OSINT Blog
The Rising Threat of State-Sponsored Organized Crime
In a world where the lines between organized crime and state actions are increasingly blurred, the comments of Graeme Biggar, Director General of the UK's National Crime Agency, offer a stark illumination of the evolving threat landscape.
Continue ReadingCrime Scripts: Interpreting Criminal Decision-Making to Disrupt Crime
To prevent and disrupt crime and disorder at scale, investigators are increasingly utilizing scientific approaches. Problem-oriented policing (POP) is an approach that involves using analytics to identify and understand a specific problem and develop a tailored response.
Continue ReadingDigital Policing: Conducting Internet Investigations in an Increasingly Digitized World
Technology plays a significant and central part in almost everything humans do. By the end of 2021, the number of internet users worldwide stood at roughly 4.9 billion people, almost two-thirds of the global population. The majority of people using the internet have no links to criminality and the protection of their right to privacy has always been,…
Continue ReadingProceeds of Crime: Repurposing Criminal Funds to Fight Crime
Almost all criminal activities yield profits. The profits of such criminal activity are referred to as the proceeds of crime. The term ‘proceeds of crime’ includes any property or assets derived from or obtained, directly or indirectly, through the commission of or in connection with a criminal offense. The proceeds of crime include property derived…
Continue ReadingConnecting the Dots: Social Network Analysis in Criminal Investigation
Investigators frequently need to establish if two or more individuals or businesses connected to an investigation are associated with one another in any way. Identifying an association may mean identifying if two people know one another or may involve identifying an array of links between a large group of people within an organized crime group.…
Continue ReadingOSINT for Law Enforcement
Intelligence-led law enforcement investigations and operations rely on reliable, relevant, timely, and actionable intelligence. OSINT enables law enforcement agencies to collect and analyze information from the internet relating to their investigations, identifying criminals, criminality, and witnesses.
Continue ReadingThe Evidence Challenge
During 2020, financial and white-collar crime have reached record highs, while public prosecution has reached record lows. If the low prosecution rates of high-level executives after the last financial crisis are anything to go by, these statistics are unlikely to improve in the near future. With the right open source intelligence (OSINT) capabilities,…
Continue ReadingFrom The Age of Information to The Age of Intelligence
We live in a world where information is everywhere but rarely exploited to its full potential. The distinction between information and intelligence has long been established in specialist sectors. But in the broader world, and even within these sectors, the terms are often used interchangeably. As a result, vast amounts of valuable information are…
Continue ReadingHow Forensic Architecture Uses 3D Reconstruction to Investigate Human Rights Violations and State Violence
The success of open source investigations often hinges on the availability of visual evidence like photos or videos found on social media, CCTV footage, or satellite imagery. But what can you do when that evidence isn't conclusive or simply not available?
Continue Reading6 Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Applications for Your Business
Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) tools, like Skopenow, aggregate and analyze publicly available information from the open web-based on a specific search. Using an OSINT tool is a great way to streamline your intelligence collection process for use in many investigative applications.
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