CIA company buys stake in social media firm

Never say the CIA isn't smart. The agency is very smart, and it sure is recognizing the value of social media. Not to miss out on a trend, America's spy agency just purchased a piece of a company that specializes in monitoring social media.

We're not saying there are any spies hidden in social networks, but it stands to reason the CIA is leaving no stone unturned these days, especially with a hot new media.

In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA, and the wider intelligence community, is putting cash into Visible Technology, a software firm that specializes in monitoring social media. This move is part of a larger movement within spy services to get better at using "open source intelligence," reports Wired.

This kind of intelligence involves information that is publicly available in newspaper articles, TV shows and blog posts, but often is overlooked. It's far more than clipping newspaper articles to read up on what the opposition is doing, thinking and planning. We applaud the CIA for realizing that intelligence comes from many places, including information right under its nose.

For more on the CIA's latest venture:
- check out this Wired article

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