OSINT Blog
Enhancing Financial Crime Controls with OSINT
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that between 2-5% of the global GDP is laundered globally in one year, totaling $2 trillion US dollars. Financial institutions are bound by laws and regulations intended to stop criminals from disguising illegally obtained funds as legitimate income to combat this criminality.
Continue ReadingOSINT for Charities and Non-Profits
Non-profits and Charities can utilize OSINT to secure their people and organization and support investigations. Donation funded, charities and non-profits often have to rely on limited resources to conduct investigations and monitor threats.
Continue ReadingBrowser Extensions for OSINT Investigation
Browser Add-ons can be of great help to OSINT investigators in simplifying and automating tasks. We’ve collated a list of some of the browser add-ons that the Skopenow’s team uses most frequently during internet investigations.
Continue ReadingThe Lego Method: An Investigator's Process for Enhancing OSINT
My bewildered colleague, who wanted to observe a digital investigation, struggled to comprehend my focus on the Facebook profile of a seemingly unimportant woman. I found her by reversing the phone number of a current tenant living where the subject allegedly resided. However, no obvious links between the two individuals existed: major age gap,…
Continue ReadingGoogle Dorks for OSINT Investigations
Dorking is a technique that uses advanced search operators within Google Search and other search engines to find information. Primarily used to locate security holes in the configuration and computer code within websites, Dorks can also provide investigators with opportunities to enhance intelligence gathering during OSINT investigations.
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 ReadingThe Intelligence Cycle: Generating OSINT from OSINF
The Intelligence Cycle is a structured process that outlines the steps involved in producing intelligence. Intelligence, most simply defined as information with added value, is the output of the intelligence cycle, where raw data and information flow into the process and emerge with value for the organization.
Continue ReadingBusiness Due Diligence: Understanding the Fake Agency Fraud Behind Madbird.
In 2020, the world went into lockdown. During this time, many people lost their jobs and many others began to work from home full-time. During this time, Madbird, a London-based digital design agency, hired roughly 50 remote employees worldwide for management, sales, and design positions. Job ads were posted internationally, promising sponsorship to…
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 ReadingSource Code: Investigating Websites Beneath the Surface
Source code is the programming language behind any web page or piece of software. Source code lies beneath the surface of a web page and contains embedded text, images, and videos. Source code can provide valuable insights to an investigator, providing a plethora of information hidden from public view.
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