So Much Information Is Inaccurate Information

“So much information is now available on the Internet (even if some of it is inaccurate) that intelligence collection in the traditional sense is now no longer necessary”. Do you agree? What kinds of information might or might not be available? As a decision-maker would you agree to give up intelligence sources?

Introduction

Governments “run “ on information. They need to be constantly aware of what is occurring around them, and how this could affect their interests, in order to take the right decisions at the right time. However not all the information they need is publicly available, which is why intelligence agencies were created with the objective of collecting, analysing and using confidential information, obtained secretly, to advise decision-makers. The collection process takes place after certain tasks have been assigned by the decision-makers, and consists of acquiring the necessary information which will then be treated at a later stage of the intelligence cycle. Traditionally, the collecting process of such agencies comes from either human intelligence, meaning information directly transmitted from a trustworthy person to an intelligence officer, or technical intelligence, which uses technology and machines to obtain this information.
It is the largest, fastest-expanding source of information worldwide, where anybody on any point of the globe can post or have access to information. The impact of the Internet on Intelligence agencies is undoubtable, and it has become a major component of open-source intelligence (OSINT, the process of acquiring information from public sources to be treated and put in use for intelligence purposes). It provides information which is cheaper, more accessible, more timely and easier to disseminate in a shorter time. This has lead some people to believe