Person employed by an organization to collect, compile and/or analyze information
An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of officer is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way a "police officer" can also be a sergeant, or in the military, in which non-commissioned personnel may serve as intelligence officers.
Organizations which employ intelligence officers include armed forces, police, and customs agencies.
Sources of intelligence
Intelligence officers make use of a variety of sources of information, including
An officer who runs intelligence agents in order to collect raw intelligence information. Case officers spend their time recruiting and exploiting source agents in order to collect HUMINT.
An officer who collects information, not necessarily from human sources but from technical sources such as wiretaps, bugs, cyber-collection, MASINT devices, SIGINT devices and other means.
Operations officer
An officer who plans or enacts the necessary steps to disrupt or prevent activities of hostile individuals or groups.
An officer who analyzes collected information and results of operations to determine the identities, intentions, capabilities and activities of hostile individuals or groups and to determine requirements for future operations. After analysis, analysts are also responsible for the production and dissemination of their final product.[1][2]
An officer that works to prevent detection, penetration, manipulation and compromise of the intelligence agency, its operations and overall national security by foreign, domestic, or hostile agents.[3] Often counterintelligence officers are law enforcement officers, as is the case with the Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Counterintelligence Division and the Diplomatic Security Service's Counterintelligence Division. This is often done in order to arrest moles and foreign intelligence agents. However, counter-intelligence officers can and do actively handle sources and agents in order to collect raw intelligence information.
Intelligence agents
Intelligence agents are individuals that work for or have been recruited by an Intelligence Officer, but who are not employed by the intelligence agency of the intelligence officer. Sometime around 2000, the United States Intelligence Community adopted a more "corporate" vocabulary and began referring to agents as assets.[4] Intelligence agents can be of several types:
Source agent
A primary source of intelligence information. This is the classic HUMINT source.
Access agent
An agent who identifies and approaches potential sources (eventual source agents) for assessment or recruitment. In counter-proliferation (CP) access agents are often scientists. In counter-terrorism (CT) access agents are often religious or ideological leaders.[4]
An agent who infiltrates hostile organizations with the intent of spreading disinformation from within or disrupting their operations through enticement and sabotage.
Rogue agent
A former intelligence officer, who may be subject to a burn notice, who is no longer accepting direction from their agency.
An agent or intelligence officer who accepts direction from two or more intelligence agencies.[5]
Contrary to popular belief or what is seen in Hollywood films, professionally trained intelligence officers are never referred to as agents, secret agents or special agents (except in the case of FBI Special Agents). They are most often referred to as case officers or operations officers. Agents are the foreigners who betray their own countries to pass information to the officer; agents are also known as confidential informants or assets.
