USS Eagle Intel Lab Crypto
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“Bring it on.” | |
Crypto is the name of the Intelligence Lab on the USS Eagle, located on deck one, behind the Bridge. Crypto is a high tech computer lab that is linked both to Star Fleet Intelligence Headquarters on Earth and the Fleet Intel Lead, at the Black Tower on Starbase 118.
At its core, Starfleet Intelligence is similar to the more famous intelligence agencies of the past such as the CIA, KGB and MI6 (or SIS). The role of Starfleet Intelligence (SFI) is to provide the Federation with a galactic covert capability to promote and defend the security and well-being of the Federation and its member worlds.
Hierarchically, Starfleet Intelligence maintains a central headquarters on Earth, where senior officers oversee the broad Intelligence mission. The vast majority of Intelligence work, however, is done by the field units, found throughout the Federation. Many field units may be grouped together into a taskforce.
Ultimately, an Intelligence unit is made up of a number of different sections, all with section leaders who report to their Unit Director, who in turn reports to any applicable Taskforce Head, who in turn reports to their designated contact at Intel HQ. A Director may also be required to pass on relevant mission related data to the ranking StarFleet Officer (who in turn reports to their Flag Officer) at their local site. While the work that SFI does is generally inclusive, the end result can have far reaching consequences.
The USS Eagle implores a top of the line Intel Lab called Crypto Lt. Commander Baylen Anders leads the Intel Unit on the Eagle. As the Eagle is not an instrument of the Intelligence division of Star Fleet in herself, then the Crypto lab is used more to receive information than to send it. How ever, Intel on Earth does track data coming from the Eagle. Also the computers in Crypto are tethered to the Science labs, collecting data from the ships sensors and using a buffering computer called Cipher to store any data that is seen as relevant. Cipher is a powerful database that has helped break down coded messages from the Cardassians, Romulans, Breen and Klingons. The Cipher Computer System is imbedded into a wall in Crypto, this behind a duel level one force field, Only the Commanding Office, First Officer and Chief of Intelligence on the Eagle can work directly with the Cipher interface. Only a Deputy Director can grant access to the computer to anyone other than the three primaries.
Crypto can also be used as a CIC - Combat Information Center in a battle, but due to the nature of information that is in the Lab, it is restricted to Command Level Officers and those that have been granted access. But all the computer displays can be blacked out with one command and the data can be destroyed with two commands. If the ship is at Red Alert the Lab is automatically sealed off, if the ship is boarded then a level one force field is erected around the lab, if the force field is destroyed by the invader, the computers will self destruct.
There are two doors in Crypto, one leads to the corridor behind the Bridge, the other leads in the Intel Officers Private Ready Room. The is the workstation of the Chief Intel Officer that is a little more private in the lab, behind that workstation is the door to the Chief Intel Officers Ready Room.
Lt. Commander Baylen Anders Office is behind the Crypto Lab, it also has the same protection that Crypto has. There are two doors, one into the lab and one into the corridor. Baylen has his office decorated with early Earth Nautical Sailing Tools, and books on the subject. His desk has a desktop viewer on it, a viewer in the wall, along with an never ending stack of PADDs on his desk.
There is a plant on a table in the Office that was a gift from his Grandmother, he has had it now for nine years. It has a very strong smell of something like Lavender and Eucalyptus so the office tends to retain that smell. Mixed with smell of fresh french pressed coffee that Baylen seem to keep going all day.
Baylen uses his Office to read reports, file reports or to communicate in privat, but he tends to use Crypto to do most of his work. The office can interface with every station in the Crypto with the exception of Cipher, that can only be interfaced with at the terminal itself. But the processed data can be viewed in the Chief Intel Officers Ready room, along with any station in Crypto.
Organization
Whether on a starbase, a planet, or on a starship, the structure of an Intelligence Division remains the same.
- Intelligence Officer: at the bottom of the totem pole, is the Intelligence Officer. The Intelligence Officer is the bare-bones of any intelligence operation, specializing in either communications intelligence, sentient intelligence, or intelligence analysis.
- A Communications Intelligence Operator: (or COMINT for short) would be stationed at the operational command centre, receiving and interpreting intelligence and relaying it to his or her section leader.
- The Sentient Intelligence Operator: (or SENINT for short) is generally the person gathering intelligence in the field or providing overwatch for security and other intelligence operators; this position entails: the collection of intelligence from behind enemy lines through interpersonal contact, counter-intelligence, and infiltration and extraction
- An Intelligence Analyst: is an officer who receives intelligence from COMINT or SENINT sources and extracts the information containing operational relevance in order to formulate a plan of action, or to predict future events. Intelligence analysts are the unit’s professionals whose research, analysis, and presentation of findings provide the most complete possible intelligence picture.
