Offensive IW Open Sources. CSCE 727 - Farkas2 Reading List – Open Source Intelligence: Private...

Offensive IWOffensive IW

Open SourcesOpen Sources

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Reading List Reading List – Open Source Intelligence: Private Sector Capabilities to

Support DoD Policy, Acquisitions, and Operations , http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/oss980501.htm

Interesting Read– INTellingence: Open Source Intelligence, CIA,

https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2010-featured-story-archive/open-source-intelligence.html

– Project Grey Goose Report on Critical Infrastructure, 2010, http://dataclonelabs.com/security_talkworkshop/papers/25550091-Proj-Grey-Goose-report-on-Critical-Infrastructure-Attacks-Actors-and-Emerging-Threats.pdf

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What is Intelligence?What is Intelligence? Predicting of emergent threats

– Information Relevant to a government’s policy, national security

interests, analyze threats from actual or potential adversaries

– Activities Collection and analysis on intelligence information Counterintelligence

– Organization Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Modern Intelligence?Modern Intelligence?

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Mata Hari

James Bond

Cyber Intelligence

Source of ThreatsSource of Threats

Physical attacks– Use of IT technology to predict traditional

threats– OSINT

Cyber attacks– Use of IT technology to predict cyber threats– Need: understanding of these threats and their

consequences on national security

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InformationInformation “…relevant to a government’s formulation and

implementation of policy to further its national security interests and to deal with threats from actual or potential adversaries.” (A. Shulsky and G. Schmitt, Silent Warfare)

Examples:– Military matters of foreign nations– Diplomatic activities and intentions of foreign nations– Intelligence activities of foreign nations

Other party may or may not want to keep it secret Raw data and analyses and assessments based on raw data

Technical IntelligenceTechnical Intelligence

Interesting read: Office of Scientific Intelligence:The Original Wizards of Langley, http://www.foia.cia.gov/collection/original-wizards-langley

Office of Scientific Intelligence– Track technical challenges– Originates back to 1954-1962– Aim: create and apply innovative technologies to meet

intelligence needs

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Open SourceOpen Source

Unclassified information in the public domain or available from commercial services

Example sources: – Traditional: newspapers, magazines, scientific

publications, television and radio broadcasting, etc.

– Emerging: Internet, geospatial data, images

Birth of Open Source Birth of Open Source IntelligenceIntelligence

1946: Central Intelligence Group (CIG) established– Track scientific development abroad and

estimate its importance– Consequences of foreign scientific development

on US national security– Issues: Soviet nuclear weapons, ballistic missile,

space exploration, air defense, chemical and biological weapons, etc.

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Open Source ConcernsOpen Source Concerns

Acquisition of information – Open source intelligence– Privacy

Legal and ethical issues– Piracy– Infringement on intellectual property rights– Fraud

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What kind of information resources What kind of information resources do YOU use?do YOU use?

How do YOU evaluate the accuracy How do YOU evaluate the accuracy of the data?of the data?

How do YOU analyze the collected How do YOU analyze the collected data?data?


Advances in ITAdvances in IT

Increased: data and analystsRaw data sharing

– Intelligence community– Government offices– Interest groups



ActivityActivity Obtaining or denying information Activities:

– Collection and analysis on intelligence information– Counterintelligence, deception

Collection: wide range (e.g., wiretapping, broadcasts, newspapers, research publications, aerial photography, espionage, etc.)

Analysis: quality of data, correctness of analysis, timeliness, etc.

What are the OSI Challenges?What are the OSI Challenges?Collection?

– Data accuracy (correctness, timeliness, etc.)– Data integration (heterogeneous data, duplicate,

inconsistent data)– Volume of data (processing capability)

Analysis?– Statistical data analysis– Accuracy of results, application of results– Efficiency



CounterintelligenceCounterintelligence

Covert action Protect a nation against the actions of

hostile intelligence services– National Security – Nature of regime– Law


CounterintelligenceCounterintelligencePassive measures

– Blocking access to the information – Information classification:

Top Secret: “exceptionally grave damage” Secret: “serious damage” Confidential: “damage”

Counter espionage– Surveillance, intelligence collections– Defectors and double agents– Deception


CounterintelligenceCounterintelligence Foreign intelligence guidelines: classified

– Investigation of: Illegal activities: detecting and preventing foreign

espionage and terrorist activities Legal activities: foreign legal political activities like fund-

raising, organizational work, etc. Domestic intelligence guidelines (“Levi Guidelines”):

public– Investigation of groups that

hostile to government policies and fundamental principles seeks to deprive some class of people has violent approach to political change


