HUMINT: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

HUMINT, short for human intelligence, is an intelligence gathering discipline collecting information either by interviewing or tracking a subject of investigation, or by using a combination of 'black' techniques to gain confessions or involuntary disclosure of information. The organization primarily responsible for the collection of HUMINT for the US is the CIA.

The KGB considered the following as standard practice, and even defined the MICE acronym to help Soviet agents remember the "tricks of the trade":

Money - Buy the agent

Ideology - Turn dislike of his own country's system to your advantage

Compromise - Trick the target into a compromising situation

Ego - Appeal to the target who feels they deserve better treatment than they are getting, and/or make them feel more important in their own eyes

Many who work in the intelligence community refer to the HUMINT task using phrases such as "Having feet on the ground" or "Having a source on the ground". This refers to the need for "hard" data to backup or supplant other forms of intelligence.