The document discusses elicitation, a technique used by intelligence officers to subtly extract information from people during conversation. It provides examples of common elicitation techniques such as appealing to one's ego, expressing mutual interests, assuming knowledge, and making deliberate false statements to elicit corrections. It warns that elicitation is difficult to recognize and encourages reporting any suspicious conversations where unauthorized access to sensitive information is sought.
The Next Generation of Social Listening IntelligenceRob Key
The potential of social listening data has long been stymied by poor data quality issues and lack of flexibility to adapt to specific brands and domains. But no more. The next generation of social listening, as outlined here, is breaking social listening data out into a wide range of sophisticated uses including consumer insights, market research, brand tracking, market mixed modeling, business intelligence, customer journey analysis and more. Presented at ARF Rethink Conference 2016
Dr. Daniel M. Gerstein has served as the Deputy Under Secretary for Science & Technology in the Department of Homeland Security since August 2011. He is also an Adjunct Professor at American University in Washington, DC at the School of International Service (SIS) where he teaches graduate level courses on biological warfare and the evolution of military thought.
Dr. Gerstein has extensive experience in the security and defense sectors in a variety of positions while serving as a Senior Executive Service (SES) government civilian, in uniform, and in industry. Before joining DHS, he served as the Principal Director for Countering Weapons of Mass
Destruction (WMD) within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy). He has served on four different continents participating in homeland security and counterterrorism, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, and combat in addition to serving for over a decade in the Pentagon in various high level staff assignments. Following retirement from active duty, Dr. Gerstein joined L-3 Communications as Vice President for Homeland Security Services, leading an organization providing WMD preparedness and response, critical infrastructure security, emergency response capacity, and exercise support to U.S. and international customers.
Dr. Gerstein also has extensive experience in international negotiations having served on the Holbrooke Delegation that negotiated the peace settlement in Bosnia, developed and analyzed negotiating positions for the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) talks, and developed an initiative to improve cross border communications between Colombia and neighboring Andean Ridge nations. Additionally, Dr. Gerstein led an initiative to develop a comprehensive biosurveillance system for the Department of Defense (2010-2011), served on the leadership team for the Project for National Security Reform (PNSR) which was charged with developing a new national security act to reflect the changing security environment (2007-2008), co-led the Secretary of the Army’s Transition Team (2004-2005), and led the Army’s most comprehensive restructuring since World War II (2000-2001).
He has been awarded numerous military and civilian awards including an award from the Government of Colombia, the Department of State’s Distinguished Service Award, and the U.S. Army Soldiers Medal for heroism.
He has published numerous books and articles on national security, biological warfare, and information technology including Bioterror in the 21st Century (Naval Institute Press, October 2009), ICMA Report: Planning for a Pandemic (ICMA Press, Volume 39/Number 3 2007), Securing America’s Future: National Strategy in the Information Age (Praeger Security International, September 2005); Leading at the Speed of Light (Potomac Books, November 2006); Assignment Pentagon (Potomac Books, May 2007). He has also served as a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and is a current member.
CTP’s Threat Update series is a weekly update and assessment of the al Qaeda network. The al Qaeda network update includes detailed assessments of al Qaeda’s affiliates in Yemen, the Horn of Africa, and the Maghreb and Sahel. CTP’s Iran team follows developments on the internal politics, nuclear negotiations, and regional conflicts closely.
Below are the top three takeaways from the week:
1. Three al Qaeda affiliates—Jabhat al Nusra, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), issued a joint eulogy for Afghan Taliban emir Mullah Akhtar Mansour on May 29. A U.S. airstrike killed Mullah Mansour in Balochistan, Pakistan, on May 21. Al Qaeda affiliates al Shabaab and al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) were not signatories to this joint statement nor to the August 2015 joint eulogy for the late Taliban emir Mullah Omar. AEI’s Critical Threats Project assesses that this is likely because of the weak relationship between Jabhat al Nusra and al Shabaab and AQIS.
