SIGINT stands for Signals Intelligence, and refers to intelligence-gathering by interception of signals, whether by radio interception or other means.

As sensitive information is often encrypted, SIGINT often involves the use of cryptanalysis. However, traffic analysis can be used to gather information even when the messages themselves cannot be decrypted.

Past and Present SIGINT Activities

Related Topics


In UNIX-derived operating systems, SIGINT stands for Signal Interrupt or Signal Interactive. It refers to the signal sent to a UNIX process by the kernel when the user on the process's terminal presses Control-C (On some systems, this is the "delete" character).