Page 26 - the SyI Quarterly V3 digital (1)

Our Membership

Member Insight:

Neuroscience and Human Intelligence

Maurizio Petrocchi MSyI

Human intelligence - HUMINT- has been with us from the start. Spies, according to Colonel John Hughes-Wilson, are the heart
of intelligence and have been from time immemorial. Human intelligence - spies and spying - represents the oldest form of
intelligence and the most numerous. From Sumerians to tomorrow’s headlines, from all-out war to stealing commercial secrets,
there will always be spies. Spying is all about trust and betrayal, hope and fear, love and hatred. Spying to collect information
on “the other” is eternal, and it has always been centred on people and personalities. Families spy, businesses spy, nations spy.
Human intelligence is a vast field; it is much more than just spies born from the fantasies of Fleming.

For a start, there are many forms of HUMINT, from debriefing defectors and refugees to interrogating prisoners of war, and from
running agents behind enemy lines to exquisitely thoughtful, polite, diplomatic exchanges at cocktail parties. As its name implies,
HUMINT means dealing with the most treacherous and unreliable source of information of all: human beings. In the urban
warfare setting, you cannot get away from the human. The collection of information is only one facet of human intelligence. The
information deduced from the intelligence collected is essential, as it is responsible not only for formulating policy but also for
altering and developing operational capacities in the field. Human intelligence information often proves crucial for locating and
neutralising adversaries and for allowing quick action and reaction in the attainment of national security goals.

Spies are often dynamic, curious, funny, intuitive and insightful young people. They appear to be modest and, impersonal
in appearance so that they can infiltrate the operating environment. They must be “brilliant in their ways but discreet in their
presence”. Technology in the intelligence sector has reached levels of excellence, even though it is unwise to attribute excessive
trust in it. It is not possible to consider it a panacea. Indeed today, the human factor is indispensable for identifying and
contrasting new forms of hybrid and insidious threats. Fundamental to the agent is knowing how to master both verbal and para-
verbal communication techniques. The searching for information by the agent is composed of three phases: a) the search for the
source, b) the recruitment, c) the management or “manipulation”.

The tools that can be used to approach and recruit the source could be the classic but dangerous money, or the religious or
political ideal, but also a deep feeling of revenge against something or someone who could induce the source to collaborate. Most
reasons that frequently can induce a person to collaborate can be summarized in the acronym MICE - money - ideology - coercion -
egotism. Some intelligence services can make use of more invasive “recruiting” techniques, such as sexual blackmail, the so-called
“honey trap”. Once the source has been identified, and the attachment tool has been established, we move on to recruitment.
This first step is very delicate and risky since the agent could blow his or her cover, even before approaching the source. The
“enticement” should be carried out with caution and possibly by an agent other than the one who will subsequently manage the
cause. The agent could resort to some techniques derived from neuroscience to persuade the target to provide as much interesting
“news” as he has in his possession. To obtain this result, it is essential to establish an empathic bond between the source and the
agent; it is possible to start a relationship of superiority/subjection between the two figures so that the source can diligently and
confidently carry out the indications suggested to him.

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