Decision-making at the highest level is no easy task. From considering the many perspectives of all relevant audiences to evaluating and assessing complex information in a timely manner to minimizing subconscious and cognitive biases, decision-making is often one of the most stressful elements of a leader’s job. Due to its complexity and high-stakes, decision-making is not a one-person task. The most effective leaders rely on the input of experts and tools across multiple specialties to ensure they are prepared and ready to make critical decisions when it matters most. One of the most essential fields playing a role in decision-making today is intelligence.
Traditional intelligence methods relied upon even just a decade ago are being retired in favor of more timely and accurate techniques. New intelligence analysis tactics are taking center stage and have become lynchpins in turning raw data into actionable foresight. These modern tools are improving decision quality and strategic clarity in a world where geopolitical risks are varied and always emerging.
Whether mitigating military conflicts, health pandemics, cyber-attacks, or another type of crisis all together, organizations fare best when they remain ahead of the issue. If operating in a proactive mode, organizations are most likely to be successful when dealing with operational challenges, supply chain disruption, and overall market instability. Improving intelligence analysis is one of the most effective ways to establish a proactive security strategy. These efforts mirror the high standards used within national intelligence, where speed and accuracy directly influence mission outcomes.
Three Challenges Plaguing Intelligence Analysts & the Advanced Techniques Solve Them
The majority of security operation centers face three significant obstacles in their day-to-day work: data overload, a continually shifting geopolitical climate, and limitations to traditional methods and strategies. Let’s break down why these issues are debilitating to security teams and what a realistic solution is to help organizations better protect their people, assets, and operations.
Obstacle #1: Data overload
In our always-on, always-connected digital world, information is constantly being created and shared. From blogs to news outlets to social media platforms to chatrooms and the dark web, the amount of data available for corporate organizations to access and apply to their security posture is overwhelming. For example, it’s been recently reported that over 402 million terabytes of data are generated daily. This enormous volume of data is more than any team of analysts can possibly review. And while most of the information will not be pertinent to a security team, there is undoubtedly a small percentage that is applicable to an organization’s safety and security. Without the right advantage techniques used to process large volumes of intelligence, critical insights will be lost. Teams need to leverage technology support to ensure they conquer the challenge of global data overload and information noise.
Obstacle #2: Continuous geopolitical instability, cyber threats, and economic shifts
Since the world is constantly in flux, the types of security threats are changing at all times. One region might be experiencing a government breakdown, while in another part of the world a facility if challenged with a software hack that has shut down operations, and another area may be preparing to face an environmental crisis. Potential national security threats are constantly changing and seem to be ever increasing. Security leaders need to rely on tools, such as continuous intelligence monitoring and forecasting, to help their teams stay on top of all of the possible issues that are relevant to all their facilities, as well as their partners’ operations.
Obstacle #3: Ineffective intelligence analysis methods
Prior to the advent of innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and natural language processing (NLP), analysts were forced to monitor all of the news and data on their own. This is an impossible task, and one in which critical information will assuredly be overlooked. When analysts are left to operate without the support of technology, they are forced to remain in reactive mode. They spend all of their time working to address the crises that are already occurring and have no time to watch trends to forecast what issues may happen next.
Reactive approaches often lead to delayed or inaccurate decisions. In reactive mode, teams learn about a problem and then spend time gathering the pertinent information, synthesizing it, and finally relaying it back to decision-makers. In this type of hasty, stressful, and rushed environment, mistakes are made and critical pieces of intelligence are overlooked.
Modern intelligence analysis, leveraging time-saving technology, is the best way to avoid data overload, unstable political climates, and time-consuming methods. When security teams have predictive, high-accuracy intelligence analysis techniques at their disposal, their strategy shifts from reactive to proactive – and this is exactly the position that a security team needs in order to achieve success.
Core Elements of Effective Intelligence Analysis
To adopt effective intelligence analysis that can change the way leaders make decisions for the better, security teams need to commit to pursuing three things: accuracy and objectivity, real-time data, and integrating human expertise with technology.
- Accuracy and objectivity – When pursuing intelligence analysis, teams need to understand that not all data is created equal. While technology has revolutionized so much in the security industry, it has also led to a rise in mis- and dis-information. Therefore, teams must remain diligent in their commitment to accuracy and objectivity. They need to validate all data, vet sources, ensure relevance to their specific organization and employee-base, and strive to eliminate bias that clouds judgement and negatively impacts effective decision-making.
- Real-time data – The value of real-time intelligence capabilities and their benefit to fast decision-making cannot be overstated. Having information before you need it will change the state of your business for the better. Therefore, it is essential for security leaders to prioritize speed and proactive insight. Adopting a proactive approach and working to educate the organization at large as to why this mindset is so powerful, is an important task for security leaders to undertake. While many might defer this activity in favor of other time-sensitive work, helping the organization to understand the power of a proactive mindset will have a very beneficial and long-lasting impact.
- Integrating human expertise with technology – Combining the knowledge of analysts with the benefits that advanced technology like AI, ML, and NLP provides is a true competitive advantage. Technology alone is extremely useful – it can process data in real-time and identify previously undetected patterns and trends in mere seconds. But, input from experienced experts is also crucial as they offer context, perspective, and real-world insight. When the two combine security teams have access to the best of all worlds.
