HUMINT, SIGINT, IMINT, OSINT: how the intelligence disciplines differ

A discipline is a way of collecting

Start with intelligence itself. ODNI describes it as information gathered within or outside the country that involves threats to the nation, weapons of mass destruction or any other matter of national security. The CIA glossary adds a second meaning: analytical products, such as the President’s daily brief, created from raw information. Among the tasks of the Foreign Intelligence Agency, Polish law lists obtaining, analysing, processing and passing to the competent authorities information relevant to the security and international standing of the state and to its economic potential (Art. 6(1)(1) of the Act on the ABW and the AW).^2,3,4

The British military doctrine JDP 2-00 calls a discipline a method or technique of collection and gives human intelligence and signals intelligence as examples. It distinguishes it from a source, a single line of reporting – a particular human agent, say, or an intercepted communications channel (see source).⁵

NATO doctrine AJP-2 (Edition A, 2016) describes collection disciplines as the means or systems used to observe, sense and record or convey information. It lists six primary ones: ACINT, HUMINT, IMINT, MASINT, OSINT and SIGINT.¹

The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), on its page What is Intelligence?, describes SIGINT, IMINT, MASINT, HUMINT, OSINT and GEOINT instead. So the lists are not identical: in NATO, geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) is not a collection discipline but a specialist product that combines quality-assured geospatial information with verified feature data.^1,2

HUMINT: information from people

HUMINT, according to AJP-2, is a category of intelligence collected and provided by human sources. The doctrine stresses that it can provide information on an actor’s intentions, morale and relationships – and an opponent’s intentions have always been exceptionally difficult to determine.¹

The CIA glossary calls HUMINT the oldest method of collecting information: until the technical revolution of the mid to late twentieth century it was the primary source of intelligence.⁴

The picture from spy films is misleading here. According to ODNI, most HUMINT is collected overtly, among others by strategic debriefers and military attachés. The 2009 ODNI guide states that the national HUMINT manager is the Director of the CIA, while the Defense Department’s strategic HUMINT is run by a directorate of the DIA.^2,6

SIGINT: intercepted signals

SIGINT, according to AJP-2, is intelligence derived from the collection and exploitation of foreign electromagnetic signals or emissions. The doctrine distinguishes COMINT, derived from communications and communications systems, and ELINT, derived from non-communication transmissions – radar, for example.¹

ODNI adds a third component, FISINT (foreign instrumentation signals). In the US the NSA is responsible for collecting, processing and reporting SIGINT; in the UK, according to JDP 2-00, it is GCHQ.^2,5

Polish statutes use the term “electronic intelligence”. Conducting it is one of the tasks of the Foreign Intelligence Agency (Art. 6(1)(8) of the Act on the ABW and the AW), while the Military Intelligence Service conducts electronic intelligence for the Armed Forces, cryptanalysis and cryptography (Art. 6(1)(5) of the Act on the SKW and the SWW). See the entries on the AW and the SWW.^3,7

In Poland this discipline has a long history: in mid-1931 the Radio Intelligence Section and the Own Ciphers Section of the Second Department were merged to form the Cipher Bureau (see radio intelligence and Breaking Enigma).⁸

IMINT and GEOINT: image and map

IMINT, according to AJP-2, is intelligence derived from imagery acquired by sensors that may be ground-based, seaborne or carried by air or space platforms. The doctrine notes that an image or video will often serve to confirm intelligence from other sources. The CIA glossary lists visual photography, radar sensors and electro-optics.^1,4

ODNI defines GEOINT as the analysis and visual representation of security-related activities on the earth; according to the CIA glossary it is produced by integrating imagery, imagery intelligence and geospatial information. ODNI names the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) as the manager of all imagery intelligence activities, and the 2009 guide as the agency that produces GEOINT.^2,4,6

MASINT and ACINT: measurement instead of image

MASINT, according to ODNI, is information produced by quantitative and qualitative analysis of the physical characteristics of targets and events. The Director of the DIA is the Intelligence Community Functional Manager for MASINT, and the National MASINT Office manages and executes MASINT services.²

AJP-2 describes MASINT as scientific and technical analysis of sensor data, in which a wide range of emissions is compared with databases of known technical data. A separate NATO discipline is ACINT, intelligence derived from sound; the doctrine gives hydrophones, geophones and sonar as example sources.¹

OSINT: open knowledge

OSINT, according to AJP-2, is intelligence derived from publicly available information: radio, television, newspapers, state propaganda, journals and the internet. The doctrine regards it as the most likely source of basic intelligence, that is, general knowledge of a country or environment.¹

ODNI refers to publicly available information appearing in print or electronic form. According to that page, the major collectors were the DNI’s Open Source Center and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center; the 2009 guide adds that the CIA Director served as the Open Source Center’s executive agent.^2,6

Why one discipline is not enough

AJP-2 acknowledges that most intelligence is derived from a single source, but notes that time spent on corroboration increases certainty and reduces risk, and that multiple-source reporting is essential for in-depth understanding. The deliberate application of two or more supporting disciplines it calls MULTI-INT.¹

The American equivalents are all-source intelligence and multi-INT reporting: analysis that reaches its conclusions using all the sources available. The CIA glossary lists what it usually combines: HUMINT, IMINT, MASINT, SIGINT, GEOINT and OSINT.^4,6

Disciplines are only the collection stage. According to ODNI, intelligence work runs in five steps: direction, collection, processing, exploitation and dissemination; NATO describes four stages (see intelligence cycle and the map The intelligence cycle).^1,2