In the news

Study: "The European Union's policies on counter-terrorism"
15/03/2017

A recent study produced by the LIBE committee of the European Parliament presents the European Union's policies on counter-terrorism, its relevance, coherence and effectiveness. 

The study identifies (counter-) terrorism trends, threats and policies in the EU, focussing particularly on seven themes, including database access and interoperability, measures on border security, criminal justice and prevention of radicalisation. It also analyses the coherence and effectiveness of the counter-terrorism policy...

French Think Tank (IFRI) highlights the evolution of military intelligence
28/02/2017

The French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) has published in early 2017 a study (only available in French) entitled "Les mutations du renseignement militaire : dissiper le brouillard de la guerre ?", written by Joseph HENROTIN. This study's aims to investigate on the evolution of intelligence research and analysis through time and for military purposes, including OSINT.  

"In the 1990s, military intelligence was at the core of the “revolution in military affairs”, carrying the hope that it...

Arms vendor's arrest in Slovenia demonstrates law enforcement’s ability to monitor the dark web
21/12/2016

Intelligence analysis provided by Europol's Focal Point Firearms helped the Slovenian National Police identify and arrest darknet arms vendor.

Arrests such as these ones signal the start of the law enforcement community’s ability to access the dark web and collate data for prosecution, proving that the inflated sense of anonymity and security created by the Internet can work to law enforcement’s benefit.

Darknet was among the topics discussed at the ...

"Social media intelligence, the wayward child of open source intelligence"
20/12/2016

In this article, the disctinction made between OSINT and SOCMINT is clearly explained. 

Privacy International suggests viewing SOCMINT as a distinct concept than OSINT. "The surveillance of social media should be removed from the definition of, and discussion about, OSINT. Instead, it should be treated as an issue its own right. This would ensure more specific regulation, policies and safeguards that take into account the very unique and specific nature of social media: a privately-owned space (i.e. owned by private companies...

Successful workshop highlights the value and challenge of bringing innovation to security and intelligence organisations
14/12/2016

On 9 December 2016, EUROSINT Forum & CEIS-European Office organised - in the premises of DGA Lab in Paris - a workshop around the theme of innovation. This workshop was attended by more than fifteen intelligence professionals stemming from National and European Security and Intelligence Agencies. 

Mr Gari Owen, President of the EUROSINT Forum welcomed the participants and briefly presented the objective of this one-day...

Islamic state changing tactics in the use of Internet and social media
02/12/2016

The Islamic State is losing ground in the Middle East. As a consequence and as revealed in recent events with terrorist attacks in Europe, it suggests that IS is adopting new tactics to attack the West. 

 

...
New surveillance law in the UK
28/11/2016

The Investigatory Powers Act passed on November 2016 gives UK intelligence agencies and police more powers than before.

 

This bill has barely met resistance apart from some people working at the UK’s...

The Promise and Prejudice of Big Data in Intelligence Community
25/11/2016

Abstract

Big data holds critical importance in the current generation of information technology, with applications ranging from financial, industrial, academic to defense sectors. With the exponential rise of open source data from social media and increasing government monitoring, big data is now also linked with national security, and subsequently to the intelligence community. In this study I review the scope of big data sciences in the functioning of intelligence community. The major part of my study focuses on the inherent limitations of big data, which...

FBI gains access to Twitter despite ban
18/11/2016

 

In May 2016, the CIA was denied of Twitter’s data access because the US private sector company feared to be seen too close to the intelligence arm of the government. Nevertheless, last week, the FBI gained access to Twitter-linked analytics tool Dataminr. The bureau indeed recently hired Dataminr to provide an “advanced...

Brexit - Access to EU security intelligence ‘critical’ for fighting terrorism
28/10/2016

David Armand, from the National Crime Agency, warned that « an urgent decision is needed on Britain’s membership of Europol or the UK would be forced out ». 

In this regard, sharing intelligence and accessing to information in Europe-wide security databases, including the EAW, is critical in fighting terrorism as Helen Ball recalls in this article. The deputy assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police thinks that citizens would be at a greater threat from terrorism if Britain failed to work with its allies for Brexit...

Pages