2. Islamist militants, likely ISIS Wilayat Aden-Abyan, planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in at least two mosques in Aden before Friday prayers on May 27. Yemeni security forces found and cleared the bombs. ISIS has carried out mosque attacks in Yemen before, notably in Sana’a, but has generally restricted its targets in Aden to government, military, and security targets. The targeting of mosques, if confirmed, would indicate a new campaign for ISIS in Aden, designed to exacerbate tensions between northern and southern Yemenis and possibly spark sectarian divisions in the city. [See a recent post on AQAP’s loss of al Mukalla and sign up to receive CTP’s Yemen Crisis Situation Reports by email.]
3. ISIS is consolidating its forces in Sirte as Libyan armed groups advance into its control zone from the east and west. These offensives will likely stop before they reach ISIS’s stronghold, however. ISIS will conduct explosive attack campaigns in an effort to slow or halt the offensives. Competition between rival Libyan militias will also compromise counter-ISIS operations as they converge on Sirte. [See CTP’s backgrounder on forces in Libya and a forecast of ISIS’s courses of actions in Libya.]
Learn how to improve your primary collection skills especially interviewing and elicitation techniques. Presented by Ellen Naylor of Business Intelligence Source, Sep 2012 @DC SCIP meeting. @EllenNaylor www.linkedin.com/in/ellennaylorcolorado
Updated in July 2016, includes Ellen's book, "Win/Loss Analysis: How to Capture and Keep the Business You Want." http://amzn.to/297Mrxl
Big Data - The 5 Vs Everyone Must KnowBernard Marr
This slide deck, by Big Data guru Bernard Marr, outlines the 5 Vs of big data. It describes in simple language what big data is, in terms of Volume, Velocity, Variety, Veracity and Value.
The Next Generation of Social Listening IntelligenceRob Key
The potential of social listening data has long been stymied by poor data quality issues and lack of flexibility to adapt to specific brands and domains. But no more. The next generation of social listening, as outlined here, is breaking social listening data out into a wide range of sophisticated uses including consumer insights, market research, brand tracking, market mixed modeling, business intelligence, customer journey analysis and more. Presented at ARF Rethink Conference 2016
Dr. Daniel M. Gerstein has served as the Deputy Under Secretary for Science & Technology in the Department of Homeland Security since August 2011. He is also an Adjunct Professor at American University in Washington, DC at the School of International Service (SIS) where he teaches graduate level courses on biological warfare and the evolution of military thought.
Dr. Gerstein has extensive experience in the security and defense sectors in a variety of positions while serving as a Senior Executive Service (SES) government civilian, in uniform, and in industry. Before joining DHS, he served as the Principal Director for Countering Weapons of Mass
Destruction (WMD) within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Policy). He has served on four different continents participating in homeland security and counterterrorism, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, and combat in addition to serving for over a decade in the Pentagon in various high level staff assignments. Following retirement from active duty, Dr. Gerstein joined L-3 Communications as Vice President for Homeland Security Services, leading an organization providing WMD preparedness and response, critical infrastructure security, emergency response capacity, and exercise support to U.S. and international customers.
Dr. Gerstein also has extensive experience in international negotiations having served on the Holbrooke Delegation that negotiated the peace settlement in Bosnia, developed and analyzed negotiating positions for the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) talks, and developed an initiative to improve cross border communications between Colombia and neighboring Andean Ridge nations. Additionally, Dr. Gerstein led an initiative to develop a comprehensive biosurveillance system for the Department of Defense (2010-2011), served on the leadership team for the Project for National Security Reform (PNSR) which was charged with developing a new national security act to reflect the changing security environment (2007-2008), co-led the Secretary of the Army’s Transition Team (2004-2005), and led the Army’s most comprehensive restructuring since World War II (2000-2001).
He has been awarded numerous military and civilian awards including an award from the Government of Colombia, the Department of State’s Distinguished Service Award, and the U.S. Army Soldiers Medal for heroism.
He has published numerous books and articles on national security, biological warfare, and information technology including Bioterror in the 21st Century (Naval Institute Press, October 2009), ICMA Report: Planning for a Pandemic (ICMA Press, Volume 39/Number 3 2007), Securing America’s Future: National Strategy in the Information Age (Praeger Security International, September 2005); Leading at the Speed of Light (Potomac Books, November 2006); Assignment Pentagon (Potomac Books, May 2007). He has also served as a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and is a current member.
CTP’s Threat Update series is a weekly update and assessment of the al Qaeda network. The al Qaeda network update includes detailed assessments of al Qaeda’s affiliates in Yemen, the Horn of Africa, and the Maghreb and Sahel. CTP’s Iran team follows developments on the internal politics, nuclear negotiations, and regional conflicts closely.
Below are the top three takeaways from the week:
1. Three al Qaeda affiliates—Jabhat al Nusra, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), issued a joint eulogy for Afghan Taliban emir Mullah Akhtar Mansour on May 29. A U.S. airstrike killed Mullah Mansour in Balochistan, Pakistan, on May 21. Al Qaeda affiliates al Shabaab and al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) were not signatories to this joint statement nor to the August 2015 joint eulogy for the late Taliban emir Mullah Omar. AEI’s Critical Threats Project assesses that this is likely because of the weak relationship between Jabhat al Nusra and al Shabaab and AQIS.
2. Islamist militants, likely ISIS Wilayat Aden-Abyan, planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in at least two mosques in Aden before Friday prayers on May 27. Yemeni security forces found and cleared the bombs. ISIS has carried out mosque attacks in Yemen before, notably in Sana’a, but has generally restricted its targets in Aden to government, military, and security targets. The targeting of mosques, if confirmed, would indicate a new campaign for ISIS in Aden, designed to exacerbate tensions between northern and southern Yemenis and possibly spark sectarian divisions in the city. [See a recent post on AQAP’s loss of al Mukalla and sign up to receive CTP’s Yemen Crisis Situation Reports by email.]
3. ISIS is consolidating its forces in Sirte as Libyan armed groups advance into its control zone from the east and west. These offensives will likely stop before they reach ISIS’s stronghold, however. ISIS will conduct explosive attack campaigns in an effort to slow or halt the offensives. Competition between rival Libyan militias will also compromise counter-ISIS operations as they converge on Sirte. [See CTP’s backgrounder on forces in Libya and a forecast of ISIS’s courses of actions in Libya.]
Learn how to improve your primary collection skills especially interviewing and elicitation techniques. Presented by Ellen Naylor of Business Intelligence Source, Sep 2012 @DC SCIP meeting. @EllenNaylor www.linkedin.com/in/ellennaylorcolorado
Updated in July 2016, includes Ellen's book, "Win/Loss Analysis: How to Capture and Keep the Business You Want." http://amzn.to/297Mrxl
Big Data - The 5 Vs Everyone Must KnowBernard Marr
This slide deck, by Big Data guru Bernard Marr, outlines the 5 Vs of big data. It describes in simple language what big data is, in terms of Volume, Velocity, Variety, Veracity and Value.
Presentation to the UK Information Commissioner's Data Protection Officer conference, March 2010.
The outlook for online privacy in social, technological and policy terms...
Business considerations for privacy and open data: how not to get caught outtheODI
When all around you seems to be going "open", what should you know and bear in mind to avoid a privacy debacle. Unless your data is solely about inanimate objects, there will be privacy considerations for your business or organisation. Done properly, suitable consideration may be trivial; done badly, it can be catastrophic, and hindsight is always better when the stories are about a different organisation.With kittens and hopefully some humour, Sam Smith of Privacy International covers how your organisation can avoid a future audience laughing (uncomfortably) at the privacy choices you should have made for your users, your customers and citizens.
