Inside the IC

Open source intelligence, or OSINT, is often treated as an afterthought in the U.S. intelligence community compared to other forms of intel. Now, a group of former intelligence leaders are trying to change that. They are forming a new OSINT Foundation to help elevate the tradecraft, establish standards, and build a community around open source. I spoke with two of the foundation's leaders, Barbara Alexander and Eliot Jardines. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode features part two of an interview with Larry Hanauer, vice president for policy at the Intelligence and National Security Alliance. Larry discusses INSA's ideas for how the intel community can improve how it recruits and clears people with foreign connections. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The security clearance process often poses a challenge for both government and industry when they want to move people around and bring new personnel onboard. That's especially true for the highest levels of clearance, where polygraph requirements and other inconsistent policies can bog things down for weeks and months. To break down the issue, I spoke with Larry Hanauer, the vice president for policy at the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, and Greg Torres, the director of personnel security at Booz Allen Hamilton, about INSA's new paper, "Improving Security Clearance Mobility: How to Save Time and Resources and Enhance Mission Outcomes." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Trusted Workforce 2.0 is the government's wholesale reform of the security clearance process. The idea is to make it easier for employees to move in and around government and industry, while also improving security. For more, I spoke with Heather Green, the assistant director of vetting risk operations at the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. DCSA handles security clearance investigations for the vast majority of government, and it's taking a lead role in implementing Trusted Workforce 2.0. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Brett Holmgren is the assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research. The Bureau of Intelligence and Research, or INR, is unique in that it delivers intelligence analysis to advance diplomacy. And that principle has been central to the intelligence community’s efforts to downgrade and in some cases declassify intelligence about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to share it with partners and allies. We talked to Holmgren about INR's history, its role during the conflict in Ukraine, and INR’s new strategic plan. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nancy Morgan spent the last three years as the intelligence community's chief data officer. In that time, the amount of information both collected and produced by intelligence agencies has grown exponentially. The IC is now rewriting its 2017 data strategy to help guide spy agencies in all aspects of how they use an ever growing amount of data. Morgan retired at the end of April, but first, she sat down with Justin Doubleday, as well as Jory Heckman, host of "All About Data," to discuss the IC's evolving data strategy, and why she thinks data isn't just a field for highly trained data scientists. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On today’s show, we take a look at how intelligence agencies are approaching open source intelligence or OSINT. There’s a rapidly expanding world of social media feeds, commercial satellite imagery, cell phone videos and other Internet-derived information that allow professional and amateur analysts alike to investigate events happening around the world. Organizations like Bellingcat have used this kind of information to extensively document Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, mapping incidents of civilian harm, debunking Russian disinformation, and investigating the use of cluster munitions and other weapons. But the intelligence community has been slower to adopt new open source tools and information. A January report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that the community has struggled to even define OSINT beyond the classic definition of publicly available media and press reporting. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and synthetic biology are offering new possibilities for how intelligence agencies carry out their missions. But rapid advances in technology, especially in commercial industry, also present challenges to the IC's technology adoption processes. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is now seeking feedback on its new five-year S&T investment plan. John Beieler, the director of science and technology at ODNI, sat down with Inside the IC to discuss the new strategy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s been four weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine, and despite expert predictions, there has yet to be a significant cyber campaign against the U.S. and its allies. But the White House is now warning it has “evolving intelligence” suggesting the Russian government is preparing cyber attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure. This comes at a time when the U.S. government’s relationship with the private sector on cybersecurity seems to be taking a turn toward better collaboration. To break it all down, we spoke with Tim Kosiba, the former head of the National Security Agency’s elite offensive cyber group, the Tailored Access Operations Unit. Tim is now CEO of bracket F, a subsidiary of the cybersecurity company Redacted. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this week's episode, we speak with former National Geospatial Intelligence Agency Director Robert Cardillo about a recent chapter he authored in the CIA's quarterly journal. The chapter, titled "GEOINT and the post-secret world," posits that "we are fast approaching the time in which technology will enable a continuous sensing of all of the world’s activity." What does that mean for privacy and national security? You can read the full chapter here: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003164197-22/geoint-post-secret-world-robert-cardillo See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.