Report: Counterterrorism Should Focus on Open Source Intelligence

The new administration must broaden the scope of its counterterrorism activities, including a focus on collection of domestic and open source intelligence as well as traditional foreign intelligence, the Defense Science Board said in a report outlining the key priorities for incoming leaders.

The intelligence community has acknowledged the need to share information and has improved collaboration among agencies, but it's not enough, the board said. "The No. 1 issue in counterterrorism is that we are information-limited," the report stated. "Many nostrums for improving intelligence in support of counterterrorism focus on 'connecting the dots' on the presumption that we have all the dots. We do not, nor are we sufficiently astute and aggressive enough in collecting them."