Open source intelligence (OSINT) is the analysis of data collected from publicly available and legally obtainable sources, such as social media platforms, news articles, public records and government reports.
Businesses, governments, law enforcement, journalists and analysts use OSINT tools to sift through open source data and find the information they’re looking for, whether that be a potential threat or details on a specific person.
What Is Open Source Intelligence?
Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is the collection and analysis of public information, typically with the goal of gaining a comprehensive understanding of a particular person, group or subject.
What Is Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)?
Open source intelligence involves gathering, analyzing and extracting insights from publicly available information “for the purpose of addressing a specific intelligence requirement,” according to U.S. Code.
OSINT uses various sources, including:
- Social media platforms: Sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram offer real-time insights into public opinions, trends, events and specific individuals.
- News sites: Online news outlets, publications and news aggregators provide up-to-date information on current events.
- Government websites: Official government websites offer access to public records, reports, policies and legislation.
- Public archives: Online repositories and library catalogs can include historical documents, research papers, birth and death records and land registries.
- Forums and message boards: Reddit, 4chan and blogs can be used to learn about specific topics and the individuals interested in them.
- Satellite imagery sites: Platforms like Google Maps and Sentinel Hub offer access to satellite imagery, aerial photography and geospatial data.
- The deep web: On the deep web, which requires additional permissions to access, you can find anything from health records to legal files.
“There is so much damn information on the internet,” Matt Edmondson, an OSINT expert and principal instructor at the SANS Institute, told Built In. “OSINT is about getting good at searching it, finding it and utilizing it — turning it into actionable information.”
Indeed, OSINT not only involves gathering data from open sources, but interpreting the data too — identifying connections and patterns that result in actionable findings, whether it’s a company doing market research for a rebrand, a law enforcement agency identifying potential security threats or an analyst researching a political candidate.
“Publicly available information can be used to answer almost any kind of challenge that you have,” McDaniel Wicker, the senior VP of strategy at data intelligence company Babel Street, told Built In. “The limits of OSINT are really the limits of your imagination.”
How Is OSINT Being Used?
Open source intelligence is a versatile process, and can be applied across a variety of use cases and industries.
Threat Detection
Law enforcement agencies use OSINT to gather information about potential security threats, such as terrorist plots or cyber attacks. They also use it to gather intelligence on foreign governments, organizations or individuals.
Intelligence Gathering
By continuously monitoring social media platforms, news outlets, message boards and satellite imagery, the government can maintain a fairly comprehensive view of the online activities of relevant individuals and organizations, as well as broad geopolitical dynamics — at times making OSINT even more helpful than classified information, according to Edmondson, who spent decades performing open source intelligence as a federal agent with Homeland Security.
“People think the government has a ton of information,” he said. “But the internet is, by a mile — even over classified information and everything else — the greatest location for information.”
Market Research and Brand Monitoring
Companies use OSINT to gather information on consumer behaviors, industry trends and even the activities of their competitors, all of which can be used to make more informed business decisions. They also can use social media platforms and other online sources to understand how consumers and customers perceive their brands, and flag any counterfeit goods in circulation.
Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking
Cybersecurity teams often use open source intelligence to identify potential security threats and vulnerabilities in their software, helping them to assess the risks, monitor emerging threats and take proactive measures to protect their assets and data.
Specifically, ethical hackers can track social media pages, online forums and public databases to better understand an organization’s digital footprint, which aids in identifying potential weak spots in its security posture. OSINT helps ethical hackers gather specific information on an organization’s tech stack, software, employees and more, allowing them to better recommend effective security measures that can mitigate security risks.
Investigative Journalism
OSINT can help journalists uncover hidden information on a range of topics. They can look at financial disclosure reports to identify potential conflicts of interest among politicians, for example, or SEC filings to stay up to date on the activities of a specific company. They can also use social media to track down sources and get real-time updates on ongoing events.
Disaster Response
OSINT can assist emergency responders and humanitarian organizations in better understanding the impact of natural disasters and facilitate timely relief. By gathering real-time information on social media, news outlets and other online sources, they can identify the areas where help is needed most and allocate resources effectively. Plus, satellite imagery can be used to map out disaster-affected regions and assess any infrastructure, all of which can help in the planning of rescue and relief operations.
Advantages of OSINT
Open source intelligence offers several advantages over other forms of intelligence collection.
Cost-Effective
OSINT is usually cheaper than other forms of intelligence gathering. It relies on publicly available sources that are often free to access, and does not require a significant amount of investment in specialized equipment or personnel, as is the case with other methods.
“Traditional intelligence methods are expensive,” Wicker said. With OSINT, “you can access information that is publicly available with relatively inexpensive tools to answer most questions and drive most decision making.”