Each of these three elements are essential to security teams. Without leveraging each component, the actionable intelligence delivered to decision-makers from the security experts is likely to be incomplete, inaccurate, or too late to make a substantial impact. However, when accuracy and objectivity are prioritized, when real-time data is mandatory, and when human experts weigh in on the data highlighted by automated technologies, security teams have the power to make a real difference and help leaders do more to keep people, assets, and operations safe from threats and risks.
Modern Intelligence Analysis Techniques Combine the Power of Humans + Machines
Information doesn’t stop. Therefore, security teams can’t take a break in their collection and assessment of data either. Since this is an impossible request, most security operation centers rely on technology to do what humans cannot. Analysts are unable to mine the interwebs for relevant data around the clock, nor are they capable of monitoring the amount of data produced in an efficient timeframe. But machines can. Security operations centers need to release the responsibility of intel collection to the machines who are capable of persistence monitoring and automated data ingestion. Once data is culled and sorted, analysts step in to vet, validate, and apply a human lens.
The intelligence process of analysts and technologies, like AI and ML, working in tandem is often called augmented analytics. The analyst-AI collaboration leads to enhanced decision confidence as data is reviewed and processed at rapid speeds, which then arm security teams with the information they need to provide the most accurate strategies and advice to upper leadership. Technology is not replacing anyone but instead is strengthening their skills.
By offloading monotonous monitoring and data sorting to technology, intelligence analysts have time to synthesize and analyze information and become more involved in strategy development. By layering human judgement on top of predictive analytics, teams yield far superior intelligence outputs. This allows security teams and the intelligence they are delivering to evolve from a reporting function but to a decision-enablement capability and partner. Intelligence needs to be viewed as a critical part of strategic decision-making. Teams with the most proficient and attuned intelligence tools will offer the biggest advantage to positively impact policy, operations, investments, and competitive posture.
Four Ways to Leverage Intelligence Analysis
In addition to analyzing intelligence to manage alert fatigue and to process vast amounts of data in an efficient time frame in order to best assist decision makers, intelligence analysis can be used for Intelligence Fusion and Multi-Domain Integration, Bias Reduction, Forecasting, and Impact Simulation. Let’s dive deeper into each of these capabilities.
Intelligence Fusion and Multi-Domain Integration
- Intelligence analysis can combine geopolitical, cyber, economic, and environmental intelligence into a single operational picture.
- Having all of the important components in one visual, chart, summary, etc. is a gamechanger in helping people to comprehend complicated information.
- Security teams will benefit greatly by utilizing platforms that automatically correlate signals across domains to create contextual insight. This mirrors how government agencies integrate data from multiple sectors to form cohesive risk perspectives.
Structured Analytic Techniques to Reduce Assumptions and Bias
- Proven frameworks such as competing hypotheses, red teaming, and key assumptions checks, can help teams minimize assumptions and ingrained bias.
- While it is natural for preconceived notions and biases to exist, security teams need to work to mitigate these assumptions as they may impede the best security strategy from being put into play.
- Security operations might be overseeing risk and threat management in geographical locations they have never been to, but have prior notions about via hearsay and assumptions, the right tools can aid in promoting critical thinking, challenging conventional wisdom, and preventing groupthink.
Predictive Intelligence and AI-Driven Forecasting
- Teams using intelligence analysis will benefit greatly as technology advancements make it easier than ever to identify emerging trends, pinpoint weak signals, and even predict possible outcomes.
- Tools such as AI have changed the way analysts work – allowing them to identify the impact and likelihood of possible threats. With this knowledge teams can proactively work to avoid these issues from even occurring to begin with.
- Technology has allowed security operations to evolve into a proactive, strategic partner versus merely a reporter of events.
Scenario Modeling and Impact Simulation
- When supported with innovative intelligence analysis tools, security teams can plan against potential scenarios based on geopolitical shifts, security incidents, or market disruptions.
- Having an idea of “what may happen,” allows teams to test policy responses or operational plans against possible future states.
- Leaders will have an increased level of confidence in their ability to maintain operations as usual in the face of a crisis knowing what worked (or what didn’t) as a result of modeling and simulation activities.
Embrace Improve Decision-Making Via Intelligence Analysis
In order for organizations to transform their intelligence cycle into a truly useful competitive advantage, they need to adopt continuous, real-time analysis. Always-on monitoring is a must for the intelligence community that want to achieve effective security management. This is accomplished only by leveraging technologies and tools that allow them to move from linear, outdated intelligence cycles to dynamic, constantly updating intelligence flows.
Predictive, real-time intelligence is a strategic advantage. When integrated successfully into a security operations center or within a security team, it will improve accuracy, reduce cognitive bias, enhance predictive capabilities, and lead to better strategic outcomes. It’s a proven and reliable way to help keep an organization’s people, assets, and operations safe. Security leaders need to leverage the support of third-party tools and software. Organizations looking to make a change in their intelligence activities should consider scheduling a session with Seerist, as their mission is to support intelligence analysts and global decision-makers with accurate, proactive intelligence insights.
Evolving from a reactive to proactive intelligence approach can feel challenging, but making this change is critical to successful risk management. A risk intelligence platform like Seerist can make this rollout quick and easy so security leaders are enjoying the benefits of more relevant, timely intelligence that impacts an organization for the better.
