"... in-depth understanding to OSINT from a theoretical, practical, and legal perspective. It describes strategies for the design and deployment of OSINT for LEAs as well as other entities needing to capitalize on open-source data. The book offers a wide range of case examples and application scenarios from LEAs to defense and security agencies to industry, as well as hands-on guidance on the OSINT investigation process. The book outlines methods and illustrates benefits and challenges using real-life cases and (best) practices used by LEAs, security agencies, as well as industry. Another important aspect is the inclusion of legal and ethical considerations in the planning and conducting of OSINT investigations."

Allied Joint Publication (AJP)-10.1, Allied Joint Doctrine for Information Operations outlines the principles, relationships and processes for Info Ops. It explains how the Info Ops staff ensures consistency, coordination and synchronization of information activities, with a focus on the operational level to support commanders’ objectives. AJP-10.1 provides guidance to NATO commanders and their staffs to use Info Ops as the staff function for the horizontal integration of strategic communications direction and guidance through planning and coordinating information activities throughout the full spectrum of activities and operations. It clarifies the role of Info Ops staff within the communication directorate (or similar staff element), emphasizing their horizontal consistency responsibilities and their key contribution to joint operations.

...provides a comprehensive guide to OSINT techniques, for the investigator: It catalogues and explains the tools and investigative approaches that are required when conducting research within the surface, deep and dark webs. It explains how to scrutinise criminal activity without compromising your anonymity - and your investigation. It examines the relevance of cyber geography and how to get around its limitations. It describes useful add-ons for common search engines, as well as considering metasearch engines (including Dogpile, Zuula, PolyMeta, iSeek, Cluuz and Carrot2) that collate search data from single-source intelligence platforms such as Google. It considers deep-web social media platforms and platform-specific search tools, detailing such concepts as concept mapping, entity extraction tools and specialist search syntax (Google kung fu). It gives comprehensive guidance on Internet security for the smart investigator, and how to strike a balance between security, ease of use and functionality, giving tips on counterintelligence, safe practices and debunking myths about online privacy

The article proposes the author’s software “Cyber Eye” for tracking war crimes and documenting them based on the use of OSINT, and analyses the functionality, advantages, and disadvantages of the developed software. The results of the study show that OSINT can serve as a valuable tool for military intelligence.

Aspin Brown Commission. The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (P.L. 103-359) created the Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the United States Intelligence Community. This bipartisan panel was charged with reviewing "the efficacy and appropriateness" of U.S. intelligence activities in the "post-cold war global environment" and with submitting a report of its findings and recommendations to the President and the Congress. The Commission's report, "Preparing for the 21st Century: An Appraisal of U.S. Intelligence," was released on March 1, 1996. It addresses such issues as the size and secrecy of the intelligence budget; the organization of U.S. Intelligence Community; management of the CIA; covert action; economic intelligence; intelligence support to policy makers and military operations; space reconnaissance; "right-sizing" intelligence agencies; and oversight of intelligence.

"...to investigate the intelligence coverage available in respect of WMD programmes in countries of concern and on the global trade in WMD, taking into account what is now known about these programmes; as part of this work, to investigate the accuracy of intelligence on Iraqi WMD up to March 2003, and to examine any discrepancies between the intelligence gathered, evaluated and used by the Government before the conflict, and between that intelligence and what has been discovered by the Iraq survey group since the end of the conflict; and to make recommendations to the Prime Minister for the future on the gathering, evaluation and use of intelligence on WMD, in the light of the difficulties of operating in countries of concern.

OSINT stands for Open Source Intelligence, (O)SI for (Open) Social Intelligence, PbD for Privacy by Design. The CAPER project has built an OSINT solution oriented to the prevention of organized crime. How to balance freedom and security? This position paper describes a way to embed the legal and ethical issues raised by the General Data Reform Package (GDRP) in Europe into this kind of surveillance platforms. It focuses on the indirect strategy to flesh out Privacy by Design principles (PbD) through Semantic Web Regulatory Models (SWRM). Institutional design, self-regulatory systems, and the possibility to build up a meta-level rule of law are discussed.

"Hacking Web Intelligence is an in-depth technical reference covering the methods and techniques you need to unearth open source information from the Internet and utilize it for the purpose of targeted attack during a security assessment. This book will introduce you to many new and leading-edge reconnaissance, information gathering, and open source intelligence methods and techniques, including metadata extraction tools, advanced search engines, advanced browsers, power searching methods, online anonymity tools such as TOR and i2p, OSINT tools such as Maltego, Shodan, Creepy, SearchDiggity, Recon-ng, Social Network Analysis (SNA), Darkweb/Deepweb, data visualization, and much more."

