Erroneous Knowledge

A lot of OSINT sources like to clarify what OSINT is or open source intelligence from the get go. They give trite and staid definitions that seem to clear the hurdle for legalese. The OHCHR Berkeley Protocol is thorough in its proceedings of jurisprudence and the juridical nature of investigations. However it is also noted that open source investigators are not vested with the same powers of legal entities such as the ability to subpoena or carry out a full fledged legal investigation. Open source investigators still have the responsibilities to protect witnesses and respect the rights of the accused as legal entities practice. There is a fair bit of legalese used in the Berkeley Protocol making it abstruse to a regular reader. There is a gamut of evidentiary practices with regards to copy right. You have to seek the permission of the creator of content to get approval for use. But there is the case of 'fair use' of media though there is a narrow allowance as evidence. Cre...

Discovered the Hetherington Group and found out they offer an academy for OSINT training jointly with a college. This seems really compelling and may be more affordable than the SANS 497 course. SANS 497 is prohibitively expensive going for $8500. It is like they are actually trying to make money. Given my penurious existence there is little chance I can afford to take this course and may have to go another route like self-study or scrap together enough to get myosint training which is another learning platform for OSINT. I really wish Maltego's software was more affordable too. There seems to be huge business contracting with the government that can pay premium for OSINT products. DATASTORE from ICIJ looks to be good software to create a database of documents to easily review in bulk. Also Hunchly is another product that is affordable for OSINT research at $100 dollars a year when compared to Maltego's $5500 yearly license. You would think if you are paying $5500 for software ...

The Intelligence cycle must be strictly adhered to and learned thoroughly. The basics will go a long way in being an OSINT practitioner and stressing the process of the Intelligence cycle should hold greater primacy than focusing on tools. The first phase of an OSINT engagement involves planning and then organizing the initial action such as beginning to ask simple questions of who, what, when, and where. Who is the target? What is the objective is another question possibly asked. You then move from here to action. To note one must not focus too much on tooling initially. One must focus on the process and the Intelligence Cycle. Also one must realize that mastering the basics is essential and indeed experts are simply those who have better mastered the basics and can properly incorporate them into their workflow. A lot of the writing starts off with a fresh definition of OSINT to establish a base to build off of I suppose. The meaning of intelligence and information is an example ...