Practical Cyber Intelligence

13OSINT

Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is the process of collecting, processing, and analyzing information that is publicly available to everyone. The degree to which something is available to everyone is up to your organization; the question is a 5$ price to access data still considered part of OSINT?

With the constantly increasing amount of information available on the open internet has made OSINT a critical skill for various types of investigations. It allows the investigator to access a wide range of information, with relative ease, that might otherwise be overlooked. This information can be used for various purposes, such as threat intelligence, user profiling and much more. OSINT can be quite diverse, depending on the specific context and circumstances of the case, ranging from passive collection of social media data to HUMINT operations, where you directly interact with the target. Because data exists everywhere on the internet this means we will be using a wide range of sources, such as social media and network infrastructure to gather information about a specific topic or target.

To ensure the effectiveness of an OSINT investigation, it is essential to have a well-defined request for information (RFI). This helps analysts focus their efforts and create a plan to answer the question at hand. OSINT is an ever-changing field, as sources of information are continuously being added or removed. Therefore, it is crucial to prepare the work environment, identify and organize ...