Two parts. Part one is concerned with an introduction to joint analysis: requirement, analysis preparation, at the event and post event analysis and reporting. Part two discussed tools and techniqes for joint analysis.

in-depth overview of OSINT technologies and their applications in the protection of critical infrastructure, with an emphasis on the electricity sector. It discusses the vulnerabilities of the electricity sector, the types of OSINT technologies, and the benefits they provide. Case studies of successful applications of OSINT technologies in the electricity sector are presented to illustrate their effectiveness. This article also examines organizations’ challenges in implementing OSINT technologies, including technological, legal, and financial challenges.

''...develop a systematic literature review on OSINT to investigate the application of OSINT with AI. This work was motivated to fill this research gap, for this, consolidate the publications on OSINT divided into the publication bases. As for its contribution, this work presents a systematic literature review composed of 9-step and also brings consolidated information to support the next OSINT studies. This research searched for publications between January 1990 and October 2019, finding a total of 244 publications. The 9-steps of the systematic literature review are Definition of Keywords, Query string definition, the definition of publication bases, the search on the publications bases, the base search results analysis, download of publications, importing the publications into Mendeley, Importing. ''

Describes how, through OSINT, Hamas has obtained valuable information for its operations and has successfully learned about various military and civilian aspects of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces in a readily available, simple, and inexpensive manner. The article goes on to analyze the pitfalls for Hamas of relying exclusively on OSINT within its strategic assessment efforts. This analysis sheds new light on the academic literature regarding intelligence of violent non-state actors and asymmetric warfare.

Refs. ''This article offers a systematic review of the relevant literature. It analyzes 571 publications to assess the current state of the literature on the use of AI-powered OSINT (and the development of OSINT software) as it relates to the GELSI framework, highlighting potential gaps and suggesting new research directions.''

describe a methodology for Open Source Intelligence on the internet that fulfil the demand for the police based on established principles and recommendations. The main approach is to review existing knowledge about principles, standards and methods from intelligence in general and investigation of digital evidence to see how existing models cover the requirements in a process for police use. The result is a methodology presented in a model that will describe the open source intelligence process from a principal’s view and from the executive’s view.

Undated. By the chairman National Intelligence Council. "This article examines three aspects of the open-source challenge/response dynamic: its critical importance; how the 1C is using technology to help the analyst cope with the information glut; and the need for interaction with the private sector."

In: Open Source Intelligence in the Twenty-First Century. New Security Challenges. "A proper analysis of the intelligence obtainable by these overt, normal and aboveboard means would supply us with over 80 percent, I should estimate, of the information required for the guidance of our national policy."

This book shows how open source intelligence can be a powerful tool for combating crime by linking local and global patterns to help understand how criminal activities are connected. Readers will encounter the latest advances in cutting-edge data mining, machine learning and predictive analytics combined with natural language processing and social network analysis to detect, disrupt, and neutralize cyber and physical threats. Chapters contain state-of-the-art social media analytics and open source intelligence research trends. This multidisciplinary volume will appeal to students, researchers, and professionals working in the fields of open source intelligence, cyber crime and social network analytics.

Artificial Intelligence integrated into the OSINT process has hugely increased the efficiency and accuracy of data gathering, analysis, and synthesis. Meanwhile, OSINT still grapples with a whole gamut of issues-data privacy and security, biased data, and ethical and legal problems. This work identified that addressing these challenges requires increased improvement in AI technologies, substantial ethical and legal frameworks, and more interdisciplinary collaboration to improve OSINT capabilities. The possible role of AI in OSINT was discussed in this context-not only from a technical viewpoint but also from ethical and social perspectives. Further, the need for interdisciplinary collaborations for wider dissemination of OSINT and integration with AI is highlighted. This paper concludes by suggesting that future research must aim at reducing biases and increasing the reliability and effectiveness of OSINT processes.

Notes. Refs. OSINTs, as well as journalistic tools and tradecraft, provide additional approaches to addressing the deepfake problem. The goal with these approaches is to develop and share open-source tools that can be used to identify deepfakes and other disinformation-related content. These and a variety of other emerging tools are particularly important for journalists representing small to midsize news organizations, who will need to rely on such open-source tools to verify authenticity of reported content. OSINTs and related tools will also be important to a variety of civil society actors who engage in fact-checking and other educational work.

