Requirements are
identified information needs--what we must know to safeguard the nation.
Intelligence requirements are established by the Director of Central Intelligence
according to guidance received from the President and the National and
Homeland Security Advisors. Requirements are developed based on critical
information required to protect the United States from National Security
and criminal threats. The Attorney General and the Director of the FBI
participate in the formulation of national intelligence requirements.
Planning and Direction is
management of the entire effort, from identifying the need for information
to delivering an intelligence product to a consumer. It involves implementation
plans to satisfy requirements levied on the FBI, as well as identifying
specific collection requirements based on FBI needs. Planning and direction
also is responsive to the end of the cycle, because current and finished
intelligence, which supports decision-making, generates new requirements.
The Executive Assistant Director for Intelligence leads intelligence planning
and direction for the FBI.
Collection is
the gathering of raw information based on requirements. Activities such
as interviews, technical and physical surveillances, human source operation,
searches, and liaison relationships result in the collection of intelligence.
Processing and Exploitation involves
converting the vast amount of information collected to a form usable by
analysts. This is done through a variety of methods including decryption,
language translations, and data reduction. Processing includes the entering
of raw data into databases where it can be exploited for use in the analysis
process.
Analysis and Production is
the conversion of raw information into intelligence. It includes integrating,
evaluating, and analyzing available data, and preparing intelligence products.
The information's reliability, validity, and relevance is evaluated and
weighed. The information is logically integrated, put in context, and used
to produce intelligence. This includes both "raw" and finished
intelligence. Raw intelligence is often referred to as "the dots" --individual
pieces of information disseminated individually. Finished intelligence
reports "connect the dots" by putting information in context
and drawing conclusions about its implications.
Dissemination--the
last step--which directly responds to the first, is the distribution of
raw or finished intelligence to the consumers whose needs initiated the
intelligence requirements. The FBI disseminates information in three standard
formats: IIR's, FBI Intelligence Bulletins, and FBI Intelligence Assessments.
FBI Intelligence products are provided daily to the Attorney General, the
President, and to customers throughout the FBI and in other agencies. These
FBI intelligence customers make decisions--operational, strategic, and
policy--based on the information. These decisions may lead to the levying
of more requirements, thus continuing the FBI Intelligence Cycle.
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