- Chief Intelligence Officer: The CIO is the officer in charge of all Intelligence personnel on board a ship. He or she oversees all Intelligence operations on board the ship and relays them to the CO and any other superiors. This position has less administrative work involved than a position such as Section Leader, as the CIO is commonly in direct oversight of shipboard Intelligence Operations.
- Section Leader: The senior most Intelligence Officers on board a ship or station and report according to the chain of command. Their job is to receive either raw information from COMINT or SENINT sources, or to receive intelligence reports and analysis from analysts. The Section Leader then relays this information to the Commanding Officer, or Operation Commander, depending on the location and context, according to need and chain of command.
- Deputy Director: A Deputy Director can be assigned to a starship but is usually assigned to a major starbase or on a planet. The Deputy Director is responsible for all Intelligence Operations in an area of space, usually limited to one sector. The Deputy Director reports to the Director or the Commanding Officer of that installation.
- Director: A Director is a 'Chief' position aboard an installation or, in some cases, starship. All intelligence activities for that ship or sector are reported to the Director, who in turn, reports to the Executive Officer of the installation to which they are assigned.
- Deputy Chief of Intelligence: A Deputy Chief is the next in line to the Chief of Intelligence, and is usually in charge of all the administrative duties at Starfleet Headquarters. (Not a playable position).
- Chief of Intelligence: At the very top of the Intelligence totem pole is the Chief of Intelligence. He or she is ultimately in charge of Intelligence Operations throughout all of Federation space and beyond. The Chief of Intelligence reports directly to the Commander, Starfleet and the President of the UFoP. (Not a playable position).
Jurisdiction
The purpose of Starfleet Intelligence is to gather accurate and up-to-date information on threats both foreign and domestic, which can be turned into usable intelligence for all branches of Starfleet.
Divisions
While most Starfleet Intelligence operations occur under the normal chain of command, there are more specialized divisions for specific tasks.
- Organized Crime: Organized crime represents a menace to Federation society; it exploits the needs of the disadvantaged and provides illicit services and exorbitant cost. The most famous example of this, is the Orion Syndicate whose illegal operations include gambling, racketeering, smuggling, piracy, slave-trading, extortion, and assassination. The Organized Crime Division is comprised of dedicated Starfleet Intelligence Officers who are committed to the extermination of this menace from Federation society.
- Counterintelligence: While Starfleet Intelligence is a highly effective intelligence service, it should not be forgotten that many other nations have their own intelligence services. The Counterintelligence division's purpose is to prevent hostile intelligence organizations from gathering and collecting intelligence against the Federation.
- Internal Affairs: The Internal Affairs Division investigates incidents involving misconduct of Officers.
Coding Data
| Code | Source rating | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| A | Reliable | No doubt of authenticity, trustworthiness, or competency; has a history of complete reliability |
| B | Usually Reliable | Minor doubt about authenticity, trustworthiness, or competency; has a history of valid information most of the time |
| C | Fairly Reliable | Doubt of authenticity, trustworthiness, or competency but has provided valid information in the past |
| D | Not Usually Reliable | Significant doubt about authenticity, trustworthiness, or competency but has provided valid information in the past |
| E | Unreliable | Lacking in authenticity, trustworthiness, and competency; history of invalid information |
| F | Cannot Be Judged | No basis exists |
| Code | Rating | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Confirmed | Confirmed by other independent sources; logical in itself; consistent with other information on the subject |
| 2 | Probably True | Not confirmed; logical in itself; consistent with other information on the subject |
| 3 | Possibly True | Not confirmed; reasonably logical in itself; agrees with some other information on the subject |
| 4 | Doubtfully True | Not confirmed; possible but not logical; no other information on the subject |
| 5 | Improbable | Not confirmed; not logical in itself; contradicted by other information on the subject |
| 6 | Cannot Be Judged | No basis exists |
An "A" rating, for example, might mean a thoroughly trusted source, such as your own communications intelligence operation. That source might be completely reliable, but, if it intercepted a message that other intelligence proved was sent for deceptive purposes, the report reliability might be rated 5, for "known false". The report, therefore, would be A-5. It may also be appropriate to reduce the reliability of a sentient source if the source is reporting on a technical subject, and the expertise of the subject is unknown.
Another source might be a habitual liar, but gives just enough accurate information to be kept in use. Her trust rating would be "E", but if the report was independently confirmed, it would be rated "E-1".
