"The amount of publicly and often freely available information is staggering. Yet, the intelligence community still continues to collect and use information in the same manner as during WWII, when the OSS set out to learn as much as possible about Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan by scrutinizing encyclopedias, guide books, and short-wave radio. Today, the supply of information is greater than any possible demand, and anyone can provide information. In effect, intelligence analysts are drowning in information. The book explains how to navigate this rising flood and make best use of these new, rich sources of information. Written by a pioneer in the field, it explores the potential uses of digitized data and the impact of the new means of creating and transmitting data, recommending to the intelligence community new ways of collecting and processing information. This comprehensive overview of the world of open source intelligence will appeal not only to practitioners and students of intelligence, but also to anyone interested in communication and the challenges posed by the information age."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

The book explains how openly available information is undervalued by the intelligence community and how analysts can use of this huge amount of information.

This book will serve as a reference guide for anyone that is responsible for the collection of online content. It is written in a hands-on style that encourages the reader to execute the tutorials as they go. The search techniques offered will inspire analysts to "think outside the box" when scouring the internet for personal information. Much of the content of this book has never been discussed in any publication. Always thinking like a hacker, the author has identified new ways to use various technologies for an unintended purpose. This book will improve anyone's online investigative skills. Among other techniques, you will learn how to locate: Hidden Social Network Content, Cell Phone Owner Information, Twitter GPS & Account Data, Hidden Photo GPS & Metadata, Deleted Websites & Posts, Website Owner Information, Alias Social Network Profiles, Additional User Accounts, Sensitive Documents & Photos, Live Streaming Social Content, IP Addresses of Users, Newspaper Archives & Scans, Social Content by Location, Private Email Addresses, Historical Satellite Imagery, Duplicate Copies of Photos, Local Personal Radio Frequencies, Compromised Email Information, Wireless Routers by Location, Hidden Mapping Applications, Complete Facebook Data, Free Investigative Software, Alternative Search Engines, Stolen Items for Sale, Unlisted Addresses, Unlisted Phone Numbers, Public Government Records, Document Metadata, Rental Vehicle Contracts, Online Criminal Activity.

Apply Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) techniques, methods, and tools to acquire information from publicly available online sources to support your intelligence analysis. Use the harvested data in different scenarios such as financial, crime, and terrorism investigations as well as performing business competition analysis and acquiring intelligence about individuals and other entities. This book will also improve your skills to acquire information online from both the regular Internet as well as the hidden web through its two sub-layers: the deep web and the dark web. The author includes many OSINT resources that can be used by intelligence agencies as well as by enterprises to monitor trends on a global level, identify risks, and gather competitor intelligence so more effective decisions can be made. You will discover techniques, methods, and tools that are equally used by hackers and penetration testers to gather intelligence about a specific target online. And you will be aware of how OSINT resources can be used in conducting social engineering attacks. Open Source Intelligence Methods and Tools takes a practical approach and lists hundreds of OSINT resources that can be used to gather intelligence from online public sources. The book also covers how to anonymize your digital identity online so you can conduct your searching activities without revealing your identity. What You’ll Learn Identify intelligence needs and leverage a broad range of tools and sources to improve data collection, analysis, and decision making in your organization Use OSINT resources to protect individuals and enterprises by discovering data that is online, exposed, and sensitive and hide the data before it is revealed by outside attackers Gather corporate intelligence about business competitors and predict future market directions Conduct advanced searches to gather intelligence from social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter Understand the different layers that make up the Internet and how to search within the invisible web which contains both the deep and the dark webs Who This Book Is For Penetration testers, digital forensics investigators, intelligence services, military, law enforcement, UN agencies, and for-profit/non-profit enterprises

This edited book provides an insight into the new approaches, challenges and opportunities that characterise open source intelligence (OSINT) at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It does so by considering the impacts of OSINT on three important contemporary security issues: nuclear proliferation, humanitarian crises and terrorism.

One of the most important aspects for a successful police operation is the ability for the police to obtain timely, reliable and actionable intelligence related to the investigation or incident at hand. Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) provides an invaluable avenue to access and collect such information in addition to traditional investigative techniques and information sources. This book offers an authoritative and accessible guide on how to conduct Open Source Intelligence investigations from data collection to analysis to the design and vetting of OSINT tools. In its pages the reader will find a comprehensive view into the newest methods for OSINT analytics and visualizations in combination with real-life case studies to showcase the application as well as the challenges of OSINT investigations across domains. Examples of OSINT range from information posted on social media as one of the most openly available means of accessing and gathering Open Source Intelligence to location data, OSINT obtained from the darkweb to combinations of OSINT with real-time analytical capabilities and closed sources. In addition it provides guidance on legal and ethical considerations making it relevant reading for practitioners as well as academics and students with a view to obtain thorough, first-hand knowledge from serving experts in the field.

Over 1,600 total pages ... CONTENTS: AN OPEN SOURCE APPROACH TO SOCIAL MEDIA DATA GATHERING Open Source Intelligence – Doctrine’s Neglected Child (Unclassified) Aggregation Techniques to Characterize Social Networks Open Source Intelligence (OSINT): Issues for Congress A BURNING NEED TO KNOW: THE USE OF OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE IN THE FIRE SERVICE Balancing Social Media with Operations Security (OPSEC) in the 21st Century Sailing the Sea of OSINT in the Information Age Social Media: Valuable Tools in Today‘s Operational Environment ENHANCING A WEB CRAWLER WITH ARABIC SEARCH CAPABILITY UTILIZING SOCIAL MEDIA TO FURTHER THE NATIONWIDE SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTING INITIATIVE THE WHO, WHAT AND HOW OF SOCIAL MEDIA EXPLOITATION FOR A COMBATANT COMMANDER Open Source Cybersecurity for the 21st Century UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE: CAN BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS HELP PREDICT WHO WILL COMMIT UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF CLASSIFIED NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION? ATP 2-22.9 Open-Source Intelligence NTTP 3-13.3M OPERATIONS SECURITY (OPSEC) FM 2-22.3 HUMAN INTELLIGENCE COLLECTOR OPERATIONS