[Infowarrior] - Report: DHS lacking 'open source' intelligence

[Richard Forno]

Homeland Security lacking 'open source' intelligence
Posted by Stephanie Condon 1 comment

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10040939-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has not met requirements to  
provide "open source" intelligence--that is, publicly available  
information--for state and local law enforcement, a new report shows.

The House Committee on Homeland Security released a report Friday  
criticizing the department after interviewing more than 350 state,  
local, and tribal law enforcement officials about the DHS's open  
source intelligence efforts.

While 82 percent of law enforcement officials surveyed said they use  
open source information, 60 percent said the DHS needed to establish a  
training program on how to use the department's open source material.  
Half of respondents said the DHS's open source products did not meet  
their needs.

"The proliferation of Internet use and other advanced forms of  
communication is rapidly leading to an information revolution among  
terrorists groups," the report says. "The sooner the Department of  
Homeland Security recognizes the value in this type of unclassified  
information, the sooner DHS analysts can analyze it and provide useful  
open source intelligence to state, local and tribal law partners."

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 requires DHS, whenever possible, to  
make available unclassified reports and analyses based on open source  
information like newspapers, Internet resources, or scientific  
journals. To reinforce that requirement, the House in July passed the  
Homeland Security Open Source Information Enhancement Act, requiring  
the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish an open source program.

Despite this, "DHS' efforts have lagged behind the rest of the Federal  
government," the report says. The Director of National Intelligence  
and the Central Intelligence Agency have established stronger open  
source programs, even though the DHS is responsible for sharing  
terrorism threat information with state and local law enforcement.

"The Department is far behind the rest of the Intelligence Community  
in implementing a comprehensive open source intelligence program,"  
said Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of the Homeland Security Committee.  
"I am convinced that the department must make a concerted effort to  
understand their intelligence needs and produce intelligence products  
that provide actionable recommendations for the cop on the beat."