This volume pulls together and republishes, with some editing, updating, and additions, articles written during 1978–86 for internal use within the CIA Directorate of Intelligence. Four of the articles also appeared in the Intelligence Community journal Studies in Intelligence during that time frame. The information is relatively timeless and still relevant to the never-ending quest for better analysis. The articles are based on reviewing cognitive psychology literature concerning how people process information to make judgments on incomplete and ambiguous information. I selected the experiments and findings that seem most relevant to intelligence analysis and most in need of communication to intelligence analysts. I then translated the technical reports into language that intelligence analysts can understand and interpreted the relevance of these findings to the problems intelligence analysts face.

Master's thesis. ''American law enforcement relies heavily on open-source intelligence (OSINT) to effectively protect the citizens and communities that they serve. Because of technological advancements, this form of intelligence has rapidly evolved, making it difficult for law enforcement to efficiently collect, analyze, and disseminate this information. This thesis reviews current law enforcement use of open-source intelligence and conducts a case study on the use of open-source intelligence prior to and during the initial Ukraine invasion by Russian military forces. The research identifies social media open-source intelligence as the most heavily relied-upon form and a lack of collection standards, low public sentiment, and law enforcement culture as obstacles to its full potential use. Unprecedented crowdsourcing and high positive public sentiment toward Ukraine during the invasion were highlighted as key factors to success in defending against invading Russian forces. Forming a national OSINT standards committee, improving public sentiment to encourage public crowdsourcing, and forming a national OSINT database would increase law enforcement open-source intelligence effectiveness.''

The paper explores the extent to which the increasing proliferation of PAI – and wider accessibility of tools leveraging PAI for OSINT – is changing perceptions of modern intelligence. From this foundation, it asks what the commercial, cultural, policy and technological implications are for UK national security stakeholders.

The Handbook of Intelligence Studies examines the central topics in the study of intelligence organizations and activities. This volume opens with a look at how scholars approach this particularly difficult field of study. It then defines and analyses the three major missions of intelligence: collection-and-analysis; covert action; and counterintelligence. Within each of these missions, some of the most prominent authors in the field dissect the so-called intelligence cycle to reveal the challenges of gathering and assessing information from around the world. Covert action, the most controversial intelligence activity, is explored in detail, with special attention to the issue of military organizations moving into what was once primarily a civilian responsibility. The contributions also cover the problems associated with protecting secrets from foreign spies and terrorist organizations: the arcane but important mission of counterintelligence. The book pays close attention to the question of intelligence accountability, that is, how a nation can protect its citizens against the possible abuse of power by its own secret agencies.

OSINT is intelligence based on information that is publicly available and processed by any interested party, and complements traditional intelligence while providing greater situational awareness to a range of stakeholders, from businesses, to transport networks, researchers, and the media. The scope of OSINT covers newspapers, social media, TV broadcasts, blog commentaries, and Google searches. This paper explores the domain of OSINT, outlines the challenges in utilising it effectively, and ponders the impacts on policymaking and national security.

'...to investigate “facts and circumstances relating to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001,” including those relating to intelligence agencies, law enforcement agencies, diplomacy, immigration issues and border control, the flow of assets to terrorist organizations, commercial aviation, the role of congressional oversight and resource allocation, and other areas determined relevant by the Commission.

"...methods and processes for automating OSINT- Focuses on algorithms and applications allowing the practitioner to get up and running quickly- Includes fully developed case studies on the digital underground and predicting crime through OSINT- Discusses the ethical considerations when using publicly available online data.''

OSINT Investigations: We Know What You Did That Summer” by the Information Warfare Center is a practical guide exploring real-world open-source intelligence (OSINT) methods used to uncover digital footprints. Aimed at security professionals, investigators, and analysts, the report demonstrates how publicly available information—often unknowingly shared by individuals—can be systematically collected and analyzed to map behaviors, locations, and personal associations.
Using case studies and hypothetical scenarios, the report outlines how social media posts, geotagged photos, job listings, breached data, and metadata can piece together a detailed timeline of someone’s activities. It emphasizes the power of combining different data sources—like fitness tracker maps or online reviews—with temporal analysis to reconstruct movements and intentions, often without the target’s awareness.
The document also warns of the privacy implications and ethical boundaries of OSINT. While the techniques are powerful, it stresses the importance of legality, proportionality, and verification. The title itself—“We Know What You Did That Summer”—reflects how even casual digital activity leaves behind a trail that skilled OSINT practitioners can follow.
Overall, the piece serves as a wake-up call about digital exposure and a tactical reference for professionals conducting investigations in both public and private sectors

