Introduction
The US government has collected, processed, and analyzed open-source intelligence (OSINT) longer than the CIA has existed, and this venerable art has seen an explosion of attention in recent years.1 Prominent voices such as former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon and former National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Director Robert Cardillo have advocated publicly for more investment in technologies that enable OSINT. Several member organizations of the Intelligence Community have set up efforts to gather and process open-source information, including the US Army, State Department, and NGA. Most recently, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released an OSINT strategy to establish IC-wide governance.
These official efforts parallel public calls from think tanks,
academics, and the media for more robust and sophisticated approaches to OSINT. Those calling for change in the US government’s approach generally agree on three points:
- Open source is critical to intelligence work;
- Massive amounts of information are available; and
- Burgeoning technologies like artificial intelligence are required to triage and parse data.
The greater attention to OSINT in recent years comes in part from greater public awareness of the issue, as advocates for OSINT point to media reporting on China’s investment in its own open-source intelligence approach and to the utility of open-source research in exposing Russian military actions
in Ukraine. Publicity of the work by independent investigative
organizations like Bellingcat have popularized OSINT tradecraft and further democratized its use among a growing number of citizen journalists.