INTELLIGENCE

INTELLIGENCE - At its most basic; information. Intelligence is broadly defined as the art and science of collecting, analysing and distributing information important or crucial to the Agency concerned. Intelligence collection can be overt - as in 'Open Source' - Libraries, Newspapers, Periodicals, The Internet etc or 'Covert' - Espionage; Eavesdropping, Listening to Signals Traffic, Bugging etc. In addition , Intelligence gathering can be divided into 'Passive' and 'Aggressive' - recording and analysing signals, for instance is 'Passive' and breaking-in to a hostile Nation's computer network 'Aggressive'. Intelligence normally comes under one or more of the following;

HUMINT
Human Intelligence; Espionage, De-briefing of POWs/Refugees/Commercial Travellers, Recconnaissance by Special Forces.
ADVANTAGES: Often cheap to acquire, usually more informative than other types of Intelligence.
DISADVANTAGES: Can be faked, misleading or biased, effectiveness may vary depending on source.

IMINT
Imagery Intelligence; analysis of Aerial or Satellite Photography.
ADVANTAGES: Often more precise than other methods, useful source of 'picto-maps' for tactical use, can be very effective in presentation (The images of the Soviet Missiles on Cuba were devastating to the Soviet case when presented by the USA).
DISADVANTAGES: Can be rendered ineffective by good use of camouflage.

MASINT
Measurement and Signature Intelligence; recording, measuring and archiving signatures of everything from nuclear detonations to hostile submarines. Almost everything man-made has a signature, a distinctive set of radiation emissions, chemical traces or even acoustic signature patterns. Analysis and cataloging the range of an enemy's arsenal can help determine the difference between, say an exercise or a hostile invasion.
ADVANTAGES: Useful supplement to other methods, often the deciding factor in reactive measures. An apparent invading force may be nothing more than a mock-up with dummy tanks etc - MASINT can be vital to determine the facts.
DISADVANTAGES: Can be prone to 'spoofing' - techniques to disguise devices, vehicles or weapons.

MEDINT 
Medical Intelligence: Intelligence gained from medical documents and related areas. One example of MEDINT in action was during the Cold War. Soviet casualties in Afghanistan were covertly brought back to East Germany for treatment (To avoid civilian unrest). Western teams examined medical waste - an extremely unpleasant ask - and recovered vital intelligence on the state of Soviet forces in Afghanistan. The Morale, Health, Fitness of Troops and even the nature of Soviet deployments were discernible as well as unexpected gains when lack of toilet paper led to classified documents being used for the purpose. Further, some casualties had been in possession of secret material at the time of injury and some of this found its way into the waste sites.
ADVANTAGES: Cost-effective, relatively low-tech method of collection.
DISADVANTAGES: Extremely unpleasant, possibly hazardous. Possibility of false information being left amongst waste.

OSINT
Open-Source Intelligence. Modern society provides an unheralded range of possibilities. From libraries to the internet, airshows to navy days Intelligence is everywhere. Often overlooked, Open-Source Intelligence can provide vital links and fill gaps in knowledge in places Intelligence Agencies might never have thought to look.
ADVANTAGES: Cheap, easy to access.
DISADVANTAGES: Filtering genuinely relevant information is time-consuming and requires journalistic and editorial skill-sets. Pressure for results may result in unethical practice, such as recycling information or even falsification. 

SIGINT
Signals Intelligence. The single biggest advance in the science of Intelligence in a hundred years. Roughly divided into COMINT - Communications Intelligence from speech or text sources, ELINT - Electronic Intelligence from non-speech or text sources, also FISINT - Foreign Instrumentation Signals Intelligence, Intelligence from telemetry data, such as missile tests.
ADVANTAGES: These disciplines yield large amounts of information at relatively low risk to operators. Often vital.
DISADVANTAGES: Budgets can easily spiral, at the detriment of other disciplines. There is often pressure to rely solely on SIGINT results rather than confirm 'on the ground' with HUMINT. Many airstrikes in the Vietnam war were initiated on the basis of SIGINT platforms that may have been inadequate for task.

TECHINT 
Technical Intelligence; examination, testing and analysis of hostile weaponry or equipment. Example; a new Russian tracked vehicle is introduced, the export version has lower specifications than the domestic version. A higher-specification domestic version is hidden amongst a consignment for export and subsequently examined, tested and evaluated. The information reveals this domestic version is superior to Western equivalents, which are then replaced or upgraded.
ADVANTAGES: TECHINT provides hard evidence of the state of hostile equipment. Large May-day parades may conceal deficiencies such as poor batches of ammunition or faulty equipment.
DISADVANTAGES: Sometimes extremely dangerous in the acquisition phase. Hostile nations are rarely stupid; they know their weaponry is of interest and may use a piece as a lure or DANGLE - or even produce equipment with misleading specification; i.e. a bayonet made of high-quality steel when the issued model will be of inferior steel.

FININT 
Financial Intelligence - Intelligence gained from financial transactions, diamond smuggling, money-laundering or the level of a Nation's precious metal reserves. Friendly nations use the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication - or SWIFT, to provide information about movements of funds.
ADVANTAGES: Relatively low-level, provides information leading to other targets and those associated with the primary target.
DISADVANTAGES: Often extremely complex, criminal or terrorist groups take great pains to disguise their funding and often use front organisations and other CUT-OUTS. Manpower intensive and may take months or even years to provide measurable results such as prosecutions or targeted military activity. One of the fastest-growing areas of Intelligence Gathering, linked to the rise of electronic banking.