Robert David Steele
Encyclopedia
Robert David Steele Vivas (b. July 16, 1952 New York City), is known for his promotion of open source intelligence
(OSINT). He is a former United States Marine Corps
infantry
and intelligence officer
for twenty years and was the second-ranking civilian (GS-14) in U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence
from 1988–1992. Steele is a former clandestine services
case officer
with the Central Intelligence Agency
. He is the founder and CEO
of OSS.Net
as well as the Golden Candle Society. Steele also was a member of the Adjunct Faculty of Marine Corps University
in the mid-1990s.
and Asia
as the son of an oil company
executive. Steele has an BA
in Political Science
; an MA
in International Relations
; and an MPA
in Public Administration
. He resigned from the military in 1993.
He is commonly associated with the open source intelligence movement and coined the terms "virtual intelligence" and "information peacekeeping". He argues that U.S. intelligence reform is needed, and that the private sector
can perform a high percentage of U.S. open source intelligence needs and reduce cost to the U.S. government
. He advocates "collective intelligence" or "the wisdom of the crowd" (what Howard Rheingold
calls "smart mobs") and for hackers as a national resource.
Steele, an international proponent of OSINT, argues that both reports, while recent, still ignore his decades of advocacy for a proper national focus on OSINT from 1988 to date. He further argues that the CIA has refused to take open source information seriously for decades, and should not be charged with developing new capabilities that are totally outside its existing culture of secrecy.
As of Nov. 2011, Steele crafted a proposed statement called the Electoral Reform Act of 2012 and presented it to the Occupy Wall Street
Electoral Reform Committee.
Open source intelligence
Open-source intelligence is a form of intelligence collection management that involves finding, selecting, and acquiring information from publicly available sources and analyzing it to produce actionable intelligence...
(OSINT). He is a former United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
and intelligence officer
Intelligence (information gathering)
Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
for twenty years and was the second-ranking civilian (GS-14) in U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence
Marine Corps Intelligence Activity
The Marine Corps Intelligence Activity , is a field activity of Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps and a member of both the Defense Intelligence Enterprise and the United States Intelligence Community...
from 1988–1992. Steele is a former clandestine services
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
case officer
Agent handling
In intelligence organizations, agent handling is the management of agents, principal agents, and agent networks by intelligence officers typically known as case officers.-Human intelligence:...
with the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
. He is the founder and CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of OSS.Net
OSS.Net
OSS.Net also known as OSS or its formal company name, OSS.Net, Inc., is a Virginia C corporation founded by Robert David Steele to further international understanding of the importance of Open source intelligence as a means of improving public policy decisions, reducing secrecy, and empowering the...
as well as the Golden Candle Society. Steele also was a member of the Adjunct Faculty of Marine Corps University
Marine Corps University
The Marine Corps University reports to the United States Marine Corps Training And Education Command. It was established on August 1, 1989 by General Alfred M...
in the mid-1990s.
Career
He spent his early years, two decades, in Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
as the son of an oil company
Petroleum industry
The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting , and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline...
executive. Steele has an BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
; an MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in International Relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
; and an MPA
Master of Public Administration
The Master of Public Administration is a professional post-graduate degree in Public Administration. The MPA program prepares individuals to serve as managers in the executive arm of local, state/provincial, and federal/national government, and increasingly in nongovernmental organization and...
in Public Administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
. He resigned from the military in 1993.
He is commonly associated with the open source intelligence movement and coined the terms "virtual intelligence" and "information peacekeeping". He argues that U.S. intelligence reform is needed, and that the private sector
Private sector
In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
can perform a high percentage of U.S. open source intelligence needs and reduce cost to the U.S. government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
. He advocates "collective intelligence" or "the wisdom of the crowd" (what Howard Rheingold
Howard Rheingold
-See also:* Collective intelligence* Information society* The WELL* Virtual community-External links:***** at TED conference** a 48MB Quicktime movie, hosted by the Internet Archive...
calls "smart mobs") and for hackers as a national resource.
Steele, an international proponent of OSINT, argues that both reports, while recent, still ignore his decades of advocacy for a proper national focus on OSINT from 1988 to date. He further argues that the CIA has refused to take open source information seriously for decades, and should not be charged with developing new capabilities that are totally outside its existing culture of secrecy.
As of Nov. 2011, Steele crafted a proposed statement called the Electoral Reform Act of 2012 and presented it to the Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street is an ongoing series of demonstrations initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters which began September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district...
Electoral Reform Committee.
Books self-published by Steele
- On Intelligence: Spies and Secrecy in an Open World (AFCEA, 2000). ISBN 0-9715661-0-0.
- The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political (OSS, 2002). ISBN 0-9715661-1-9.
- Peacekeeping Intelligence: Emerging Concepts for the Future (OSS, 2003). Contributing editor with Ben de Jong and Wies Platje. ISBN 0-9715661-2-7.
- Information Operations: All Information, All Languages, All the Time (OSS, 2005). ISBN 0-9715661-3-5.
- The Smart Nation Act: Public Intelligence in the Public Interest (OSS, 2006). ISBN 0-9715661-3-2.
Film appearances
- Steele is prominently featured in the 2007 documentary American Drug War: The Last White HopeAmerican Drug War: The Last White HopeAmerican Drug War: The Last White Hope is a 2007 documentary by writer/director Kevin Booth about the War on Drugs in the United States.- Synopsis :The film states the War on Drugs has become one of the longest and most costly wars in American history...
. - He also appeared in two French documentaries: Les Hackers (English translation: Hackers), on the National Geographic ChannelNational Geographic ChannelNational Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
, CIA Guerres Secretes (By William Karel) and Le Monde selon Bush (English translation: The World according to Bush by William Karel), on the television channelTelevision channelA television channel is a physical or virtual channel over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with carrier frequencies of 55.25 MHz for NTSC analog video and...
Paris PremièreParis PremièreParis Première is a French TV channel, available on cable, satellite and the digital terrestrial service, Télévision Numérique Terrestre. It was launched on December 15, 1986 and is now wholly owned by M6.-External links:*...
.
External links
- Open Source Solutions Inc.
- Earth Intelligence Network
- A Summary of Steele's Views
- Journal Publications
- Articles published
- Speaker biography at DEF CON III Las Vegas 1995
- Open Source Intelligence: Private Sector Capabilities to Support DoD Policy, Acquisitions, and Operations May 5 1998
- The New Craft of Intelligence - Making the Most of Open Private Sector Knowledge 2002
- Draft legislation to create Open Source Agency posted November 10, 2005
- Interview Audio: Robert David Steele, Open Source Intelligence Evangelist Jan 25 2006
- Forbes - Open Source Intelligence April 18 2006
- OSS CEO Praises Mary McCarthy, Calls for Censure of DNI & DCI April 22 2006
- 911, Iraq, & Bin Laden: US’s $60 Billion Intelligence Failure May 2 2006
- Call for Open Source Intelligence Inputs to Wikipedia July 5 2006
- OSINT for Peace Operations Est. 2007