The CIRAT provides these opportunities through contractual
product development, direct support, business operations support, internship programs, and grant
projects. The CIRAT is flexible in setting up contracts with varying time frames and taskings
and adapting the scope of work as the client’s operational needs pivot. The Center consists of
three major program focus areas and three production labs, which include the three Guardian
Programs (Watch, SAINT, RFJ) and Business Intelligence and Innovation Lab, Innovation
Entente Lab, and Intelligence Fusion Lab.
Intelligence Studies
Mercyhurst University School of Intelligence Studies, Computing, and Global politics can provide strategic and competitive business intelligence through open-source research methods to collect, process, analyze, and distribute professional products to its respective clients. Strategic intelligence involves analyzing adversaries and the operational landscape and offers potential outcomes in months or years to come. Competitive business intelligence focuses on the private
sector and provides insight into a business’s operational environment and competitive advantages and disadvantages. We have developed comprehensive products for the public and private sectors on various issues
- Analysts use Open-Source Intelligence to assist clients in providing data and products that help decision-makers make timely and informed decisions.
- Geopolitical Events- Analysts identify National and International activities that could
- have policy, security, and political implications. Analysts utilize PMESII-PT and DIME to identify the operational environment, allowing for strategic planning and Courses of Action Development.
- Indications and Warnings- Students work to develop Indications and Warnings (I & W) products that are intelligence-based activities intended to detect and report on time intelligence information of foreign developments that could involve a threat to the United States military, political, or economic interests.
- Monitoring—Analysts develop collection requirements to drive the utilization of OSINT tools, databases, and tradecraft to monitor activities of interest relevant to client needs (Surface, Deep, and Darkweb).
- Anti-Money Laundering – Analysts work to detect, prevent, and investigate money laundering of malicious groups like drug cartels, terrorists, and nation-states.
- Anti-Human Trafficking— Analysts work with real-world programs to devise solutions for reporting human trafficking, educating potential victims, developing resources for law enforcement, and attacking networks.
- Competitive Landscape – Analysts collect and analyze the required intelligence for various businesses and their competition. They can identify the client’s business environment and analyze competitors.
- Market Analysis- Analysts use various structured analytic techniques to determine a business’s internal capabilities and the impact of its external environment.
- Supply Chain Risk and Threat Identification and Management
- Social Media Analysis—Analysts analyze the various social media platforms and best practices competitors use to capitalize on their target markets. They also analyze the demographics of each platform and industry trends.
- Network Threats- Analysts utilize a proactive tradecraft approach to identifying cybersecurity threats to an industry or individual client company’s networks.
- Involves identifying and analyzing the capabilities of malicious actors in and out of the U.S. (United States). The students use various analytic techniques to determine indicators or worse-case scenarios and understand the motives behind each party. This includes threats and vulnerabilities to and of companies and principals.
- Country/regional assessments – Students can analyze and forecast what a country or region will look like at a specific time based on factors such as population, government, etc.
- Geospatial-Intelligence – Identify physical and human geography in correlation to geographically referenced activities on Earth. Students use ArcGIS to depict and describe intelligence on a map visually.
- This type of support allows for the CIRAT to provide an agreed-upon, as set by the client, number of analysts to provide direct operational support to a company or government entity. The company or agency provides the daily or weekly scope of support required based on the company’s or agency’s current analytical needs and deliverables. The analysts provide the required information, data, or feedback per reporting guidelines set by the client. The CIRAT ensures that the analysts are provided the technology, tools, and subject matter expertise to fulfill all requirements agreed upon in the statement of work, contract, or work order. This type of support provides the most flexibility in analysts pivoting as a client’s needs or operations pivot.
- Students primarily utilize Intelligence produced from publicly and commercially available information and big data (surface, deep, and dark web), which is collected, exploited, and disseminated promptly to an appropriate audience to address a specific requirement.
- Students utilize Tier 0, Tier 1, and Tier 2 research and collection methods and tradecraft, including the capability to properly conduct managed attribution, which mitigates all topical and technical risks. It is only conducted through approved technologies per vendor and University agreements.
- The CIRAT OSINT Program is structured to take all risks so the client does not have to.
- Students use their OSINT training and education to exploit social media safely.
Analysts use HUMINT tradecraft to design scripts that solicit critical information
from Human sources.
- Analysts utilize OSINT data from PAI and CAI to identify and vet human sources.
- The information collected is utilized to answer collection requirements in providing
products supporting client-provided statements of work.
Computing Information Sciences
The rapidly changing environment of the internet leaves businesses, governments, and institutions exposed to various cyber risks. The CIRAT integrates risk management with cyber security to assess and mitigate cyber risks.
- Students serve as critical informants for decision-makers in both the public and private sectors. They can Assess, evaluate, and respond to decision-maker needs and requirements and collect, clean, store, and query data from various sources.
- Data analysis – Students can obtain, organize, and transform data into an appropriate storage, exploration, visualization, and analysis format.
- Cyber threat assessments – Students can identify potential and future cyber threats and understand how to defend against these threats through the capabilities of the organization.
- Digital forensics—Students can assess and recover any stolen digital information from a security breach. They can also trace a violation to its source to prevent further malicious activity.
Additional Services
Custom Analysis: Utilizing various analytic techniques, the students produce estimative
intelligence products and briefings to meet decision-maker needs. Analysis, data research and
collection, and products are specified to meet a unique client need in the strategic or business
intelligence community.
Program Evaluation: We offer a third-party analytical assessment of your organization’s
programs. It reviews program deliverables, fiduciary soundness, and program impact on the
customer and funding authorities.
Test Bed Analysts: Mistakes are necessary before improvement can be made. Our robust number
of intelligence and computer science students provides clients with the capability to test new and
developing intelligence processes, technologies, algorithms, and analytical scenario-based
testing.
Certification and Course Development: The CIRAT has developed courses of varying lengths
and degrees of intensity for continued professional growth and needed structured certifications.
We are prepared to use our highly skilled subject matter experts and instructional designers to
develop practical training courses to meet client needs. Potential areas include, but are not
limited to:
- National Security Intelligence
- Law Enforcement Intelligence
- Competitive Intelligence
- Intelligence for Cyber Issues
- Intelligence for Counterterrorism Issues
Internship Program: The CIRAT coordinates training opportunities for intelligence and cyber
students and academic partners. Coordination occurs between the CIRAT, the client’s internship
program director, and the Mercyhurst University Career Center. Internships can be paid or nonpaid positions for academic credit or a combination of paid and academic credit. Internship
support is provided in two ways: an Academic Partnership or a general solicitation supporting
the entity providing the internship. For further information on this program, please get in touch
with the CIRAT Director.