In the Internet era, the amount of information content created by humans is huge, in various and complex forms, and it is difficult to distinguish between true and false. Massive, fragmented, unindexed, and irregular data are distributed in every corner of the Internet, which contains huge data wealth. If carefully mined, this data information has extremely high intelligence value. Open source intelligence, that is, intelligence obtained through the analysis of public information or other resources, has received unprecedented attention and triggered a revolution in the intelligence community.
According to expert analysis, the era of intelligence has evolved from human intelligence (Humint) before World War I, signals intelligence (Sigint) during World War II, image intelligence (Imint) before and after the Cold War, to today’s open source intelligence (OSint). , and takes network intelligence (Netint) as its main feature.
According to estimates by international intelligence experts, currently 40% to 95% of the national intelligence of Western developed countries is obtained in the form of open source intelligence.
Open source is a capability, a comprehensive information acquisition capability that covers a wide range of areas and can mine all public content. In the information age, more and more information and materials are digitized, such as events people follow on Twitter, commercial satellite images, public videos and other information, which are shared in cyberspace. As a result, open source intelligence has the advantages of low cost, high efficiency, and easy access. It can be more comprehensive, comprehensive and systematic, and can better show changing trends and patterns. Especially with the development of artificial intelligence, open source intelligence work has become easier and easier, and efficiency is also improving rapidly. Now the governments of Western developed countries, including some powerful companies, with the support of artificial intelligence and other information technologies, can continuously collect global information and resources 24 hours a day, and analyze and process this information in a timely manner to obtain intelligence products. Used for decision-making aid.
Making full use of open source intelligence and data mining technology to conduct timely and effective tracking and monitoring of social dynamics and trends reflected on the Internet, as well as timely early warning analysis, is not just a practice of government departments. In the fields of financial investment, stocks and securities, these open source intelligence intelligent technologies are particularly widely used, bringing a steady stream of wealth to some companies.
Therefore, some foreign experts say: The contemporary open source intelligence trend is not driven by the government, but by private intelligence companies, think tanks and research institutions.
In the era of open source intelligence, much confidential information that used to be monopolized by the state has become an open resource readily available to individuals. This change has fundamentally changed the power ecology and balance between individuals and organizations, especially national organizations. It has far-reaching and widespread impacts and will profoundly change the concept, connotation and safeguards of national security.