Scope of IntelligenceScope of Intelligence

Government -- national security – Range from peace time to war time intelligence– Type of government

Domestic Intelligence -- depends on nature of regime Business corporations – competitive advantage Economics and Intelligence

– Government-run economy– Economic well-being of nation (post-Cold War era)

Non-traditions Intelligence– Environmental issues


Intelligence and Law Intelligence and Law EnforcementEnforcement

Transnational threats: – Do not originate primarily from a foreign government– Serious threats for nation’s well-being– Fall within law enforcement rather than intelligence– Examples: narcotics trafficking, international terrorism

Law enforcement: waiting until a crime has been committed

Intelligence: collection of convincing evidence Criminal investigation vs. criminal intelligence

investigation – Punishment of a given criminal act vs. struggle with an

organization engaged in criminal activity


Intelligence and Information AgeIntelligence and Information Age

Advent of information age Change the mode of operations for business

corporations and government Technology: communicating and processing

information Behavioral and institutional change: information

as the key of organizational activities Intelligent Services vs. competing organizations

Military AffairsMilitary Affairs

Enhanced usefulness of information– Weapon systems

Enhanced ability to collect, process and disseminate information in a timely manner


Government OperationsGovernment Operations

Circulation and use of information for policy making and implementation– Competitiveness of non-government

organizations– How to exploit information– How to integrate information from

heterogeneous sources



Intelligence and Information Age Intelligence and Information Age (cont.)(cont.)

Globalization: increased flow of information across borders– International trade– Division of labor– Increased travel– Increased penetration by news media


Open Source Information Open Source Information CollectionCollection

Goal oriented Publications and broadcast Additional information available from non-

intelligence sources Special sources (e.g., speeches of political leaders,

legal documents, demographic data, etc. ) Large amount of openly available data Need

processing power


Problem of Increased AvailabilityProblem of Increased Availability

How to locate sources?How to evaluate source reliability?How timely the data is?How to analyze information and integrate

with other intelligence information?How to protect confidentiality of policy

maker’s interest?


Information SpecialistInformation Specialist

Policy makerStaff of policy makerIntelligence analysts


IW and Open Source IW and Open Source IntelligenceIntelligence

Generally legal (uses readily available information)

Attacker gains access to protected information, e.g., – Business trade secrets– Military strategy– Personal information

Protected information: readily available in public domain, can be inferred from public data, or deduced from aggregated public data


Open Source IntelligenceOpen Source Intelligence

Widely used (e.g., Department of Defense) Cheap, fast, or timely Most often legal Advantages: no risk for collector, provides

context, mode of information acquisition, cover for data discovery by secret operations

Disadvantages: may not discover important information, assurance of discovery(?)


Online Open Source Online Open Source IntelligenceIntelligence

Large amount of public data online– Web pages, online databases, digital

collections, organizations on line, government offices, etc.

Freedom and Information Act (FOIA): industry data

U.S. Patent Office: copies of U.S. patentsTrade shows, public records, etc.


PrivacyPrivacy

Use open source to find out confidential data about people

Find confidential data about people while they browse through open source (e.g., Web searches)

Who is Selling Your Personal Who is Selling Your Personal Data?Data?

Online investigative industry Cash strapped government

– Maryland DMV: 1996 – driver’s license info and vehicle registration data

– Virginia: voter registration data– Washington State: 1997 WATCH (criminal history data)

Accidental:– Experian Inc. 08/13/1997, software error in web

application released other customers’ credit standing, http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-738117.html



Privacy ViolationsPrivacy Violations

Snooping via Open SourcesOnline activities

– Questionnaires– Customers’ data– Web site data collection (Cookies, IP address,

operating system, browser, requested page, time of request, etc.) – without user’s permission


LegislationsLegislations Privacy Act of 1974, U.S. Department of Justice

(http://www.justice.gov/opcl/1974privacyact-overview.htm ) Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), U.S.

Department of Education, (http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html )

Health Information Privacy, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), (http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/index.html )


Other Open Source AttacksOther Open Source Attacks Piracy

– Available in open source, but still protected by copyright, patent, trademark, etc.

Copyright Infringement– Acquisition of protected work without the owner’s

permission and sold for a fee– Human perception: not serious crime– Significant loss for

marketing/manufacturing/owner Trademark Infringement

Legal and Ethical IssuesLegal and Ethical Issues

See lecture notes for CSCE 522

Nov. 26, 2012

http://www.cse.sc.edu/~farkas/csce522-2012/lecture.htm


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