Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home About Us Intelligence Branch Intelligence Defined

Intelligence Defined

Intelligence Defined

Simply defined, intelligence is information that has been analyzed and refined so that it is useful to policymakers in making decisionsspecifically, decisions about potential threats to national security.

The FBI and the other organizations that make up the U.S. Intelligence Community use the term “intelligence” in three different ways:

  • Intelligence is a product that consists of information that has been refined to meet the needs of policymakers;
  • Intelligence is also a process through which that information is identified, collected, and analyzed; and,
  • Intelligence refers to both the individual organizations that shape raw data into a finished intelligence product for the benefit of decision makers and the larger community of these organizations.