Intelligence field

== Global industry leaders ==

== Global industry leaders ==

[[File:Allan Pinkerton-2.jpg|left|thumb|[[Allan Pinkerton]] was formerly the global industry leader of the intelligence field, at one point, possessing for the [[Pinkerton (detective agency)|Pinkerton Agency]] more reserves than the US Army, mostly used for union busting. Pinkerton is nowhere near the global leader today, purchased in the early 2000's by [[Securitas AB]] and relegated to basic security duties.]]

[[File:Allan Pinkerton-2.jpg|left|thumb|[[Allan Pinkerton]] was formerly the global industry leader of the intelligence field, at one point, possessing for the [[Pinkerton (detective agency)|Pinkerton Agency]] more reserves than the US Army, mostly used for union busting. Pinkerton is nowhere near the global leader today, purchased in the early 2000s by [[Securitas AB]] and relegated to basic security duties.]]

Due to the secretive, often covert, nature of the intelligence field, gaining accurate employment figures or profit and revenue figures in either the [[public sector]] or [[private sector]] anywhere is difficult for data scientists, human resources officers, or economists.{{Cite web |date=2025-07-23 |title=Private Sector Intelligence Careers: Analyzing Job Titles and Professional Trends {{!}} The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs |url=https://www.belfercenter.org/research-analysis/private-sector-intelligence-careers-analyzing-job-titles-and-professional-trends |access-date=2026-01-22 |website=www.belfercenter.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=German |first=Mike |date=February 6, 2015 |title=The U.S. Intelligence Community is Bigger Than Ever, But is It Worth It? {{!}} Brennan Center for Justice |url=https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/us-intelligence-community-bigger-ever-it-worth-it |access-date=2026-01-23 |website=www.brennancenter.org |language=en}} From an etymological perspective, when the professions of intelligence were being developed, the intelligence field deliberately chose words that were mundane and obtuse, so their enemies would not know what these jobs really were.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq4Jc8UCR-g |title=What does 'espionage' actually mean? |date=2026-01-20 |last=Words Unravelled |access-date=2026-01-23 |via=YouTube}} Job postings are even today often intentionally or unintentionally mislabeled by employers. Most of the employment figures below are best-estimates.

Due to the secretive, often covert, nature of the intelligence field, gaining accurate employment figures or profit and revenue figures in either the [[public sector]] or [[private sector]] anywhere is difficult for data scientists, human resources officers, or economists.{{Cite web |date=2025-07-23 |title=Private Sector Intelligence Careers: Analyzing Job Titles and Professional Trends {{!}} The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs |url=https://www.belfercenter.org/research-analysis/private-sector-intelligence-careers-analyzing-job-titles-and-professional-trends |access-date=2026-01-22 |website=www.belfercenter.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=German |first=Mike |date=February 6, 2015 |title=The U.S. Intelligence Community is Bigger Than Ever, But is It Worth It? {{!}} Brennan Center for Justice |url=https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/us-intelligence-community-bigger-ever-it-worth-it |access-date=2026-01-23 |website=www.brennancenter.org |language=en}} From an etymological perspective, when the professions of intelligence were being developed, the intelligence field deliberately chose words that were mundane and obtuse, so their enemies would not know what these jobs really were.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq4Jc8UCR-g |title=What does 'espionage' actually mean? |date=2026-01-20 |last=Words Unravelled |access-date=2026-01-23 |via=YouTube}} Job postings are even today often intentionally or unintentionally mislabeled by employers. Most of the employment figures below are best-estimates.

OSINT has become so integrated into intelligence collection that some scholars of [[intelligence studies]] write that it is "the lifeblood of intelligence." In order to sift through the massive amounts of raw data nearly overwhelming the basic wage government employees of intelligence agencies, the Central Intelligence Agency created [[In-Q-Tel]] to raise the capital for private intelligence agencies that would manage OSINT for them.{{Cite journal |last=Hulnick |first=Arthur S. |date=November 2002 |title=The Downside of Open Source Intelligence |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08850600290101767 |journal=International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence |language=en |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=565–579 |doi=10.1080/08850600290101767 |issn=0885-0607|url-access=subscription }}

