For the next edition of our new “Intel in 5” blog series, we spoke to Intelligence Analyst Nick Jones about how 13 years of intelligence experience in the armed services and the police eventually led him to Corps Intel.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I work primarily with one of our larger clients. The first thing I do every morning is review the overnight incidents and see if further action is needed. If an incident is concerning or seems like part of a pattern, I develop insight into what might have caused it.
I work through a list of intelligence requirements and bespoke requests, alongside creating weekly reports and reviewing possible patterns. We use a platform for tracking open-source intelligence, like social media platforms, for very specific parameters and keywords. It’s my job to filter the relevant information, verify and analyse it, and share it with the right people.
My role is to take all the available information and provide a predictive assessment on what may happen in the future and best mitigate risks. Analysing past incidents is crucial, but only if it provides actionable insight moving forward.
In my team, everyone supports each other. The point of intelligence is sharing relevant information within reason. Not everyone should, or can, handle having access to all the information at once, so a collaborative effort allows for our different specialities to shine.
What first drew you to intelligence or security work?
I kind of stumbled on it, to be honest. I always wanted to join the army, and when I initially joined, I passed the selection to the Intelligence Corps, where I was trained as an intelligence analyst.
I developed in the Intelligence Corps over the next nine years, conducting various roles which took me all over the world. However, when I started my own family, I made the decision to leave to provide a more stable home life for them. I joined the police to try and do a similar role closer to home, but after nearly four more years in the public sector, I wanted to grow in a different environment in the private sector.
Corps was recommended to me by somebody within the armed forces circles for its strong reputation among veterans, and for paying its staff the Living Wage, so I knew it would be the company to support me through the ex-service transition.
If the armed services lifestyle was better for my family, I’d have probably stayed. At Corps, there are veterans in the organisation that you can spill your guts to and relive the old days with, and I get involved in the Corps Veterans Association where I can.
What is the most misunderstood part of your job?
I think a lot of people assume that we just find intelligence through a Google search – plugging in the information we need and getting results. In reality, finding information is meticulous and methodical, and everything needs to be sourced, checked and verified.
Half the battle is collecting information, and that isn’t quick or easy. The other half is using expertise to present customers with the exact information they need. Clients guide us on the first steps in gathering information, but disseminating it is key. It needs to be specific, but also relevant. Everyone is very busy, so it’s my job to make sure that clients are given the intelligence that matters first, and then I can provide the rest if needed. People simply don’t have time to read a 50-page report on top of their own jobs.
Throughout my training in the Intelligence Corps, we were always asked to answer “so what?”, which is basically asking how information affects the client. If intelligence is irrelevant to the customer or just information overload, reports get ignored and the actionable intelligence gets missed. It’s our job to communicate relevant, actionable information in a digestible format, but also in a timely manner.
What’s a recent trend or technological development you’re watching closely?
I think a lot of people are worried about protest activity. Not necessarily the large public protests, but more the hard-line activism that damages sites or threatens site personnel. It’s very hard to predict what these groups are going to do, because they are often decentralised and don’t announce their intentions beforehand.
We analyse customer sites to report on which are most vulnerable to protest activity. These can be sites that have partnerships with target organisations, or more tenuous links and associations to them, rather than being the main target themselves. These organisations are often more vulnerable because they don’t tend to think that they are at risk.
Another important topic is AI. Analysts have to learn how to use it efficiently. That means using the right prompts to cut through the noise. For example, if my search is too broad, it could come up with 40,000 data hits a week. We can’t even scratch the surface of that. It can be a great time-saving tool, allowing us to focus on verifying and analysing information, but it requires expertise to operate effectively.
What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you?
If you look at my background, you probably wouldn’t expect it, but I love visiting theme parks all over the world. My family and I love to travel, but we always factor in theme parks when we go on holiday.
My partner and I did a lot of travelling when we were younger, and I travelled with the army, but we also did theme parks before we had children and have managed to get them into it now – whether they think it’s their choice or not! We would choose a Disney theme park with the kids over an all-inclusive resort every time.
If you are interested in exploring our intelligence and consultancy solutions, find out more about our services and get in touch with our team.
