HUMINT: Combating corporate crime with a counter-terrorism methodology

Abstract

This study examines how corporations can employ HUMINT (that is, counter-terror intelligence techniques based on human sources) to identify corporate-wide fraud patterns. Embedded in the newly created HUMINT teams of two large corporations, the researchers collected data through in-depth interviews, on-site observations and document analysis. The findings highlight three lessons. First, the corporate HUMINT project's sponsor must be a senior executive who is held personally responsible for security breaches and who has tried many other methods with little success before adopting HUMINT. Second, the HUMINT team should focus on identifying corporate-wide fraud patterns rather than target individual perpetrators. To do so, the HUMINT team must develop its ‘knowledge networks’ early on and long before a specific security breach is identified. Finally, the HUMINT team must educate employees to provide only that information which they feel comfortable in sharing. The HUMINT team must also reach beyond the borders of the corporation and include former employees and vendors in its ‘knowledge networks.’ Additional research is needed to compare the success and failure of HUMINT projects with more traditional corporate anti-fraud programs.