Introduction

Technology has become a cornerstone for gathering effective intelligence to combat threats to national security. Rapid technological development in the twentieth century enabled the intelligence community to gather, analyze, and disseminate information at a pace and magnitude that was never before possible. Examples of this include the role of radio technology in revolutionizing communication intelligence as well as aircraft and satellite reconnaissance that provided much-needed intelligence on Soviet weapons capabilities and enabled an increase in intelligence gathering from denied areas across the world. More recent examples that demonstrate the prominence of technology in intelligence gathering include the operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for surveillance of Iran’s weapons capabilities and of Osama bin Laden’s complex in Pakistan. The advent of the information age has further revolutionized these processes. According to the testimony of then-Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper to the Senate Armed Services Committee on worldwide threat assessment, “The consequences of innovation and increased reliance on information technology in the next few years on both our society’s way of life in general and how we in the Intelligence Community specifically perform our mission will probably be far greater in scope and impact than ever” (Clapper 2016).