Articles & Research
In-depth writing on intelligence tradecraft, OSINT methodology, and the disciplines that underpin the work.
The 4x4 Intelligence Grading System
The 4x4 system is a compressed evaluation framework that rates the source of information on a four-point letter scale and the information itself on a four-point number scale.
Read Article →Finding Your Way into OSINT: A Career Map
Happy National OSINT Day! To celebrate, my article for you all today is a career map. One of the best things about OSINT is how many different directions you can take it, and one of the most common questions from people interested in the…
Read Article →The 5x5x5 System
UK law enforcement grades intelligence using a framework called the 5x5x5, which evaluates three things at once: the source that provided the information, the information itself, and the rules governing who can see it and what they can do…
Read Article →The Admiralty Code / NATO 6x6 System
When a report arrives tagged B2, an analyst knows three things before reading a word: the source has a strong track record, the information is logically consistent with other reporting, and no one has independently confirmed it yet.
Read Article →Source Reliability & Information Credibility
Every piece of information that reaches you arrived through someone or something: a person reported it, a system collected it, a platform published it, a database stored it.
Read Article →Sourcing for OSINT: ICS 206-01
Until ICS 206-01, the IC had no sourcing standard written specifically for open-source work. Intelligence Community Directive 203 sets analytic standards. ICD 206 sets sourcing requirements.
Read Article →Romance Scams: What You Need to Know This Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day is one of the biggest days of the year for online dating activity, and scammers know it. FBI field offices across the country issued warnings this week, and the data backs them up: romance scams spike every February as more…
Read Article →Show Your Work: The Intelligence Standard for Sourcing
Every analytic product rests on sources. The quality of those sources, the transparency with which they’re presented, and the ability of a reader to find and evaluate them independently determine whether the product earns trust or simply…
Read Article →Legal Boundaries of OSINT Collection (Legal Reference)
Note: I’m not a lawyer, and this isn’t legal advice. This article is an educational overview of the legal frameworks that affect OSINT practice, based on publicly available statutes, case law, regulations, and guidance documents.
Read Article →What Can I Actually Do? A Practitioner’s Guide to Legal OSINT
This is the practical companion to Legal Boundaries of OSINT Collection, which provides the full legal analysis with case law, statutes, and regulatory frameworks. This article covers what those frameworks mean for your day-to-day work.
Read Article →The OSINT-HUMINT Boundary: Where Observation Ends and Engagement Begins
The line between Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Human Intelligence (HUMINT) comes down to one question: are you observing, or are you engaging?
Read Article →ATS 9: Incorporates Effective Visuals
Analytic Tradecraft Standard 9 requires that intelligence products “incorporate visual information to clarify an analytic message and to complement or enhance the presentation of data and analysis” (ICD 203 2015).
Read Article →ATS 8: Makes Accurate Judgments & Assessments
Analytic Tradecraft Standard 8 requires that intelligence products “apply expertise and logic to make the most accurate judgments and assessments possible, based on the information available and known information gaps” (ICD 203 2015).
Read Article →ATS 7: Analytic Line
An analyst produces a threat assessment in January concluding that a particular criminal organization poses a moderate risk to a client’s operations in a given region.
Read Article →ATS 6: Use Clear & Logical Argumentation
When Douglas MacEachin became head of the CIA’s Directorate of Intelligence in the early 1990s, he spent his weekends reading through stacks of already-published analytic papers.
Read Article →ATS 5: Demonstrates Customer Relevance
You can produce technically flawless work and still deliver something nobody needs :( No one wants to waste their time or energy like that.
Read Article →ATS 4: Analysis of Alternatives
Analysts gravitate toward the explanation that fits the evidence they’ve already gathered. That tendency is natural and efficient, which is exactly what makes it dangerous.
Read Article →Analytic Tradecraft Standard 3: Distinctions
Every analytic product contains three categories of content: Intelligence information is the factual base, the reporting and data that analysts collect and evaluate.
Read Article →Analytic Tradecraft Standard 2: Uncertainty
Intelligence analysts rarely know things for certain. The information they work with is incomplete, the sources they rely on vary in reliability, and the situations they’re assessing involve human actors whose decisions resist prediction.
Read Article →Analytic Tradecraft Standard 1: Sourcing
Every intelligence judgment stands on a foundation of sources. The quality of that foundation determines whether the judgment deserves confidence or skepticism, and your reader needs enough information to make that determination for…
Read Article →Cultural Awareness in OSINT Collection
How cultural context shapes open-source intelligence collection and why ignoring it produces unreliable analysis.
Read Article →Resilience in Digital Investigations
Why resilience isn't just a personal trait — it's a professional capability that shapes the quality of investigative outcomes.
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