Intelink

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Intelink is a group of secure intranets used by the United States Intelligence Community. The first Intelink network was established in 1994 to take advantage of Internet technologies (though not connected to the public Internet) and services to promote intelligence dissemination and business workflow. Since then it has become an essential capability for the US intelligence community and its partners to share information, collaborate across agencies, and conduct business. Intelink refers to the web environment on protected top secret, secret, and unclassified networks. One of the key features of Intelink is Intellipedia, an online system for collaborative data sharing based on MediaWiki. Intelink uses WordPress as the basis of its blogging service.

Contents

IntelinkU.png

Versions on different intranets

Intelink-U (Intelink-SBU) is a sensitive but unclassified (SBU) variant of Intelink which was established for use by U.S. federal organizations and properly vetted state, tribal, and local officials so sensitive information and open source intelligence could be shared amongst a secure community of interest. Intelink-U was formerly known as the Open Source Information System (OSIS). Intelink-U operates on the DNI-U network. [1] [2] [3]

Intelink-S (Intelink-Secret or Intelink-SIPRNet) is the secret-level variant of Intelink which is primarily used by the U.S. Departments of Defense, State, and Justice. Intelink-S operates on SIPRNet. [1] [3]

Intelink-TS (Intelink-SCI) is the Intelligence Community's Intelink which facilitates sharing intelligence products up to the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) level. Intelink-TS operates on JWICS. [3] [4]

Intelink-P (Intelink-PolicyNet) is run by the Central Intelligence Agency as CIA's sole-source link to the White House and other high-level, intelligence consumers. Today, Intelink-P is more commonly referred to as CapNet. [3] [5]

Intelink-C (Intelink-Commonwealth) links the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia intelligence communities at the TS/SCI level. Today, Intelink-C is more commonly referred to by its network name of STONEGHOST. [3] [5]

Books and novels

In 1999 Fredrick Thomas Martin wrote a book about Intelink, titled How U.S. Intelligence Built INTELINK, The World's Largest, Most Secure Network. It claims to be an inside look at the U.S. intelligence community's worldwide, super-secure intranet, and the never-before-published story of Intelink. [6]

In the novel Rogue Warrior: Task Force Blue by Richard Marcinko, the protagonist uses Intelink, during his mission countering domestic terrorism in the United States, and his assassination of a Ross Perot-like character, who is the architect of a domestic terror network.

In the novel Threat Vector by Tom Clancy, one of the characters found an exploit in the Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol that allowed him to penetrate the networks of a United States defense contractor and exploit that penetration to access Intelink-TS.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defense Information Systems Agency</span> US Department of Defense combat support agency

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), known as the Defense Communications Agency (DCA) until 1991, is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) combat support agency composed of military, federal civilians, and contractors. DISA provides information technology (IT) and communications support to the President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, the military services, the combatant commands, and any individual or system contributing to the defense of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classified information</span> Material that government claims requires confidentiality

Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to know. Mishandling of the material can incur criminal penalties.

A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information or to restricted areas, after completion of a thorough background check. The term "security clearance" is also sometimes used in private organizations that have a formal process to vet employees for access to sensitive information. A clearance by itself is normally not sufficient to gain access; the organization must also determine that the cleared individual needs to know specific information. No individual is supposed to be granted automatic access to classified information solely because of rank, position, or a security clearance.

The Defense Switched Network (DSN) is a primary information transfer network for the Defense Information Systems Network (DISN) of the United States Department of Defense. The DSN provides the worldwide non-secure voice, secure voice, data, facsimile, and video teleconferencing services for DOD Command and Control (C2) elements, their supporting activities engaged in logistics, personnel, engineering, and intelligence, as well as other Federal agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sensitive compartmented information</span> Information relative to U.S. National Security

Sensitive compartmented information (SCI) is a type of United States classified information concerning or derived from sensitive intelligence sources, methods, or analytical processes. All SCI must be handled within formal access control systems established by the Director of National Intelligence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SIPRNet</span> Computer network used by the United States Government

The Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) is "a system of interconnected computer networks used by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of State to transmit classified information by packet switching over the 'completely secure' environment". It also provides services such as hypertext document access and electronic mail. As such, SIPRNet is the DoD's classified version of the civilian Internet.

The Non-classified Internet Protocol (IP) Router Network (NIPRNet) is an IP network used to exchange unclassified information, including information subject to controls on distribution, among the private network's users. The NIPRNet also provides its users access to the Internet.