Looks at the context, application and benefits of OSINT for use in decision making, as an integrated part of the wider intelligence mix and, as an essential component within the overall Intelligence Cycle. OSINT is a growing and increasingly critical aspect in decision making by LEAs—and has been even before the burgeoning use of social media brought open source to the fore. But, its full integration into the wider intelligence mix, as well as into an overarching information governance framework, is essential to ensure efficient and effective contribution to usable intelligence able to support better informed decision making.

"Identifies future challenges and proposes solutions to support the situational understanding needed to win in a complex world. The intelligence enterprise provides synergistic intelligence capabilities to the commander. The central idea of this concept is the Army will use the intelligence enterprise to support situational understanding. This enhances operations and intelligence integration: the intelligence enterprise delivers intelligence to operations.''

"...Foundational textbook designed for Social Sciences and International Relations degree programs. It bridges intelligence theory with real-world OSINT applications, offering students ethical, technical, and strategic insights into modern intelligence challenges.''

Our age’s increasingly voluminous open-source intelligence (OSINT) sheds light on issues of the day for all-source analysts, covert collectors, and policymakers, but have we done enough to exploit its potential? My short answer is “No,” and here’s why I think so.

The changing nature of global threats to the United States and an evolving information environment require fundamental adjustments to intelligence structures and processes, and open source intelligence (OSINT) offers the most adaptive and expansive discipline to utilize the information age to address the scope of U.S. national security interests.

Alternative Analysis (AltA) is a widely-applicable capability that supports the inclusion of independent, critical thought and alternative perspectives that is essential for informed decision-making. AltA comprises of a set of techniques that can be learned and put into practice by any NATO staff officer, this NATO Handbook constitutes a critical building block for project or planning work at any level of staff across the Alliance. It is specifically designed to be used as a quick reference guide for staff to assist in diagnosing problems, understanding complicated situations, creating innovative solutions, challenging plans, and making decisions. It is applicable to almost any subject or situation, indeed many examples of its use on real-life NATO problems across Allied Command Operations and Allied Command Transformation have been included in this handbook.

''This Intelligence Community (IC) Directive (ICD;) establishes Director of National Intelligence (DNI) policy and specifies responsibilities for the oversight. management, and implementation of IC open source activities . This ICD recognizes and establishes the rotes and responsibilities of the Assistant Deputy DNI for Open Source (ADDNUOS), the DNI Open Source Center (the Center), and the IC to ensure efficient and effective use of open source information and analysis.''

Introductory paper in several aspects of OSINT for cybersecurity. Discusses the basics of OSINT, history, its use in cyber security and investigations of some selected tools and techniques employed in OSINT, as well as some basic techniques.

Report on the activities and accomplishments of the Scientific & Technical Intelligence Committee Open Source Subcommittee (STIC OSS) from 1991-1995: forums, reports, presentations, networking and the IOSWG.

''Challenges the perception of Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) as a revolutionary shift driven by the explosion of publicly accessible data. Instead, we argue that the rise of OSINT reflects an evolution of traditional intelligence practices: the collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of vast amounts of information. While the exponential growth of open–source data is reshaping the intelligence landscape, it is neither revolutionizing nor democratizing intelligence. Rather, it is prompting both state and non–state actors to explore how best to integrate OSINT practices and enhance digital literacy within their communities. Core OSINT challenges – information overload, reliability, and legal and ethical concerns – remain consistent with broader intelligence issues. Addressing these challenges provides a foundation for consolidating OSINT as a community of practice, and linking it to debates on the disputed role of security expertise in the public debate.''

"This article addresses the genesis of OSINT as an intelligence discipline, arguing that it should rather be referred to as tradecraft, as well as its contributions to an integrated, all source knowledge management process within the intelligence enterprise."

he significance of OSINT in contemporary cybersecurity is critically analysed, emphasizing the dual nature of OSINT in terms of being an effective instrument for threat identification and a latent liability in case of the alleged abuse. Our analysis examines the progression of OSINT methodologies, including the shift from raw manual data collection to the blending of AI-powered analytics for real-time intelligence acquisition. We highlight critical challenges, including how to handle an overwhelming amount of unstructured data, how to ensure that accurate data points are used without many erroneous data points, and how privacy and regulatory issues should be addressed.