Easy to Share
OSINT is a transparent process, it doesn’t entail covert operations or the handling of confidential information. This means users can easily collaborate with other parties and share the insights they gather more freely — an especially useful perk in government-related applications.
“If you have classified information, that’s very, very difficult to share with other countries,” Edmondson said. “Whereas it’s very, very easy to share OSINT.”
Timely
Because OSINT relies on publicly available information, it can be gathered quickly and in real-time, allowing users to stay up-to-date on current events, emerging trends and other evolving situations as they unfold. Meanwhile, other forms of intelligence may take days or even weeks to gather and verify, and by that time the information may be outdated and useless.
Improves Data Awareness
OSINT can provide both individuals and companies with a better understanding of the public data that exists about themselves, whether that be outdated social media activity or contact information. When analyzed and utilized correctly, this information could pose serious cybersecurity risks.
By understanding their online presence, people and organizations can beef up their security measures and mitigate potential vulnerabilities, Edmondson said. “The more you learn about finding information on people,” he added, “the better you get at cleaning up your own information.”
Challenges of OSINT
Although it offers valuable insights, open source intelligence is not without its challenges.
The Information Is Not Always Trustworthy
The knowledge obtained through OSINT is not always trustworthy, as it relies on publicly available data sources that may contain inaccuracies, falsehoods and incomplete information. Wicker explained that it’s important to have policies in place that dictate how OSINT is conducted, and how information is validated and fact-checked.
It Can Cause Information Overload
The sheer quantity of data available in OSINT sources can lead to information overload, making it difficult for users to sift through and identify important insights amidst all the noise.
“Data doesn’t really mean anything unless it has a story. And those stories aren’t necessarily obvious,” Chris Willis, chief design officer at data visualization company Domo, told Built In. “The plethora of data alone makes it easy to get overwhelmed.”
Potential for Confirmation Bias
It can be easy to fall into a “confirmation bias trap” while conducting OSINT investigations, according to Willis. Users may unintentionally favor information that agrees with their preexisting beliefs or agenda, and overlook or discount any contradictory evidence. In OSINT, where data is often vast and diverse, confirmation bias will likely skew interpretations, which could hinder objective analysis and decision-making.
Privacy Concerns
OSINT activities like social media monitoring and web scraping could potentially scoop up people’s personal data without their consent or control, posing significant privacy concerns. This data may include sensitive information about an individual’s identity, behaviors and activities, which could be misused if not handled properly.
That is why it is essential for OSINT practitioners to uphold their own ethical standards and adhere to all of the data privacy laws within their jurisdictions.
Why Is OSINT Important?
Open source intelligence is an important tool for operating in today’s data-saturated world. More than 400 million terabytes of data are created every day on the internet. But none of it means anything if we can’t understand it.
OSINT gives us a way to understand it, gathering up all that data and distilling it into actionable intelligence. In an era of rapid globalization, instant communication and emerging threats, OSINT plays a crucial role in enhancing preparedness, enabling more informed decision-making and fostering resilience in the face of uncertainty.
“If you don’t have an understanding of what OSINT is, then you’re going to fail to understand today’s world,” Wicker said. “You’re not going to understand the opportunities, the risks, the dangers. And, ultimately, that sets you up for failure.”
History of OSINT
Although the U.S. military didn’t coin the term ‘OSINT’ until the late 1980s, the concept of modern open source intelligence can be traced back to 1941 with the formation of the Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service (FBMS). The FBMS took on a bigger role in light of the attack on Pearl Harbor, being renamed the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) in 1947 and becoming a component of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
In response to the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act in 2005, paving the way for the FBIS to be consolidated with other research bodies into the National Intelligence’s Open Source Center. This body now operates as the “premier provider of foreign open source intelligence” for the U.S. government.
The expansion of OSINT has also coincided with the rise of the digital age, particularly with the introduction of the iPhone and social media platforms in the late 2000s. Governments, companies and professionals have more ways than ever to gather open source intelligence, but OSINT’s weaponization has also created new challenges that countries must address.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it legal to use OSINT?
Yes, it is legal to use open source intelligence. This is because OSINT tools only rely on information available through public sources.
What is an example of OSINT?
Companies can use OSINT to monitor their competitors’ activities, track product launches and analyze customer feedback by gathering information from sources like industry reports, news articles, social media pages and online forums. All of this enables companies to make more informed decisions about their product development initiatives and marketing strategies, which can help them stay ahead of the competition.
What is the OSINT Framework?
The OSINT Framework is a resource that gathers the various avenues for finding public information in one place, organizing them according to source, relevance, type and context. This way, OSINT researchers can develop a strategy for using free tools to quickly locate and analyze open source information.
