Dr. Lowenthal, now president of the Intelligence and Security Academy, a training firm in Virginia, said a classic case of the failure to use open-source information came when India's nuclear test surprised American intelligence in 1998.

"It's open-source information," he said, but the student "has still done something."

Anderson says that he has a "problem" with the author's decision to write the book, saying, "open-source information about special operations set out in this way puts our troops and their missions in danger."

It collects and monitors open-source information, such as television broadcasts, print articles and radio programs.

It also offers consulting services on implementation and maintenance of open-source information and technology.

The agency's analysts, who study and interpret secret intelligence and a new flood of open-source information, have other woes.

It is crucial to distinguish espionage from intelligence gathering, as the latter does not necessarily involve espionage, but often collates open-source information.

There, he became a senior research scientist at the University of Maryland, obtained the open-source information on the "Manhattan Project" from the Library of Congress.

Dr. Shay David, Chief Revenue Officer and Co-founder of Kaltura, scholar and serial entrepreneur specializing in collaborative and open-source information and communication systems.

Perhaps the most important example today relates to terrorism, where open-source information can fill gaps and create links that allow analysts to better understand fragmented intelligence, rumored terrorist plans, possible means of attack, and potential targets.