OSINT has become so integrated into intelligence collection that some scholars of [[intelligence studies]] write that it is "the lifeblood of intelligence." In order to sift through the massive amounts of raw data nearly overwhelming the basic wage government employees of intelligence agencies, the Central Intelligence Agency created [[In-Q-Tel]] to raise the capital for private intelligence agencies that would manage OSINT for them.{{Cite journal |last=Hulnick |first=Arthur S. |date=November 2002 |title=The Downside of Open Source Intelligence |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08850600290101767 |journal=International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence |language=en |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=565–579 |doi=10.1080/08850600290101767 |issn=0885-0607|url-access=subscription }}

[[File:Hostile Takeover.svg|thumb|Wikipedia is often a source for [[open-source intelligence]] collection – even though most analysts regard it as unreliable.]]

[[File:Hostile Takeover.svg|thumb|Wikipedia is often a source for [[open-source intelligence]] collection – even though most analysts regard it as unreliable.]]

After the 2010's, the definition of OSINT collection often incorporates the website [[Wikipedia]] somewhere in that definition, or conversation – because this website itself is built as an [[open source]] information platform. Wikipedia is now often considered a first-base for OSINT collectors, and veteran analysts will train their newer recruits to use this website.{{Cite journal |last=Fleischman |first=Amir |date=2022 |title=Effective Use of OSINT in the Russo-Ukrainian War: Collection and Disclosure of Reliable Information along with Refuting False Information |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27369383 |journal=American Intelligence Journal |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=66–79 |jstor=27369383 |issn=0883-072X}} While the information here is sometimes wrong, leaders train that it is important for an OSINT collector to know where a [[Wikipedian]] got their information, because the [[information landscape]] here represents knowledge in the popular zeitgeist.

After the 2010s, the definition of OSINT collection often incorporates the website [[Wikipedia]] somewhere in that definition, or conversation – because this website itself is built as an [[open source]] information platform. Wikipedia is now often considered a first-base for OSINT collectors, and veteran analysts will train their newer recruits to use this website.{{Cite journal |last=Fleischman |first=Amir |date=2022 |title=Effective Use of OSINT in the Russo-Ukrainian War: Collection and Disclosure of Reliable Information along with Refuting False Information |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27369383 |journal=American Intelligence Journal |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=66–79 |jstor=27369383 |issn=0883-072X}} While the information here is sometimes wrong, leaders train that it is important for an OSINT collector to know where a [[Wikipedian]] got their information, because the [[information landscape]] here represents knowledge in the popular zeitgeist.

OSINT collection is merely the practice of observing the information provided by a source, but it is no longer considered OSINT collection when those collectors decide to contribute information to Wikipedia – that is when it becomes [[information warfare]].{{Cite web|title=Wikipedia has resisted information warfare, but could it fight off a proper attack?|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/2018/08/wikipedia-has-resisted-information-warfare-could-it-fight-proper-attack|website=New Statesman|date=2018-08-29|access-date=2026-01-27|language=en-US|first=Carl|last=Miller}}{{Cite web|title=Wikipedia Wars|url=https://www.fdd.org/podcasts/2026/01/23/wikipedia-wars/|website=FDD|date=2026-01-24|access-date=2026-01-27|language=en|first=Clifford D. May, Ashley|last=Rindsberg}} In 2007, for example, one incident that violated the Wikipedia [[terms of service]] occurred when users at [[IP address]]es registered to computers owned by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) and the CIA were discovered having edited several pages, violating the [[conflict of interest]].{{Cite web |last=Mikkelsen |first=Randall |date=August 16, 2007 |title=CIA and FBI computers used for Wikipedia edits |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/cia-and-fbi-computers-used-for-wikipedia-edits-idUSN16428960/ |website=reuters.com |publisher=[[Reuters]]}}