Most intelligence reports are somewhere in the middle; a "B-2" is taken seriously. Sometimes, it is impossible to rate the reliability of source, most commonly from lack of experience with him, so an F-3 could be a reasonably probable report from an unknown source. An extremely trusted source might submit a report that cannot be confirmed or denied, so it would get an "A-6" rating.
Processing
Refining and analyzing the information.
Characteristics of Effective Intelligence
- Relevance: Do the intelligence products pertain to your mission and support your concept of the operation?
- Usability: Are the intelligence products in a format you can easily use? Can they pass the "so what?" test? Do they clearly tell you their significance to your concept of the operation?
- Timeliness: Are you getting the intelligence, targets, electronic warfare (EW) support, and BDA when you ask for them?
- Accuracy: Are the intelligence products and targets correct? Are targets given with locations sufficiently accurate to attack them?
- Completeness: Are you getting the whole story or are the portions that are known versus those that are analytical estimates made clear to you?
- Objectivity: Is the intelligence unbiased, undistorted, and free from political influence or constraint?
- Predictive: Do the intelligence estimates of enemy capabilities give a set of possible enemy COAs which are prioritized in order of likelihood of occurrence
Analysis and production
The data that has been processed is translated into a finished intelligence product, which includes integrating, collating, evaluating, and analyzing all the data.
Organizing What You Have
Collection processes provide analysts with assorted kinds of information, some important and some irrelevant, some true and some false (with many shades in between), and some requiring further preprocessing before they can be used in analysis. Raw information reports use a standard code for the presumed reliability of the source and of the information.
| Term | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Fact | Verified information; something known to exist or to have happened. | A confirmed inventory of a resource of one's own service |
| Direct Information | The content of reports, research, and analytic reflection on an intelligence issue that helps analysts and their consumers evaluate the likelihood that something is factual and thereby reduces uncertainty, Information relating to an intelligence issue under scrutiny the details of which can, as a rule, be considered factual, because of the nature of the source, the source's direct access to the information, and the concrete and readily verifiable character of the contents | COMINT or OSINT quoting what a foreign official said; IMINT providing a count of the number of starships at a starbase. SENINT from a Federation diplomatic officer who directly observed an event. |
| Indirect Information | Information relating to an intelligence issue the details of which may or may not be factual, the doubt reflecting some combination of the source's questionable reliability, the source's lack of direct access, and the complex character of the contents | SENINT from a reliable agent, citing secondhand what an informant said that a government official said. OSINT providing a foreign government document that gives the number of starships at a starbase. Indirect OSINT from a Federation embassy officer. COMINT that contains a report by a foreign official to his government, about what something he cannot confirm, but states with a probability. |
| Direct Data | Organized information that provides context for evaluating the likelihood that a matter under scrutiny is factual. | A chronology of events based on observations by Federation officers |
| Indirect Data | Organized information that provides context for evaluating the likelihood that a matter under scrutiny is factual. | A chronology based on reports from a liaison intelligence service |
Collation describes the process of organizing raw data, interpolating known data, evaluating the value of data, putting in working hypotheses. The simplest approaches often are an excellent start. With due regard for protecting documents and information, a great deal can be done with a few pads, a viewscreen, and a table.
Categories of counterintelligence
- Collective Counterintelligence: Collective counterintelligence refers to gaining information about an opponent’s intelligence collection capabilities that might be aimed at an entity.
- Defensive Counterintelligence: Defensive counterintelligence involves thwarting efforts by hostile intelligence services to penetrate the service. Defensive counterintelligence starts by looking for places in one's own organization that could easily be exploited by foreign intelligence services. Defensive counterintelligence specifically for intelligence services involves risk assessment of their culture, sources, methods and resources. Risk management must constantly reflect those assessments, since effective intelligence operations are often risk-taking.
- Offensive Counterintelligence: Offensive counterintelligence can occur after having identified an opponent’s efforts against the system and then trying to manipulate these attacks either by “turning” the opponent’s agents into double agents or by feeding them false information they will report home. This is often called counterespionage - measures taken to detect enemy espionage or physical attacks against friendly intelligence services, prevent damage and information loss, and, where possible, to turn the attempt back against its originator.
The agents of SFI participate in various missions to accomplish their goals.
Counter-Intelligence
Counter Intelligence operations involve identifying possible hostile activity and taking preventative action to impede their operations. This could require uncovering long term operatives, taking proactive measures to stop planed operations or in extreme cases require Counter Terrorism teams being employed to resolve any urgent situations.
