Open Sources

Traditionally, an intelligent service is assumed to collect relevant data on national security predominantly through human and technical intelligence sources. However, with the information age and the development of global communication, open sources have received increased attention from experts in the field and have quickly become an essential tool for complementing and enriching the knowledge acquired through traditional methods regarding risks and threats.

Media, virtual communities, social networks, specialized publications, field studies, geospatial information, collections of Big Data available in online make the information circulate and spread at a fast pace. In this context, it is the mission of OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) investigators and analysts to assess media flows and create a comprehensive overview by connecting events and highlighting risks. The reality of recent years demonstrates that intelligence analysis derived from open sources - more precisely, from publicly available data – often provides early warnings, identifies trends, and provides a decisive advantage to legal beneficiaries in preventing and countering risks and threats to national security.

We are equally committed to the continuous development of a) OSINT investigators and analysts, by ensuring the methodological coordination of the OSINT Center of Excellence’s activities, within the National Intelligence Academy „Mihai Viteazul” and b) the OSINT field at the national and international levels by establishing good practices, organizing competitions in the field, providing OSINT expertise transfer for both SAOPSN institutions and external partners, in bilateral and multilateral working formats (NATO, INTCEN, CEPOL, CTG, etc.).