If you’re responsible for introducing customers to a company or a product for the first time, there’s something you need to watch out for. It’s called the curse of knowledge, and it can affect anyone who creates brand messaging, website copy, tutorials, or onboarding processes. The curse of knowledge is widely defined as:
The curse of knowledge is a cognitive bias that occurs when an individual, communicating with other individuals, unknowingly assumes that the others have the background to understand.
The curse of knowledge means that the more familiar you are with something, the harder it is to put yourself in the shoes of someone who’s not familiar with that thing. You can’t unlearn what you’ve learned, and you can’t see it with fresh eyes anymore. Plus, you have a much harder time explaining the basics to people who are new to the subject because you can’t remember what questions you had when you were new to the subject.
How to defeat impostor syndrome: confessions of a developerMatteo Bruno
Do you feel like you don't belong, you don't deserve what you achieved, everyone in your office is more talented than you? Do you have imposter syndrome... too?
Imposter syndrome is common across all industries, but the increasing pressure to be successful in IT is taking its toll on employees, affecting more than half workers, me included :)
After many years working in tech for a lot of companies (from startups to big corporations) in many business fields, I found a way to overcome self-doubt and turn this weird feeling in a booster for greater achievements... and I want to share it with you!
Observations and Fieldnotes: Tips and TricksNormative
If you do field research or customer development (or want to) this presentation includes some useful frameworks and tips and tricks on how to do it. Including a fun surprise exercise at the end...
Cyber Summit 2016: Knowing More and Understanding Less in the Age of Big DataCybera Inc.
The Internet has revolutionized how — and how much — each of us can know. Our digital tools put the knowledge of the world at our fingertips — and soon, maybe, right into our heads. But what kinds of of knowledge do our devices give us, and how are they reshaping and challenging the role that education and libraries should play in our lives?
This talk was delivered by Michael Patrick Lynch, professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut, where he directs the university’s Humanities Institute.
An empathy workshop that addresses some practices that can help exhibit effective empathy. This is important for a project manager to truly understand the issue and any underlying emotions at hand before taking action or applying judgement.
Impostor syndrome - Dlaczego na githubie i blogu mam pustoMichał Gruca
Presentation I gave on Droid TOAST meetup in Wroclaw, about impostor syndrome, what it is, why it matters to developers, what can we do about it. Some techniques to overcome it and how I'm dealing with it
What is Digital Empathy Anyway? Let's Find Out Together!Woj Kwasi
We build websites, we do marketing, but for crying out loud… will somebody think about the children… of the internet!? That’s you, that’s your mum, that’s the guy next door who likes pizza and Call of Duty (a lot), that’s the dentist who you see less often than you should. It’s everyone we’re trying to reach on the other side of an internet connection.
Woj has spent the last six years interviewing digital marketing’s finest to find out how we can understand these people and their digital behaviours more. After another year of poring over the transcripts, he’s assembled a podcast where he teaches his smart-alecky A.I. assistant, Bobby Bot, about what digital empathy is.
Woj shares discoveries from the journey and shows how you can use what he’s learned to give your customers more of what they need.
The new Scott Spouses’ Club (SSC) needs a new logo! Calling all artists! This is short notice, but there is a logo contest for the Scott Spouses Club. The deadline is May 1.
1. Many professionals encourage conversation,
especially discussion of theories, concepts, and
plans. It’s a spy’s dream come true!
Because elicitation is subtle
So, remember, on your next trip or during any and difficult to recognize, you
conversation with a foreign colleague: Be aware
of the person with whom you are speaking and should report any suspicious
where your conversation may be reported. Don’t conversations to the DHS Office
be paranoid, just be careful. of Security or your local security
officer.
What To Do
If you ever feel that you are being drawn into a To report a suspected elicitation
conversation that makes you uncomfortable, keep attempt to the DHS Office of
these points in mind:
Security, please use the contact
● You are not obliged to tell people any
information below.
information they are not authorized to hear; that
includes personal information about you or your
colleagues.
● You can simply ignore any question you think is
improper and change the topic.
Elicitation
● You can deflect the question with one of your
own.
● You can give a nondescript answer.
● You can simply say that you do not know.
