What is SIGINT?

What is SIGINT?

• A. Intelligence gathered from human sources
• B. Signals intelligence collected from communications and information systems; NSA is lead agency
• C. Imagery intelligence from satellites
• D. Open-Source Intelligence from public data

Answer: (B)

SIGINT is signals intelligence—the collection and analysis of electronic signals to learn about a target. It includes communications intelligence, which is the content of intercepted conversations and messages over radio, telephone, data networks, and other communications paths, and electronic intelligence, which looks at emissions from radar, navigation, and other electronic systems to reveal capabilities and activity. The value comes from turning these signals into actionable insights about locations, plans, and strengths, often in near real time, through interception, decryption, and traffic analysis. In the United States, the lead agency for SIGINT is the National Security Agency, which coordinates national-level collection and exploitation of signals to support security objectives. Other disciplines involve HUMINT (information from human sources), IMINT (imagery from satellites), and OSINT (publicly available information), which is why the description focusing on signals from communications and information systems with NSA as the lead agency fits SIGINT best.

SIGINT is signals intelligence—the collection and analysis of electronic signals to learn about a target. It includes communications intelligence, which is the content of intercepted conversations and messages over radio, telephone, data networks, and other communications paths, and electronic intelligence, which looks at emissions from radar, navigation, and other electronic systems to reveal capabilities and activity. The value comes from turning these signals into actionable insights about locations, plans, and strengths, often in near real time, through interception, decryption, and traffic analysis. In the United States, the lead agency for SIGINT is the National Security Agency, which coordinates national-level collection and exploitation of signals to support security objectives. Other disciplines involve HUMINT (information from human sources), IMINT (imagery from satellites), and OSINT (publicly available information), which is why the description focusing on signals from communications and information systems with NSA as the lead agency fits SIGINT best.