DYNAMIC PAGE -- HIGHEST POSSIBLE CLASSIFICATION IS
TOP SECRET // SI / TK // REL TO USA AUS CAN GBR NZL
(S) Info on Ships Is Now Available to the SECRET-Level Warfighter
FROM:
Chief, Weapons and Space/Technical Development
(S2J12),
and SIGINT Communications
Run Date: 03/13/2006
(S) Info on the identity, location, cargo, etc. of ships around the world now available to the
tactical user.
(S) SIGINTers and their tactical customers live in different worlds. SIGINTers deal every day
with highly classified material, while most US military forces are cleared only to the "straightSECRET*" level. How to bridge the gap? We do this by deleting all information hinting at our
SIGINT sources and methods (a process called "sanitization") before sending out the
intelligence. The bad news: sanitization is often a time-consuming, labor-intensive process. The
good news: there are times when we can automate the process.
(S) A case in point is the success SID has had in using existing technology to sanitize data from
the shipborne Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal, for release at the SECRET level. AIS
is a PROFORMA data link associated with maritime cargo, merchant, and other vessels
over 300 tons. The signal provides ship information (e.g. identification, position,
course, speed, destination, cargo contents, etc.) to worldwide WRANGLER database users
and various customers.
(S) It's easy to see why this information might be of interest to tactical customers who are
cleared to the SECRET level. The data supports the tracking of large vessels that may be
involved in illicit trade, smuggling, or even terrorism-related activities. However, at 1.2 million
records a day, there is no way SIGINTers could possibly sanitize this material by hand, even if
they wanted to! Last year, Weapons and Space's Data Services Division (S2J1) took advantage
of existing technology -- known as the RADIANT MERCURY guard device - to solve this problem.
(S) RADIANT MERCURY receives the data, sanitizes the content and, on a near-realtime basis, forwards the results to tactical users (like the US Coast Guard and US Navy) via
the Integrated Broadcast Service Support Office (IBSSO). The data is also available presanitized in the WRANGLER database, which can be used for historical purposes.
(S) This technology has narrowed the "classification gap" in a seamless way and helped us
deliver timely intelligence to the customers who can use it.
(U//FOUO) If you have questions about RADIANT MERCURY, please contact
) or
).
*(U//FOUO) Footnotes:
"Straight-SECRET" refers to material that is classified at the SECRET level without any additional
control markings, such as COMINT or TK.
"(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: 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108