Rating Intel Source & Information Reliability with Admiralty System
Not all information sources are equally reliable, nor is all information equally credible. The Admiralty System (or NATO System or Naval Intelligence Division [NID] System) is a system for rating the reliability of information sources and the credibility of information.
By including ratings with intelligence reports, cyber threat intelligence analysts can help audiences evaluate the reliability of the intelligence. Think of it as suggesting how large a grain of salt should be taken with the intel.
Information Source Reliability Ratings
- A: Reliable (authentic; history of reliability, authenticity, completeness, trustworthiness).
- B: Usually reliable (minor doubts about authenticity, trustworthiness, or competency; history of valid info a majority of time).
- C: Fairly reliable (doubts about authenticity, trustworthiness, or competency; history of valid info some of time).
- D: Not usually reliable (significant doubts about authenticity, trustworthiness, or competency; history of valid info some of time).
- E: Unreliable (lacking authenticity, trustworthiness, or competency; history of invalid info).
- F: Cannot be judged (not enough info to evaluate).
Information Credibility Ratings
- Confirmed (confirmed by independent sources; logical; consistent with other info on subject).
- Probably true (not confirmed; logical; consistent with other info on subject).
- Possibly true (not confirmed; reasonably logical; agrees with some other info on subject).
- Doubtfully true (not confirmed; possible but not logical; no other info on subject).
- Improbable (not confirmed; not logical; contradicted by other info on subject).
- Cannot be judged (not enough info to evaluate).
Rating Information
Information is given a letter rating of source reliability and a number rating of information credibility. So, information that’s from a source that’s usually reliable, and which is probably true, is rated B2.
Additional Resources
US Army FM 2–22.3 (FM 34–52) Human Intelligence Collector Operations (PDF; pages B-1 to B-2)
