The Conundrum of Two Intelligences!

Historical Archive Note: This post was originally published on the Gartner Blog Network on January 15, 2014 by Anton Chuvakin.
Original URL: http://blogs.gartner.com/anton-chuvakin/2014/01/15/the-conundrum-of-two-intelligences/ | Archive.org Snapshot

I got it! I think I understood why so many security discussions around the topic of “intelligence” (be it the clearer “threat intelligence” or dramatically confusing “security intelligence”) go so awry so quickly.

Compare these two quotes:

1. “Data is not information, information is not knowledge, knowledge is not intelligence, intelligence is not wisdom.” (uses this definition)
2. “The National Security Agency (NSA) is the main producer and manager of signals intelligence (SIGINT) for the United States.” (uses this definition)

Hilarity ensues when two infosec professionals engage in a heated discussion about intelligence, one using #1 concept and the other using the #2. Just think about it and imagine (or, more likely, recall) the conversation that went like this:

A: “We want intelligence-based security!” (thinking that of better quality information and decisions)

B: “What are you talking about? We won’t create our own TAO team here; we just want to be secure” (thinking of the NSA)

A: “Don’t you want to be more intelligent in what you do?”

B: “Well, yes. But we don’t need an intelligence agency to protect our secrets…”

and so on…

So, the lesson here is CLARITY!!!

Posts related to this research project:

• On Comparing Threat Intelligence Feeds
• Starting Threat Intelligence Research