OSINT collection is merely the practice of observing the information provided by a source, but it is no longer considered OSINT collection when those collectors decide to contribute information to Wikipedia – that is when it becomes [[information warfare]].{{Cite web|title=Wikipedia has resisted information warfare, but could it fight off a proper attack?|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/2018/08/wikipedia-has-resisted-information-warfare-could-it-fight-proper-attack|website=New Statesman|date=2018-08-29|access-date=2026-01-27|language=en-US|first=Carl|last=Miller}}{{Cite web|title=Wikipedia Wars|url=https://www.fdd.org/podcasts/2026/01/23/wikipedia-wars/|website=FDD|date=2026-01-24|access-date=2026-01-27|language=en|first=Clifford D. May, Ashley|last=Rindsberg}} In 2007, for example, one incident that violated the Wikipedia [[terms of service]] occurred when users at [[IP address]]es registered to computers owned by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) and the CIA were discovered having edited several pages, violating the [[conflict of interest]].{{Cite web |last=Mikkelsen |first=Randall |date=August 16, 2007 |title=CIA and FBI computers used for Wikipedia edits |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/cia-and-fbi-computers-used-for-wikipedia-edits-idUSN16428960/ |website=reuters.com |publisher=[[Reuters]]}}

In what has often been called [[mission creep]], the leading [[criminal intelligence]] bureaus and departments in cities around the world often change their core mission set depending on what [[Art Hulnick]] called the ''[[threat du jour]]''.{{Cite journal |date=April 2005 |title=Book Reviews |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13523260500127353 |journal=Contemporary Security Policy |language=en |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=160–184 |doi=10.1080/13523260500127353 |issn=1352-3260|url-access=subscription }} Threat du jour, in this respect, follows that when the perceived threat against society was [[Communism]], criminal intelligence units focused on suppressing Communist organizations. Similarly, when the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] was created and the [[Okhrana]] was dissolved, Russian criminal intelligence focused on suppressing what they called the Capitalist disease there. When that threat became [[organized crime]], these units shifted to largely become gang units, and when narcotics became the threat du jour, those gang units became anti-narcotics task forces.

In what has often been called [[mission creep]], the leading [[criminal intelligence]] bureaus and departments in cities around the world often change their core mission set depending on what [[Art Hulnick]] called the ''[[threat du jour]]''.{{Cite journal |date=April 2005 |title=Book Reviews |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13523260500127353 |journal=Contemporary Security Policy |language=en |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=160–184 |doi=10.1080/13523260500127353 |issn=1352-3260|url-access=subscription }} Threat du jour, in this respect, follows that when the perceived threat against society was [[Communism]], criminal intelligence units focused on suppressing Communist organizations. Similarly, when the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] was created and the [[Okhrana]] was dissolved, Russian criminal intelligence focused on suppressing what they called the Capitalist disease there. When that threat became [[organized crime]], these units shifted to largely become gang units, and when narcotics became the threat du jour, those gang units became anti-narcotics task forces.

Today, criminal intelligence organizations have largely been absorbed into [[counterterrorism]] bureaus, with terrorism becoming the new threat du jour.{{Cite news |last=Hafetz |date=2023-03-19 |title=Homeland Security's fusion centers show the dangers of mission creep |url=https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/3900077-homeland-securitys-fusion-centers-show-the-dangers-of-mission-creep/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250511210015/https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/3900077-homeland-securitys-fusion-centers-show-the-dangers-of-mission-creep/ |archive-date=2025-05-11 |access-date=2026-01-28 |work=The Hill |language=en-US |first=Jonathan |url-status=live }} The same work might be performed, but around the world, more money and effort has been allocated to counterterrorism over standard intelligence collection since the start of the [[Global War On Terror]]. Specifically in the United States, however, that relationship goes back much further, to the 1980's, when [[William Colby]] created the [[Counterterrorism Task Force]].{{Cite journal|title=Intelligence and law enforcement: The "spies are not cops" problem|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08850609708435350|journal=International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence|date=September 1997|issn=0885-0607|pages=269–286|volume=10|issue=3|doi=10.1080/08850609708435350|language=en|first=Arthur S.|last=Hulnick|url-access=subscription}} London's former [[Special Branch (Metropolitan Police)|Special Branch]], for example, which was the single-largest municipal criminal intelligence branch in the world, was absorbed into the [[Counter Terrorism Command]] in 2006.{{Cite web|title=Special Branch absorbed into counter terror unit|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/special-branch-absorbed-into-counter-terror-unit-lbwlmn2rdz7|website=www.thetimes.com|date=2006-10-03|access-date=2026-01-27|language=en|first=Sean|last=O'Neill}} Los Angeles's Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau was merged in 2010 with the former Special Operations Bureau to create the Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau.{{Cite news|title=Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau - LAPD Online|url=https://www.lapdonline.org/lapd-contact/counter-terrorism-and-special-operations-bureau/|work=LAPD Online|access-date=2026-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250918060117/https://www.lapdonline.org/lapd-contact/counter-terrorism-and-special-operations-bureau/|archive-date=2025-09-18|language=en-US|url-status=live}} Chicago's Bureau of Organized Crime (which was designed to hunt gangsters like Al Capone), is now the Bureau of Counter Terrorism.

