully exploit the availability of open source intelligence
    and that remedial steps to correct this problem should be "a top
    priority for investment."
    
    "Today, open source material of relevance to [intelligence] analysts
    working in a dispersed threat environment is dauntingly voluminous,
    and the Intelligence Community is not keeping up with it," according
    to the "Strategic Investment Plan for Intelligence Community Analysis"
    produced by the National Intelligence Production Board (NIPB) and
    published this week by the CIA.
    
    "Open source" here refers generally to intelligence-related
    information that is not classified or otherwise subject to official
    access controls.  As a result it may be collected without resort to
    espionage.
    
    "The NIPB has made the development of an Intelligence Community
    strategy for open source a top priority for investment and concerted
    action over the next few years," the Plan states.  The Community "also
    needs to exploit the Internet and other open media more effectively
    and efficiently."
    
    This represents something of an about-face for U.S. intelligence,
    which in recent years has considered open sources to be somebody
    else's problem.
    
    When George Tenet was asked at his confirmation hearing in 1997 about
    the role of open source intelligence, he indicated that it was not a
    priority.  "We are an espionage organization," he said dismissively.
    Even at that time, critics said he was confusing means (espionage)
    with ends (intelligence).
    
    "I don't want to be in the position where we lead people to believe
    that we are going to be the open source repository for the entire
    government, or pay to develop that kind of a capability," Mr. Tenet
    told Congress.  "I don't think it's our mission."
    
    Given DCI Tenet's negative outlook, it is no surprise that "the
    Intelligence Community investment in open source... has declined
    radically in recent years," according to the new Strategic Plan, even
    as the utility of open source intelligence was growing by leaps and
    bounds.
    
    Under the new Plan, it appears that intelligence agencies will now
    endeavor to make up for lost time, beginning this year with
    development of "a Community-wide strategy for exploiting open source
    material."
    
    The Strategic Investment Plan for Intelligence Community Analysis is
    available on the CIA web site or here (a 3 MB PDF file):
    
            http://www.fas.org/irp/cia/product/UnclasSIP.pdf
    
    
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    ___________________
    Steven Aftergood
    Project on Government Secrecy
    Federation of American Scientists
    http://www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
    Email:  saftergoodat_private
    
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