Intelligence Analysis In Social Media

The global security environment, dominated and dependent on information and communication technology, generates an accumulation of disruptive factors for society. This volume, in direct accordance with technological developments that have facilitated information avalanche and (anonymous) communication, has required interdisciplinary research in areas such as: psychology, sociology, computer science, social media communication and legislation. The research aims to establish whether social media platforms, through the actions they facilitate, can pose risks and threats to national security and to identify premises in order to stimulate strategies that should be followed to avoid transforming various forms of online communication into a potentiating and generating factor of crime, radical or extremist opinions, mass manipulation, etc. At the same time, the research offers an alternative vision on approaching the concept of intelligence in the context of the development of social media networks (SocMInt) and promotes ways to improve and streamline how to achieve objectives that can be successfully applied, including in business intelligence. In this regard, a case study is conducted on the effects of CoVid-19 pandemic (SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus) from the perspective of law enforcement agencies. Although the individually exploitation of SocMInt does not provide a comprehensive answer, it must be used in the initial stages of decision-making and effort-making, due to the low costs compared to other Int disciplines. The volume does not present a solution to current problems, but through its didactic, documentary and informative nature it offers professional support at high standards to analysts and managers in decision making.

This book examines the use of social network analysis (SNA) in operational environments from the perspective of those who actually apply it. A rapidly growing body of literature suggests that SNA can reveal significant insights into the overall structure of criminal networks as well as the position of critical actors within such groups. This book draws on the existing SNA and intelligence literature, as well as qualitative interviews with crime intelligence analysts from two Australian state law enforcement agencies to understand its use by law enforcement agencies and the extent to which it can be used in practice. It includes a discussion of the challenges that analysts face when attempting to apply various network analysis techniques to criminal networks. Overall, it advances SNA as an investigative tool, and provides a significant contribution to the field that will be of interest to both researchers and practitioners interested in social network analysis, intelligence analysis and law enforcement.

This book examines intelligence analysis in the digital age and demonstrates how intelligence has entered a new era. While intelligence is an ancient activity, the digital age is a relatively new phenomenon. This volume uses the concept of the "digital age" to highlight the increased change, complexity, and pace of information that is now circulated, as new technology has reduced the time it takes to spread news to almost nothing. These factors mean that decision-makers face an increasingly challenging threat environment, which in turn increases the demand for timely, relevant, and reliable intelligence to support policymaking. In this context, the book demonstrates that intelligence places greater demands on analysis work, as the traditional intelligence cycle is no longer adequate as a process description. In the digital age, it is not enough to accumulate as much information as possible to gain a better understanding of the world. To meet customers’ needs, the intelligence process must be centred around the analysis work – which in turn has increased the demand for analysts. Assessments, not least predictions, are now just as important as revealing someone else’s secrets. This volume will be of much interest to students of intelligence studies, security studies, and international relations.

In the world of Facebook, Twitter and Yelp, water-cooler conversations with co-workers and backyard small talk with neighbors have moved from the physical world to the digital arena. In this new landscape, organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies to political campaigns continuously monitor online opinions in an effort to guide their actions. Are consumers satisfied with our product? How are our policies perceived? Do voters agree with our platform? Measuring online opinion is more complex than just reading a few posted reviews. Social media is replete with noise and chatter that can contaminate monitoring efforts. By knowing what shapes online opinions, organizations can better uncover the valuable insights hidden in the social media chatter and better inform strategy. This book can help anyone facing the challenge of making sense of social media data to move beyond the current practice of social media monitoring to a more comprehensive use of social media intelligence.

Since 9/11, the needs of intelligence agencies as well as the missions they conduct have increased in number, size, and complexity. As such, government and private security agencies are recruiting staff to analyze the vast amount of data collected in these missions. This textbook offers a way of gaining the analytic skills essential to undertake intelligence work. It acquaints students and analysts with how intelligence fits into the larger research framework. It covers not only the essentials of applied research, but also the function, structure, and operational methods specifically involved in intelligence work. It looks at how analysts work with classified information in a security conscious environment as well as obtain data via covert methods. Students are left with little doubt about what intelligence is and how it is developed using scientific methods of inquiry. This revised edition of the popular text has been expanded and updated significantly.

Now in its Seventh Edition, Robert M. Clark′s Intelligence Analysis: A Target-Centric Approach once again delivers a consistent, clear method for teaching intelligence analysis in both introductory and advanced courses—including new case studies and a look at advances in the field.

Crime and Intelligence Analysis: An Integrated Real-Time Approach, 2nd Edition, covers everything crime analysts and tactical analysts need to know to be successful. Providing an overview of the criminal justice system as well as the more fundamental areas of crime analysis, the book enables students and law enforcement personnel to gain a better understanding of criminal behavior, learn the basics of conducting temporal analysis of crime patterns, use spatial analysis to better understand crime, apply research methods to crime analysis, and more successfully evaluate data and information to help predict criminal offending and solve criminal cases. A new chapter provides expert advice about terrorist threats and threat assessment. Criminal justice and police academy students, as well as civilians, sworn officers, and administrators, can build the skills to be credible crime analysts who play a critical role in the daily operations of law enforcement.

This textbook offers a way of gaining the analytic skills essential to undertake intelligence work. It acquaints students and analysts with how intelligence fits into the larger research framework. It covers not only the essentials of applied research, but also the function, structure, and operational methods specifically involved in intelligence work. It looks at how analysts work with classified information in a security conscious environment as well as obtain data via covert methods.