Counter Intelligence duties within SFI are primarily directed at identifying intelligence activity targeting the Federation. This not only includes operations undertaken by hostile governmental agencies, such as the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order, but also with threats from independent organizations such as the Orion Syndicate and the now-defunct Maquis.
Deception & Disinformation
To divert intelligence-gathering operations away from vital Federation interests, or to disguise ongoing SFI operations, the SFI department may engage in deception and disinformation activity, by way of imparting into the hands of non-Federation parties information which they believe credible. Even non-enemies may be the unknowing target of deception and disinformation, if SFI believes that the ultimate target may be more convinced of such information by proxy.
Extraction
Extraction, in the intelligence field, is the act of moving a target from an unfriendly location to a friendly location. Two types of extraction missions exist:
- Extraction of a friendly target. Typically, this involves recovering undercover agents, valuable personnel, or defectors from a hostile location.
- Extraction of an unfriendly target. At times, it may be necessary to obtain key enemy personnel to acquire their technical or strategic knowledge.
Investigation
Occasionally, SFI investigates incidents which may have an impact on intelligence. In such cases, agents become involved either in StarFleet or non-aligned agencies.
Reconnaissance & Surveillance
As one of the primary activities of SFI, reconnaissance and surveillance are the primary means of learning about non-Federation activities. In such missions, intelligence information is collected in the following methods:
- Researching: simply enough, SFI agents may spend an inordinate amount of time researching via data archives.
- Intercepting transmissions: agents may be required to find ways to intercept communications by way of technological methods, including bugging target locations, amplifying signals sent between two target parties, and so forth. Such transmissions are then sent to HQ for analysis.
Infiltration
If necessary, SFI may covertly infiltrate a target organization by way of disguising and inserting agents. Once successfully in place, the operative(s) must complete their assigned mission and withdraw safely.
BLACKNET
BLACKNET is a classified Operator database that can be used by SFI and its direct affiliates to categorize and share information such as BOLO's, VIP lists, Black lists and mission reports, with other members of the intelligence community. Access to this database is striclty monitored, with a classified back-up location.
Field Operations
The Field Operations unit governs the deployment and control of Field Operatives or Agents deployed from the Intelligence taskforce. Agents can be deployed in a number of formats ranging from tactical insertion to the covert placement of a single operative. Length of deployment depends on the source of the Intelligence unit. On the whole, short term operations are deployed from starships while longer term operations, including undercover operations, are deployed from a starbase or similar fixed, defensible position.
In general, Field Operatives are the muscle of the Intelligence Department when needed, yet there is more to the job than that. Specialties within are wide ranging from Sentient Intelligence to such tasks as covert surveillance, electronics and demolition. Other more obvious specialties that fall within the realm of Field Operations would include interrogation and the art of getting into somewhere where you should not be.
Operations Technology
Operation Technology (or Op Tech.) officers work to enhance standard equipment, to come up with new solutions to problems and to maintain the Intelligence units equipment ranging from phasers to computers. Beginning in the planning stage of a mission, Op Tech remains involved in planning to determine whether changes to existing equipment is needed or whether custom built specialist equipment is required for the mission to be successful.
Depending on deployment location, a job can have more mundane duties to perform. Given the type of jobs that need to be performed by Op Tech, the skill base is wide and varied. It should be noted that in all but the largest Intelligence units, Op Tech works on a rather small scale, anything larger than something a normal person can carry would require the assistance engineering.
Analyst
The Analyst section is generally regarded as the largest section, although this would depend on the mandate of the Intelligence unit. The two main sub-unites of the Analyst section are Data and Communication analysts. The jobs of both sub-units are to collect, compile and analyze information from any number of different sources and pass any information of value to the Director. In this capacity, Analysts separate the "signal" from the "noise." When an ongoing mission in underway, Communication Analysts are tasked with keeping the Field Operatives in contact with the ship and to keep the contact hidden while monitoring all on going Communications.
Data Analysts monitor what the Field Operatives are actually doing remotely while providing support information to any problems that the Field Operatives face. The section leaders of both Data and Communication Analyst sections report directly to the Director, who has overall control of the operation. Data Analysts are also tasked with Crypto-analysis, the task of deciphering and analyzing enemy cryptographic codes.
Director of Intelligence
The Director of the Intelligence unit ultimately has to govern when, where, and how the unit operates with relation to the overall mission of the ship or facility that they are on. Strong links with the FO or CO of the parent unit are required, to ensure that the mission of the Intelligence department coincides broadly with the mission of the general StarFleet forces. Other than serving as a liaison, the Director is also required to run the Intelligence unit in the same manner in which a department head runs any other grouping of officers.
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