Today, criminal intelligence organizations have largely been absorbed into [[counterterrorism]] bureaus, with terrorism becoming the new threat du jour.{{Cite news |last=Hafetz |date=2023-03-19 |title=Homeland Security's fusion centers show the dangers of mission creep |url=https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/3900077-homeland-securitys-fusion-centers-show-the-dangers-of-mission-creep/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250511210015/https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/3900077-homeland-securitys-fusion-centers-show-the-dangers-of-mission-creep/ |archive-date=2025-05-11 |access-date=2026-01-28 |work=The Hill |language=en-US |first=Jonathan |url-status=live }} The same work might be performed, but around the world, more money and effort has been allocated to counterterrorism over standard intelligence collection since the start of the [[Global War On Terror]]. Specifically in the United States, however, that relationship goes back much further, to the 1980s, when [[William Colby]] created the [[Counterterrorism Task Force]].{{Cite journal|title=Intelligence and law enforcement: The "spies are not cops" problem|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08850609708435350|journal=International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence|date=September 1997|issn=0885-0607|pages=269–286|volume=10|issue=3|doi=10.1080/08850609708435350|language=en|first=Arthur S.|last=Hulnick|url-access=subscription}} London's former [[Special Branch (Metropolitan Police)|Special Branch]], for example, which was the single-largest municipal criminal intelligence branch in the world, was absorbed into the [[Counter Terrorism Command]] in 2006.{{Cite web|title=Special Branch absorbed into counter terror unit|url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/special-branch-absorbed-into-counter-terror-unit-lbwlmn2rdz7|website=www.thetimes.com|date=2006-10-03|access-date=2026-01-27|language=en|first=Sean|last=O'Neill}} Los Angeles's Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau was merged in 2010 with the former Special Operations Bureau to create the Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau.{{Cite news|title=Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau - LAPD Online|url=https://www.lapdonline.org/lapd-contact/counter-terrorism-and-special-operations-bureau/|work=LAPD Online|access-date=2026-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250918060117/https://www.lapdonline.org/lapd-contact/counter-terrorism-and-special-operations-bureau/|archive-date=2025-09-18|language=en-US|url-status=live}} Chicago's Bureau of Organized Crime (which was designed to hunt gangsters like Al Capone), is now the Bureau of Counter Terrorism.

== History ==

== History ==

{{Expand section|date=January 2026}}

{{Expand section|date=January 2026}}

Despite the fact that espionage is thousands of years old, the intelligence field as it is known today is roughly 100–200 years old. The original definition of intelligence (in English) was as to be synonymous with journalism and news, and has morphed and transformed into whatever uses it has today. Hence the name of many newspapers today still called ''The Intelligencer.'' At least by the 1600's in the English language, [[Intelligence Officers|intelligence officers]] were categorized into several categories, to include spies, scouts, and intelligencers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/intelligencer_n?tl=true|title=intelligencer: Meaning & Use|date=2010|website=Oxford English dictionary}}

Despite the fact that espionage is thousands of years old, the intelligence field as it is known today is roughly 100–200 years old. The original definition of intelligence (in English) was as to be synonymous with journalism and news, and has morphed and transformed into whatever uses it has today. Hence the name of many newspapers today still called ''The Intelligencer.'' At least by the 1600s in the English language, [[Intelligence Officers|intelligence officers]] were categorized into several categories, to include spies, scouts, and intelligencers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/intelligencer_n?tl=true|title=intelligencer: Meaning & Use|date=2010|website=Oxford English dictionary}}

==See also==

==See also==