Would You Recognize It?
● If all else fails, you can state that you would have
to clear such discussions with your Security
Office.
Reporting Contacts
Presidential Decision Directive NSC-12 requires
that government employees report all contacts
with individuals of any nationality, either within
or outside of the scope of the employee’s official
activities, in which:
● illegal or unauthorized access is sought to Department of Homeland Security
classified or otherwise sensitive information. Office of Security
Phone: (202) 447-5010
● the employee is concerned that he may be the
E-mail: OfficeofSecurity@dhs.gov
target of actual or attempted exploitation by a
foreign entity.
2. What is it? Appealing to One’s Ego Volunteering Information
(in hopes of getting something in return)
In the espionage trade, elicitation is a technique Intelligence Officer: “You must have an important
frequently used by intelligence officers to subtly position in your agency. Our host seems to think Intelligence Officers are always willing to trade
extract information about you, your work, and very highly of you.” information. Don’t feel obligated to respond in
your colleagues. kind merely because someone tells you something
You: “Well, how nice of you to say so. As a matter
interesting.
Said another way, elicitation is the art of of fact, my job isn’t all that important. What I do
conversation honed by intelligence services to its is...” Assumed Knowledge
finest edge. Flattery often coaxes a person into a conversation
If your companion talks as if he is knowledgeable
that otherwise would not have taken place.
The Dilemma about a particular subject (computers, nuclear
Expression of Mutual Interest physics, whatever) or if you have assumed that he
You never know if elicitation is being used
is “up” on the subject, then what’s the harm in
casually to pass the time or if it is being used to Intelligence Officer: “Oh, you have a background in discussing it, right? No, wrong. Assume nothing.
gather intelligence data. computers; so do I. Perhaps you’d like to try out Tell nothing.
the Sun Workstation I have at home. It’s really
Why Elicitation? What is Its Appeal?
powerful!” The Threat
● Elicitation is non-threatening. It is hard You: “Yes, I’d like to do that. That sounds Today’s world of openness offers almost unlimited
to recognize as an intelligence technique interesting. I’ve always wanted to try out a opportunities to gather information through
and it is easy to deny any wrongdoing. powerful workstation like that. I use a CAD/CAM direct personal contact. Each year, thousands of
● Elicitation is easy to disguise. It’s just program, but my computer...” U.S. Government officials and scientists come into
conversation among colleagues and You have just agreed to extend your relationship contact with foreign colleagues both in the U.S. and
friends. beyond the immediate social situation. This works overseas.
● Elicitation is effective. to an Intelligence Officer’s advantage. He now has Intelligence services invest significant resources in
the opportunity to establish a deeper relationship identifying individuals who possess the knowledge
Techniques “off-line,” in a venue that he controls. they desire. The information may not be classified,
but it will be useful to their nation’s well being.
There you are, at a social gathering, deep into a Deliberate False Statements
conversation with someone you don’t know very Elicitation requires patience. Pieces of information
well. There are questions back and forth over a Intelligence Officer: “Everybody knows, of course, that collected over an extended period of time can
wide range of topics. How do you know when the Pakistanis have had nuclear technology for only provide the final piece of the puzzle to a complex
the conversation is merely social and innocent two years.” problem or save the expenditure of scarce research
and when it is being conducted for other You: “Actually, that isn’t true. They started in 1978 money.
purposes? with a program to...”
Potential
You don’t know, really. There are, however, some Such statements have the curious property of
tried and true techniques of gaining information. producing denials, along with the real facts, out of Keep in mind that a key element in any espionage
These techniques are used by ordinary people in the listener. This is based on the deep-rooted need operation is to make it as easy as possible for
ordinary conversations, as well as by intelligence that most people have to correct misstatements, to the target to share his information. After all, the
officers in some not-so-ordinary conversations. inform people, and to appear to be “in-the-know.” elicitation is only conversation among colleagues
and friends. What is more natural than that? We
Here are some common techniques you may
do it all the time.
recognize: