SCI (thing)

Sensitive or Special Compartmented Information. A level of classified material whose nature reveals something about the intelligence source used to collect the information. For example:

Saddam Hussein has sausage and eggs delivered to his patio at 7:18 a.m.

This reveals that perhaps his maid is an agent

Saddam Hussein likes a dash of paprika mixed into his eggs

Now, his chef would be a suspect

Saddam Hussein never eats the ends of his sausage

A-ha! His busboy, or the guy who washes plates, are talking to the Americans!.

While what Saddam eats for breakfast isn't intrinsically important to national security, what the government actually knows is vital.

Generally, SCI is classified under codewords which each represent a different type of intelligence source (e.g., HUMINT, ELINT, SIGINT).