ABSTRACT
Introduction If your enterprise or unit needs a process for Internet searching, analysis, and reporting, it is important to ensure that those tasked with carrying out the process have adequate training and preparation to do so. Yes, everybody googles. That does not mean that everybody knows what they are doing or can properly assess the results. If investigative and intelligence conclusions are to be reached, strategies evaluated, and decisions made based on Internet data, there are basic attributes that are required for the execution of searches, which could be characterized as “user requirements,” like those specified for software systems requirements.1 The search and analysis processes should deliver results that are, to the greatest extent possible,
◾ Reasonably complete and comprehensive ◾ Accurate, with identifiable references properly attributed to the subject ◾ Useful for the purpose for which the search was conducted ◾ From sources believed to be reliable ◾ Verified or verifiable through multiple sources and analysis ◾ Current and properly dated ◾ Efficient, that is, accomplished within allocated budget ◾ Timely, that is, accomplished within established deadlines ◾ Designed and conducted in a manner that does no harm to searchers or subjects
When my private intelligence practice began, we found that for search terms (people, firms, topics) with many references, it is possible to engage in endless collection and review of links, with the hope that the next click will bring you to the holy grail of the search. After a point, it is like the slots player at the airport in Las Vegas: How often will you win, and how many more times must you drop in a coin and wish? The house has the game stacked against you, and more play simply means more loss-just get on the departing plane. Therefore, it is important to establish at the beginning how much searching, review, and capture of results is enough for a given purpose or at what point the prospect of winning any more diminishes to near zero.
