Episode #58, "Gathering Intelligence Before SHTF."

Practical Prepping Podcast

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Episode #58 Gathering Intelligence Before SHTF.

Honestly, gathering intelligence is a lot more fun to do than it is to talk about, but we need to know how, and like any other skill, we get better as we practice.

In this episode we discuss three aspects of intelligence gathering. Those are:
Open source intelligence (OSINT)
Cyber intelligence (CYBINT)
Human intelligence (HUMINT)

Open source intel. (OSINT)
OSINT sources can be divided up into six different categories of information flow:

Media - newspaper, magazines, radio, television, alternative news sites, and foreign news sites

Internet - online publications, blogs, discussion groups, user created content such as Youtube and social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. A good example is While the media was saying "peaceful protests" posted social media videos were showing buildings being burned, people being beaten, looting, and massive destruction.

Public government data
Government reports, transcripts of government hearings, press conferences, and speeches

Professional & academic publications
Journals, symposia, academic papers, even dissertations & theses

Commercial data
Commercial imagery, financial assessments, commercial weather, and especially satellite photos.

Cyber intel. (CYBINT)
Properly formed cyber intelligence is born out of analysis.
Analysis of data allows better decisions
It often involves crunching data, computer modeling, weather modeling, and military models.

Human intel. (HUMINT)
Propper Ground truth depends on getting "Eyes on" the, or at least first hand accounts.

In some situations we need to do personal recon. In others we can gain information directly from friends, family, or listening to ham oporators, but we must separate fact from opinion or rumor. We do this by correlation of data.

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