Intelligence sharing

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Intelligence sharing is "the ability to exchange intelligence, information, data, or knowledge among Federal, state, local or private-sector entities as appropriate." [1] Intelligence sharing also involves intergovernmental bilateral or multilateral agreements and through international organizations. Intelligence sharing is meant to facilitate the use of actionable intelligence to a broader range of decision-makers.

Contents

Intelligence sharing is contrasted with information sharing, which may share the same methods of dissemination, but involves non-evaluated materials that have not been put through the rigors of the intelligence cycle.

History

Intelligence sharing, as a formal action performed by intelligence agencies and intergovernmental organizations, is a newer phenomena. Especially in the United States Intelligence Community, intelligence sharing was not formalized until after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when the need for intelligence sharing was the greatest. [2] Before 9/11, many of the major US intelligence agencies, especially the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were protective of their information, and were unwilling to share information with the other agency, finding the other's methods to interfere with better procedure. [3] The formalization of intelligence sharing began with the Patriot Act, the Homeland Security Act and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention and Act of 2004, which changed the overall structure of the US intelligence community, and formed the Department of Homeland Security [4] The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also became the umbrella organization for 15 intelligence agencies, between which the DHS would facilitate information sharing and collaboration. [5]

In addition, the formation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence facilitated the sharing of intelligence between agencies and administrates several centers for improving intelligence work, including the Information Sharing Environment.

Types of Intelligence Sharing Networks

According to Joseph Pfeifer, there are 4 different type of networks which can be created to facilitate intelligence sharing: hierarchical, co-located liaisons, hub-and-spoke, and network fusion. [6]

Hierarchical linear intelligence systems involve singular, point to point connections between agencies, such as between a federal and state level organization, a state organization to a local entity, or bilateral agreements between states. [6] These sharing mechanisms tend to be slow, but allow for increased security, as there is a tightly controlled exchange of intelligence.

Co-located liaisons networks involve the creation of cooperative, multi-agency or multi-governmental locations which house representatives and analysts from a diverse set of agencies. In these organizations, there are typically dedicated buildings and organizations to facilitate such intelligence sharing. The most common example of co-located liaisons networks are fusion centers, which are formed from agencies or governments which have similar goals, and facilitate intelligence sharing in a common place.

Hub-and-spoke network organization of intelligence sharing involves a common connection to intelligence and information, typically through secured networks to common servers and databases which all members can access. This method of intelligence sharing is employed by the Department of Homeland Security, which has NIPRNet and SIPRNet databases which connects its member agencies. Intellipedia is also a form of hub-and-spoke intelligence sharing. [7]

Network fusion involves a combination of these networks which best facilitates the intelligence sharing for the particular organizations which utilize it. It is this multilevel integration of sharing techniques which many find to be lacking most between intelligence organizations. [6]

Fields of Shared Intelligence

Intelligence sharing occurs in every field that intelligence analysis is produced. The main fields of intelligence analysis are national security, law enforcement, and competitive. In each of these fields, intelligence is shared between agencies, bureaus, governments, or business partners in order to further their organizational goals. These goals can range from protecting people from violent threats, finding and apprehending criminals, or maintaining competitive advantage over other companies.

National Security

In the United States, National Security intelligence sharing occurs on many levels, ranging from field offices of IC organs to the White House. The intelligence sharing became a formalized policy after 9/11, when several Congressional acts reorganized the intelligence community and formalized intelligence sharing practices throughout. The Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and various fusion centers throughout the United States have been the vehicles for intelligence sharing. Their overall success in alleviating problems of intelligence sharing and effectiveness of operations has varied, but the need for improvements is acknowledged. [8]

In Europe, national security operations are carried out by various national agencies and the collective efforts of police forces through Europol and Interpol. [9] Europol intelligence sharing became an imperative after 9/11 in much the same way of the US. In November 2001, a European Council meeting created the Counter Terrorist Task Force, which facilitated increased counter-terror efforts in EU member states and encouraged intelligence sharing between member states to prevent an attack similar to 9/11. [10] Subsequent terrorist attacks in London and Madrid in 2004 and 2005 "gave impetus to EU initiatives", and the creation of the Counterterrorism Coordinator increased collective efforts for national security aims for member states. [11]

Since 2001, legislation and informal meetings between the US Secretary of State, Director of Homeland Security, and other ministerial members of the US intelligence community have met with their counterparts in EU ministries to discuss shared objectives and provide information on transport security and impeding terrorist travel. [12]

Law Enforcement

According to the US National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan (NCISP), the law enforcement community went through similar changes as the national security community in order to perform to new expectations in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The NCISP "was designed by state, local, tribal, and federal law enforcement partners to provide a path forward in improving the collection and analysis of information to create valuable and actionable intelligence products." [13]

Through the NCISP, there are 9 critical elements, 2 understandings of the systems which work in the intelligence sharing process, and 8 different types of participants. The 9 critical elements are leadership, partnerships, privacy, civil rights and civil liberties; policies, plans and procedures; intelligence process, training, security and safeguarding, technology and standards, and sustainability. The systems which are thought to be needed to achieve the Framework outlined are that the key to the success of information sharing systems is both use and interoperability and system interoperability is a complex problem. The main participants in intelligence sharing are criminal justice and law enforcement agencies below the federal level, federal law enforcement agencies, fusion centers, regional information sharing systems, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs), crime analysis centers, law enforcement professional organizations, and private sector and non-law enforcement organizations. [14]

Business

In the private intelligence field, businesses of various types, products and services will employ intelligence analysis to further their organizational goals, competitive advantage, and security.

Typical businesses will keep much of their analytic products away from the public eye and especially from competitors. However, the realm of security, especially cyber security is a topic which many businesses have cooperated on in order to create a safer environment for their products, information, and customers. An example of this is the Retail Cyber Intelligence Sharing Center, which is a cooperative from over 30 (specifically) retail companies to share information and intelligence which pertains to the security of retail firms. Collectively, their work attempts to identify common threats and share best practices. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Department of Homeland Security</span> United States federal department

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counterterrorism</span> Activity to defend against or prevent terrorist actions

Counterterrorism, also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to combat or eliminate terrorism. Counterterrorism strategies are a government's motivation to use the instruments of national power to defeat terrorists, the organizations they maintain, and the networks they contain.

In the United States, the Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF) are locally-based multi-agency partnerships between various federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies tasked with investigating terrorism and terrorism-related crimes, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Department of Justice. Although JTTFs were established before the September 11th attacks, these numbers dramatically increased after the attacks.

Terrorism and mass attacks in Canada includes acts of terrorism, as well as mass shootings, vehicle-ramming attacks, mass stabbings, and other such acts committed in Canada that people may associate with terroristic tactics but have not been classified as terrorism by the Canadian legal system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homeland Security Act of 2002</span> Post-9/11 United States law establishing the Department of Homeland Security

The Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002, was introduced in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and subsequent mailings of anthrax spores. The HSA was cosponsored by 118 members of Congress. The act passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of 90–9, with one Senator not voting. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush in November 2002.

Criminal intelligence is information compiled, analyzed, and/or disseminated in an effort to anticipate, prevent, or monitor criminal activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany)</span> German federal investigative police agency

The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany is the federal investigative police agency of Germany, directly subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. It is headquartered in Wiesbaden, Hesse, and maintains major branch offices in Berlin and Meckenheim near Bonn. It has been headed by Holger Münch since December 2014.

In the United States, fusion centers are designed to promote information sharing at the federal level between agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Justice, and state, local, and tribal law enforcement. As of February 2018, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recognized 79 fusion centers. Fusion centers may also be affiliated with an emergency operations center that responds in the event of a disaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transnational organized crime</span> Organized crime across national borders

Transnational organized crime (TOC) is organized crime coordinated across national borders, involving groups or markets of individuals working in more than one country to plan and execute illegal business ventures. In order to achieve their goals, these criminal groups use systematic violence and corruption. Common transnational organized crimes include conveying drugs, conveying arms, trafficking for sex, toxic waste disposal, materials theft and poaching.

<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.

Financial intelligence (FININT) is the gathering of information about the financial affairs of entities of interest, to understand their nature and capabilities, and predict their intentions. Generally the term applies in the context of law enforcement and related activities. One of the main purposes of financial intelligence is to identify financial transactions that may involve tax evasion, money laundering or some other criminal activity. FININT may also be involved in identifying financing of criminal and terrorist organisations. Financial intelligence can be broken down into two main areas, collection and analysis. Collection is normally done by a government agency, known as a financial intelligence organisation or Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The agency will collect raw transactional information and Suspicious activity reports (SAR) usually provided by banks and other entities as part of regulatory requirements. Data may be shared with other countries through intergovernmental networks. Analysis, may consist of scrutinizing a large volume of transactional data using data mining or data-matching techniques to identify persons potentially engaged in a particular activity. SARs can also be scrutinized and linked with other data to try to identify specific activity.

The Los Angeles Terrorism Early Warning Group was designed by LT John Sullivan. It provides local responders and community leaders with information on the current threat and future prevention. Terrorism Early Warning (TEW) Groups are a model of fusion center that emphasizes operations-intelligence fusion for all phases of response and community protection. TEWs serve law enforcement investigative needs, fire service response, and medical, as well as public health. The LA TEW was named among the "Top 100" innovative programs by Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government: 16th Annual Innovations in American Government Awards (2003), and as a Finalist in Mitretek Innovations in Homeland Security Award issued by Mitretek and the Ash Institute for Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School (2004).

Intelligence-led policing (ILP) is a policing model built around the assessment and management of risk. Intelligence officers serve as guides to operations, rather than operations guiding intelligence.

The counter-terrorism page primarily deals with special police or military organizations that carry out arrest or direct combat with terrorists. This page deals with the other aspects of counter-terrorism:

The Joint Regional Information Exchange System (JRIES) began in December 2002 as an all-source intelligence / information sharing system, designed initially as a grassroots pilot system to connect the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center, the New York Police Department, and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

The National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan (NCISP) is an intelligence-sharing initiative that links the computer databases of local, state, regional, tribal law enforcement agencies with those of the U.S. federal government.

A suspicious activity report is a report of suspicious activity that may either be a terrorist act, a criminal act, or a non-criminal act considered a precursor to either a terrorist act or criminal act. A SAR may be filed by law enforcement, public safety personnel, owners of critical infrastructure or the general public. The report is the incident level event reported under the National SAR Initiative, a joint project of the United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is run by the SAR Program Office in the Department of Justice. SARs are completed at the local, state or federal law enforcement level and shared with fusion centers who make the information available to local law enforcement agencies, United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Homeland Security the FBI, the Department of Defense and private partners. Fusion centers have been criticized by a U.S. Senate Committee which found that the fusion centers often produced "irrelevant, useless or inappropriate intelligence reporting".

The Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative (NSI) is a program of the United States Government used to collect and share reports of suspicious activity by people in the United States. The Nationwide SAR Initiative (NSI) builds on what law enforcement and other agencies have been doing for years — gathering information regarding behaviors and incidents associated with criminal activity — but without the customary restrictions on collecting data on individuals in the absence of reasonable suspicion or probable cause. The program has established a standardized process whereby SARs can be shared among agencies to help detect and prevent terrorism-related criminal activity. This process is in direct response to the mandate to establish a "unified process for reporting, tracking, and accessing [SARs]" in a manner that rigorously protects the privacy and civil liberties of Americans, as called for in the 2007 National Strategy for Information Sharing (NSIS), which in turn was authorized by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Reports of suspicious behavior noticed by local law enforcement or by private citizens are forwarded to state and major urban area fusion centers as well as DHS and the FBI for analysis. Sometimes this information is combined with other information to evaluate the suspicious activity in greater context. The program is primarily under the direction of the US Department of Justice.

The Information Sharing Environment (ISE) was established by the United States Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Under Section 1016 of IRTPA, the Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment (PM-ISE) was granted government wide authority to plan for, oversee the implementation of, and manage the ISE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BlueLeaks</span> Data leak of US law enforcement

BlueLeaks, sometimes referred to by the Twitter hashtag #BlueLeaks, refers to 269.21 gibibytes of internal U.S. law enforcement data obtained by the hacker collective Anonymous and released on June 19, 2020, by the activist group Distributed Denial of Secrets, which called it the "largest published hack of American law enforcement agencies".

References

  1. ↑ National Preparedness Goal (US Department of Homeland Security, September 2011).
  2. ↑ A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE INFORMATION SHARING ENVIRONMENT (ISE) (Information Sharing Environment, n.d.).
  3. ↑ Mark Riebling, Wedge: From Pearl Harbor to 9/11: How the Secret War between the FBI and CIA Has Endangered National Security (Simon and Schuster, 2010).
  4. ↑ 108th Congress (December 17, 2004). "Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004" (PDF). U.S. Bill S. 2845.
  5. ↑ “Information Sharing,” Department of Homeland Security, accessed April 29, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 Joseph Pfeifer, “Network Fusion: Information and Intelligence Sharing for a Networked World”, Homeland Security Affairs 8 (October 2012).
  7. ↑ “Intellipedia Celebrates Third Anniversary with a Successful Challenge”, Central Intelligence Agency, accessed April 29, 2015.
  8. ↑ Alfred Berkeley et al., Intelligence Information Sharing: Final Report and Recommendations (National Infrastructure Advisory Council, January 2012).
  9. ↑ Boşilcǎ, 2014, p. 7.
  10. ↑ Boşilcǎ, 2014, p. 10.
  11. ↑ Archick, 2014.
  12. ↑ Archick, 2014, p. 2.
  13. ↑ “National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan” (Bureau of Justice Assistance: US Department of Justice, October 2013), pg V.
  14. ↑ “National Criminal Intelligence Sharing Plan”, (Bureau of Justice Assistance: US Department of Justice, October 2013).
  15. ↑ “What Is R-CISC?”, accessed May 1, 2015.
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