The fundamental transformation in information gathering and analysis is marked by the integration of Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) methodologies in investigative journalism. In this article, the utilization of open-source intelligence in investigative journalism is examined as a substantial departure from conventional methodologies. It is demonstrated that journalists can uncover stories, verify facts, and further unravel complex sociopolitical structures by utilizing data that is publicly accessible. With this regard, it intends to share valuable insights with media scholars, journalists and practitioners who are interested in developing practices as well as examples of its application.

Refs. Masters thesis. A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Science Integrated Science & Technology

Briefing presented in April 2016 to the military, police and national intelligence services of Denmark, in Denmark. Also available on Youtube. "Even today, I think this is still a problem in most ‘modern’ intelligence staffs. People think that simply collecting open source info – although now from a wider range of sources – is OSINT, when I say it is not. It’s like collecting satellite pictures and calling them IMINT ... the job isn’t done until they are analyzed and an assessment made. "

Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is a collection of tools and methods for extracting information from publicly available sources. It helps verify the accuracy and authenticity of information, as seen in the FBI’s 2020 investigation of a Philadelphia woman involved in protests and preparing precise attacks like spear phishing. In this manuscript, we present an up-to-date overview of research that uses open-source methods and techniques. We will concentrate on the tools and methods advancing the cybersecurity industry. Studying the manuscript of OSINT opportunities and challenges can help readers understand the state of the art in theory and practice. We will also highlight the future directions and requirements for OSINT methods and the newly designed tools using these methods

Thesis. ''This thesis seeks to assist local fire departments in building systems and training personnel to exploit open source intelligence for their unique needs. Using information gleaned from interviews with experienced intelligence people, the intelligence cycle is discussed including requirements, collection, analysis, and dissemination in light of the needs of the fire service.''

This primer highlights structured analytic techniques—some widely used in the private sector and academia, some unique to the intelligence profession. It is not a comprehensive overview of how intelligence officers conduct analysis. Rather, the primer highlights how structured analytic techniques can help one challenge judgments, identify mental mindsets, stimulate creativity, and manage uncertainty. In short, incorporating regular use of techniques such as these can enable one to structure thinking for wrestling with difficult questions.

account focused on the methodologies used to investigate and identify individuals involved in cybercrime. The book outlines Troia’s approach to tracking threat actors by combining open-source intelligence (OSINT), digital forensics, and behavioral analysis. It provides case studies, including Troia’s investigation into hacking groups such as TheDarkOverlord, showing how he connected online identities to real-world individuals. The book emphasizes the role of publicly available data—such as leaked databases, social media, and domain registration information—in tracing cybercriminals. Troia details technical tools and investigative techniques he used, often in collaboration with law enforcement and other cybersecurity professionals. The narrative includes challenges encountered during investigations, such as false leads, anonymous networks, and jurisdictional issues.

Global malware campaigns and large-scale data breaches show how everyday life can be impacted when the defensive measures fail to protect computer systems from cyber threats. Understanding the threat landscape and the adversaries’ attack tactics to perform it represent key factors for enabling an efficient defense against threats over the time. Of particular importance is the acquisition of timely and accurate information from threats intelligence sources available on the web which can provide additional intelligence on emerging threats even before they can be observed as actual attacks. In this paper, an approach to automate the assessment of cyber threat intelligence sources and predict a relevance score for each source is proposed. Specifically, a model based on meta-data and word embedding is defined and experimented by training regression models to predict the relevance score of sources on Twitter. The results evaluation show that the assigned score allows to reduce the waiting time for intelligence verification, on the basis of its relevance, thus improving the time advantage of early threat detection.

" To fully address the OSINT problem and maintain the IC’s relevance and strategic edge with decisionmakers, the United States should create a new, 19th agency within the IC dedicated to the task. The new Open Source Agency (OSA) should be a standalone and independent member of the IC; its principal purpose would be to acquire, curate, develop, employ, and share CAI and PAI data sources for intelligence purposes."

In this paper, we have described the current state of OSINT tools/techniques and the state of the art for various applications of OSINT in cyber security. In addition, we have discussed the challenges and future directions to develop autonomous models. These models can provide solutions for different social network-based security, digital forensics, and cyber crime-based problems using various machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL) and artificial intelligence (AI) with OSINT.