An intelligence gathering network is a system through which information about a particular entity is collected for the benefit of another through the use of more than one, inter-related source. Such information may be gathered by a

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

, government intelligence, or commercial intelligence network.

Intelligence assessment Intelligence assessment, is a specific phase of the intelligence cycle which oversees the development of behavior forecasts or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on wide ranges of available overt and cover ...

employs intelligence analysis to refine information. Foreign embassies subscribe to the newspapers and keep tabs on the news channels of their host countries — the information doesn't have to be classified to be considered useful intelligence; indeed, so-called OSINT, or

open-source intelligence Open source intelligence (OSINT) is the collection and analysis of data gathered from open sources (overt sources and publicly available information) to produce actionable intelligence. OSINT is primarily used in national security, law enforceme ...

, is increasing in both quantity and utility with the ascendancy of digital media. Researchers may also be employed to dig through archives and check facts. An important form of intelligence is so-called "

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...

", which attempts to intercept electronic communications and other signals sent between parties working for a hostile, or potentially hostile, entity, or between neutral or even friendly parties but ''discussing'' that entity. In established intelligence agencies, such networks usually follow a

linear In mathematics, the term ''linear'' is used in two distinct senses for two different properties: * linearity of a '' function'' (or '' mapping''); * linearity of a '' polynomial''. An example of a linear function is the function defined by f(x) ...

rather than distributed structure. An agent handler directs the activities of a number of persons and sources in order to obtain the necessary facts about the target of the intelligence gathering operation. The two main

HUMINT Human intelligence (HUMINT, pronounced ) is intelligence-gathering by means of human sources and interpersonal communication. It is distinct from more technical intelligence-gathering disciplines, such as signals intelligence (SIGINT), imager ...

agent types used are ''infiltration'' and ''penetration'' agents. An infiltration agent is someone who enters the target of the operation from the outside, but on a suitable pretext so that they are not suspected of espionage. A penetration agent would already be in place in the target area, and is recruited by the handler, often by means of the MICE principle. The information so gathered is processed by one or more analysts and turned into an intelligence product. Information is conveyed between nodes of the network by a variety of secure/clandestine means, be they physical or electronic.

History

Turkey

At the turn of the twentieth century, the last Sultan, Abdul Hamid II, demanded daily intelligence reports called ''djournals'' (from the word "journal). After decades, he had saved millions of them in "a whole building to itself in the War Office, where a Government Commission is now," Francis McCullagh wrote in 1910, "wading slowly through this amazing accumulation."

References

* * * Espionage Open-source intelligence {{espionage-stub