Due to my interest in threat intelligence and security monitoring, I picked up the Kindle Edition of The Analyst’s Cookbook (Volume 2) while looking for discussions on intelligence analysis. Some of the material might prove somewhat useful, though that varies.
The book consists of apparent term papers written by college seniors or, more likely, graduate students at the Mercyhurst College Institute of Intelligence Studies. While of high quality, they all follow a similar structure:
- Description of the technique
- Strengths and Weaknesses
- How-To (high level)
- Personal Application (case study)
This structure provides a lot of value, though some techniques have better explanation and review than others. Some of the techniques, however, seem ill-suited to intelligence analysis (e.g. patent analysis). While I already knew about some of the techniques, the in-depth review still had value. In particular, I liked the discussions on the following:
- Delphi Method Analysis
- Social Network Analysis
- Social Media Collection
- Game Theory
- Red Teaming Analysis
For the $5 I spent on the Kindle version, I found it useful and wish they had Volume 1 online as well.
