Drawing conclusions from the patterns and volume of intercepted messages rather than from their content.
Definition based on the International Spy Museum glossary. Traffic analysis concerns intercepted communications – the domain of COMINT, which the ODNI lists as a component of SIGINT. Unlike cryptanalysis, it does not require the content to be read.1,2
A related technique is radio direction finding – according to Crypto Museum, locating a transmitter by taking bearings from several points.3
Sources
- International Spy Museum (Washington, DC), Language of Espionage (glossary)
- Office of the Director of National Intelligence (USA), What is Intelligence?
- Crypto Museum, Crypto glossary
Checked: 4 November 2026