Publications

The cyber era has caused enormous changes in intelligence and intelligence gathering. This article discusses whether the profession of human intelligence (HUMINT) is currently still relevant when cyberspace constitutes the main scene for intelligence gathering and action. If so, what missions should it assume, and are new opportunities being created for new operational methods in the cyber era? The article examines the substance of the HUMINT discipline and the challenges that cyberspace poses to this discipline. It also addresses the potential contribution of HUMINT in the cybernetic era, and raises the question whether it constitutes a new intelligence discipline. The first part of this article presents the HUMINT up until the cyber era. The second part discusses HUMINT in the cybernetic era, with an emphasis on its opportunities and risks, its changes, and presents a proposal for a new concept of the HUMINT profession in the cybernetic era.