Ebook: Open Source Intelligence Methods and Tools: A Practical Guide to Online Intelligence

Open Source Intelligence Methods and Tools focuses on building a deep understanding
of how to exploit open source intelligence (OSINT) techniques, methods, and tools
to acquire information from publicly available online sources to support intelligence
analysis. The harvested data can be used in different scenarios such as financial, crime,
and terrorism investigations as well as in more regular tasks such as analyzing business
competitors, running background checks, and acquiring intelligence about individuals
and other entities. This book will also improve your skills in acquiring information
online from the surface web, the deep web, and the darknet.

Many estimates show that 90 percent of useful information acquired by intelligence
services comes from public sources (in other words, OSINT sources). Social media sites
open up numerous opportunities for investigations because of the vast amount of useful
information located in one place. For example, you can get a great deal of personal
information about any person worldwide by just checking their Facebook page. This book
will show you how to conduct advanced social media investigations to access content
believed to be private, use advanced search engines queries to return accurate results,
search historical deleted versions of websites, track individuals online using public record
databases and people-searching tools, locate information buried in the deep web, access
and navigate the dark web, collect intelligence from the dark web, view multiple historic
satellite images and street views of any location, search geolocation information within
popular social media sites, and more. In short, you will learn how to use a plethora of
techniques, tools, and free online services to gather intelligence about any target online.

OSINT-gathering activities should be conducted secretly to avoid revealing the
searcher’s identity. Therefore, this book will teach you how to conceal your digital
identity and become anonymous online. You will learn how to exchange data secretly
across hostile environments like the Internet and how to communicate with your peers
privately and anonymously. You will also learn how to check your digital footprint and
discover what kind of digital traces you are leaving behind and how to delete them.

Open Source Intelligence Methods and Tools is an indispensable guide for anyone
responsible for collecting online content from public data, and it is a must-have
reference for any casual Internet user who wants to dig deeper into the Internet to see
what information it contains.