Written Intelligence Briefing

Assignment Two: Written Intelligence Briefing

Due: December 14

Background: 

As you are (or might be in the future) a cyber intelligence analyst, the government or private sector will likely call upon you to write an intelligence briefing. Written intelligence briefings are used to communicate information to the decision-maker in a concise and easily digestible format. Moreover, you will likely also be called upon to deliver an intelligence briefing. Briefings can vary based on the intended audience, the formality of the briefing, and the type of briefing.

Assignment Overview: 

In this assignment, you will select whether you are an employee in the Office of the Department of National Intelligence writing a briefing for the Director of National Intelligence or an employee in a private sector organization writing a briefing for the Chief Executive Officer. You will use the Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) writing format for the intelligence brief.

An example of how to write an Intelligence Brief in the BLUF format is accessible at: http://academics.utep.edu/Portals/4302/student-guides/BLUF%20Writing%20Format.pdf (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

To complete the assignment, do the following:

• Select a recent trend on which you plan to provide a written brief. This can be a trend related to the event you presented on in your PDB, but it does not have to be. It is important that you not just discuss one event, however, but an overall trend—that is, several events or an overall pattern of change.
• Follow the BLUF Writing Format for the overall structure of the brief. Hint: Don’t forget the levels of operational cyber intelligence that we covered in the range of reports we read in class.
• The written brief should be 1500-2000 words (1500 words is good)  (i.e. 3-4 pages single spaced). Points will be redacted if you are significantly over or under the word limit. It is important to learn to craft an argument concisely.
• The substantiation (analysis) is the most important part of your brief—it demonstrates critical thinking. Please take the time to make sure you are providing a critical analysis of your chosen trend. Do not just say what the trend is—though that is important—but say how you can identify the trend what it means.
• If writing is a struggle for you, please get extra help and take the time to carefully edit your work. Substantive but sloppily edited work will still lose points (this includes improper citations, poor grammar, etc.). The grading scale provided on the following page will be used for assessment.

Make sure your written brief addresses the following five points:

• Identify what specifically the trend is you are talking about. What does the executive need to know?
• Provide the evidence that informs your analysis. Distill the most important facts for the executive.
• Identify why the trend matters. Why is it worth the executive’s time?
• Identify what comes next and how confidant you are in that assessment. Why do you have that level of confidence?
• Determine and present what the executive should do about it (if anything).