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(U) Letter to the Editor : Getting the Most from Metadata
FROM: SIGINT Communications
Unknown
Run Date: 05/11/2005
(U) We received the following comment on the recent article Ask Raul: Getting the Most from
Metadata :
From :
)
Comment : Dear
,
(U//FOUO) Your question can be interpreted in a number of ways, and Raul has interpreted it in
one fashion. I'd like to take a few other angles that may provide you and other analysts across
SID with a better understanding of the many moving pieces in the world of metadata these
days. There's a lot to cover, so I'll recommend that you consider looking at the website for the
SID COMINT Metadata Strategy by visiting "go metadata" on your browser. You can also contact
the SID Strategy team via the alias "DL METADATA"
@nsa) if you have further
questions or concerns, or need to know who to talk to for some specific issues.
(S//SI) What can you do with your metadata? Well, it depends what kind of metadata it is you
are referring to and what your analytic goal is. You say you are overloaded with it, so I'll
assume you must be accessing metadata records through one of the corporate systems such as
MAINWAY, FASCIA, BANYAN, or the UIS Metadata Viewer. Each of these provides a different
angle into the metadata extracted from SIGINT, and efforts are underway both to ensure a
single, unified access to these various sources (a project called GLOBALVISION), and to
automate the rote elements of analysis.
(S//SI) Quick and easy payoffs vary depending on the target set, analytic goal, and actual
collection. Having said that, they certainly include target discovery through contact chaining
(both DNR and DNI); content prioritization via sophisticated algorithms and keyword searches;
technology discovery; and target identity refinement. Other uses of metadata available today
include the analysis of target selectors in CADANCE to determine their effectiveness, as well as
the more surgical tasking of active operations.
(U//FOUO) Without further understanding of your particular circumstances, it is difficult to give a
tailored answer. I'd suggest you contact me, and the SID Metadata Strategy team, to get more
help.
Thank you,
Implementation Lead, SID Metadata Strategy
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108