Intelligence failure

For the album see Intelligence Failure

Failure in the intelligence cycle or intelligence failure, is the outcome of the inadequacies within the intelligence cycle. The intelligence cycle itself consists of six steps that are constantly in motion. The six steps are: requirements, collection, processing and exploitation, analysis and production, dissemination and consumption, and feedback.

Requirements in the intelligence cycle relate to what the decision maker is requesting the analyst or team of analysts to research or find for him/her. These requirements may fall under any of the collection methods. Also, the requirements put forth should be an adjunct to policy making, not policy making itself. Ideally, the decision maker will provide the analyst with a clear set of requirements when they request information as to make the cycle flow easier.

However, this is often not the case. Often requirements are too broad or not broad enough and it causes the analyst to make decisions on their own as to how to fill in the gaps in the requirements. However, the analysts could run into the problem of filling the gaps the wrong way and searching for the wrong information.

The process of collection in the intelligence cycle refers to the methods used to gather raw data for the later stages of the cycle. There are five collection methods and each have ways in which they can fail. The five methods are: Human Intelligence (HUMINT), Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Image Intelligence (IMINT), Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), and Measures and Signature Intelligence (MASINT). It is common to rely on technology when performing collection, however it can fail and cause more problems than it solves.

See HUMINT

Signals intelligence is the information collected via the interception of signals. Signals intelligence can further be broken down into Communications Intelligence (COMINT), Electronic Intelligence (ELINT), Telemetry Intelligence (TELINT), and Radar Transmitters (RADINT). While these systems have their strengths, such as the ability to intercept communication or to gain information about weapons systems, they also have their weaknesses.

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