SIGINT (n) - intelligence information gathered from communications intelligence or electronics intelligence or telemetry intelligence.
COMINT (n) - technical and intelligence information derived from foreign communications by other than the intended recipients.
IGNORINT (n) - intelligence gathered by the direct exploitation of stupid people.
If you will grant that the biggest threat to the information you are trying to protect is the unintentional insider then you have to agree that IGNORINT collection is the biggest threat to the security of your operations. And yes, I know there is a difference between ignorance and stupidity but in the final analysis INGORINT exploits both so I’m not going to split hairs.
Whether the information lost is because of one persons inability to think beyond a third grade level or because the person wasn’t properly briefed doesn’t matter to the IGNORINT collector. And when it comes right down to it many properly trained and briefed individuals will let stupid overide their training when put to the test. For example, otherwise intelligent and security savvy men seem to zoom right to stupid when confronted with a beautiful woman or large quantities of alcohol. And if you combine stupid inducing amounts of alcohol with a friendly female then you have the perfect storm for IGNORINT collectors.
But don’t let me mislead you - many of us can call up stupid at will even without the aid of alcohol or other stupid inducing products or situations and therein lies the problem. IGNORINT collectors know this and are available to exploit this known weakness at a moments notice. Whether it’s picking up our discarded trash, or collecting a ton or two of recycled whole white paper, or hanging out at the local watering hole, or listening to a speech at a professional symposium, or exploiting personal blogs, or…well, you get the point. We just give so much away that it blows my mind sometimes.
Humans as a species are designed to make mistakes and consistantly do things that are generally considered not that bright. But what are we to do about it? Well, if you’re looking for The Revelator to enlighten you then you just might be in for a long wait. About all you can do is acknowledge this vulnerability and fight against it in anyway you can. Good luck with that. And if you come up with a way to somehow defeat even a small amount of IGNORINT collection you let me know.
Keep the Faith!
Revelator
Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin