Intelligence (information gathering)

Intelligence is the process and the result of gathering information and analyzing it to answer questions or obtain advance warnings needed to plan for the future. The information collected can be difficult to obtain or altogether secret material gained through espionage, or it can be banal and widely available, such as newspaper articles or Internet postings. Traditionally, intelligence involves omnivorous collection, storage and indexing of data, usually in multiple languages, in the expectation that some small portion will later prove important. Intelligence findings or "product" and the sources and methods used to obtain them (tradecraft) are often highly classified and sometimes compartmentalized, and intelligence officers need top level security clearance.

Related Topics:
Information - Secret - Espionage - Newspaper - Internet - Tradecraft - Classified - Security clearance

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• Government intelligence is usually assigned to clandestine intelligence agencies, often with large, secret budgets. These use a variety of techniques to obtain information, ranging from secret agents (HUMINT) to communications intercepts (COMINT) to spy satellites (IMINT). See surveillance and list of intelligence gathering disciplines. Intelligence agencies often engage in clandestine activities beyond espionage such as political subversion, sabotage and assassination.
• Military intelligence is an element of warfare which covers all aspects of gathering, analyzing, and making use of information over enemy forces and the ground. It involves spying, look-outs, high-tech surveillance equipment, and also secret agents.
• Business intelligence denotes the public or secret information that an organization obtains about its competitors and markets. See also data warehousing.

Intelligence as used here, when done properly, serves a function for organizations similar to that which intelligence (trait) serves for individual humans and animals. Intelligence collection is often controversial and seen as a threat to privacy. While usually associated with war making, intelligence can also be used to preserve peace.

Related Topics:
Intelligence (trait) - Privacy - War - Peace

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Intelligence (information gathering): Well known national intelligence organizations ►