Cross-posted at Making Sense of Jihad
I noticed that I began to whine a little too much about how pathetic our intel services are in their use of open source information. I've decided that the way to refocus my work is to place any discussions of intel policy or technology on this blog -- The Other Intelligence (TOI).
What makes information "open source"? OS -- as it's called -- is the universe of information available to anyone. It’s sometimes called unclassified, but in reality it’s everything not hidden behind government classification and control, anywhere in the world. It’s basically everything used in competitive intelligence, legal proceedings and research, and in strategic planning across the range of economic sectors and non-profit organizations. It’s also all the information you and I use in our daily lives to make decisions like purchasing a car or planning a vacation.
I want TOI to cover key areas of the discipline of open source research, including the best sources and methods of good exploitation. Open source intelligence research can be exciting work, because it functions without rules, without controls. The only constraints tend to be time, skills and money. With the time, the skills and the money, practically anyone can find anything in open source.
TOI will cover skills part, the rest is up to you.