The Defense Information System Network (DISN) has been the United States Department of Defense's enterprise telecommunications network for providing data, video, and voice services for 40 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sensitive but unclassified</span> American federal information sensitivity designation

Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) is a designation of information in the United States federal government that, though unclassified, often requires strict controls over its distribution. SBU is a broad category of information that includes material covered by such designations as For Official Use Only (FOUO), Law Enforcement Sensitive (LES), Sensitive Homeland Security Information, Sensitive Security Information (SSI), Critical Infrastructure Information (CII), etc. It also includes Internal Revenue Service materials like individual tax records, systems information, and enforcement procedures. Some categories of SBU information have authority in statute or regulation while others, including FOUO, do not.

The Open Source Information System (OSIS) is the former name of an American unclassified network serving the U.S. intelligence community with open source intelligence.

The United States government classification system is established under Executive Order 13526, the latest in a long series of executive orders on the topic of classified information beginning in 1951. Issued by President Barack Obama in 2009, Executive Order 13526 replaced earlier executive orders on the topic and modified the regulations codified to 32 C.F.R. 2001. It lays out the system of classification, declassification, and handling of national security information generated by the U.S. government and its employees and contractors, as well as information received from other governments.

The Defense Data Network (DDN) was a computer networking effort of the United States Department of Defense from 1983 through 1995. It was based on ARPANET technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intellipedia</span> US Intelligence Community encyclopedia

Intellipedia is an online system for collaborative data sharing used by the United States Intelligence Community (IC). It was established as a pilot project in late 2005 and formally announced in April 2006. Intellipedia consists of three wikis running on the separate JWICS (Intellipedia-TS), SIPRNet (Intellipedia-S), and DNI-U (Intellipedia-U) networks. The levels of classification allowed for information on the three wikis are Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information, Secret (S), and Sensitive But Unclassified information, respectively. Each of the wikis is used by individuals with appropriate clearances from the 18 agencies of the US intelligence community and other national-security related organizations, including Combatant Commands and other federal departments. The wikis are not open to the public.

The Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communication System is the United States Department of Defense's secure intranet system that houses top secret and sensitive compartmented information. JWICS superseded the earlier DSNET2 and DSNET3, the Top Secret and SCI levels of the Defense Data Network based on ARPANET technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defense Technical Information Center</span> US Department of Defense repository for research and engineering information

The Defense Technical Information Center is the repository for research and engineering information for the United States Department of Defense (DoD). DTIC's services are available to DoD personnel, federal government personnel, federal contractors and selected academic institutions. The general public can access unclassified information through its public website.

The United States Intelligence Community A-Space, or Analytic Space, is a project started in 2007 from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's (ODNI) Office of Analytic Transformation and Technology to develop a common collaborative workspace for all analysts from the USIC. It is accessible from common workstations and provides unprecedented access to interagency databases, a capability to search classified and unclassified sources simultaneously, web-based messaging, and collaboration tools. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is the executive agent for building the first phase of A-Space. Initial operational capability was scheduled for December 2007. A-Space went live on the government's classified Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System 22 September 2008. A-Space is built on Jive Software's Clearspace application.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diplopedia</span> Online wiki encyclopedia of the United States Department of State

Diplopedia, billed as the Encyclopedia of the United States Department of State, is a wiki running on a State internal Intranet, called "OpenNet". It houses a unique collection of information pertaining to diplomacy, international relations, and Department of State tradecraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stone Ghost</span> Network run by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency

STONEGHOST or "Stone Ghost", is a codename for a network operated by the United States' Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) for information sharing and exchange between the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Some sources say that New Zealand is also participating, and that Stone Ghost therefore connects, and is maintained by the defense intelligence agencies of all Five Eyes countries.

A variety of networks operating in special security domains handle classified information in the United States or sensitive but unclassified information, while other specialized networks are reserved specifically for unclassified use by the same agencies. Some sites accessed from these networks have been referred to as "classified websites" in official communications, such as the American embassy "Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/pinea/amman/" and "Mexico City's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity" Some of these trace back to the Defense Data Network which split from the Internet in 1983.

References

  1. 1 2 "Federation of American Scientists Intelligence Resource Program: Intelink". Archived from the original on 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
  2. ↑ Federation of American Scientists Intelligence Resource Program: Open Source Information System (OSIS) Archived 2015-04-09 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 National Intelligence, a consumer's guide, 2009 Archived 2012-05-24 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Federal Bureau of Investigation - Congressional Testimony Archived 2010-04-10 at the Wayback Machine Statement of Gary M. Bald Executive Assistant Director National Security Branch Federal Bureau of Investigation Before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary September 21, 2005
  5. 1 2 Intelligence in the Internet Era – Studies in Intelligence Archived 2007-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ "Home Page for Top Secret Intranet: How U.S. Intelligence Built INTELINK - The World's Largest, Most Secure Network". Archived from the original on 2013-07-18. Retrieved 2006-04-19.

Intelink itself is also mentioned in several novels written by Andy Mcnab, in particular Crisis Four.

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