Speaker 1: Welcome to the deep dive. Today, we're unpacking the real
Speaker 1: world power of open source intelligence. Mmm, you know, Ocent, exactly.
Speaker 1: You our listener shared some really fascinating material, and well,
Speaker 1: our goal is to pull out the most valuable insights
Speaker 1: for you.
Speaker 2: That's right, Ocent. It really boils down to finding and
Speaker 2: analyzing information that's already out there in the open.
Speaker 1: Like public information.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. It's like being a detective who you know,
Speaker 2: only uses publicly available clues.
Speaker 1: Wow. To really bring this home. One of the sources
Speaker 1: you sent had this powerful personal story. Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: The author talked about their grandmother's life journey Germany to
Speaker 1: the US, all documented through public records stuff that's online now,
Speaker 1: Incredible things like you know, marriage licenses, census data, even
Speaker 1: records of her passing, all accessible and painted this incredibly
Speaker 1: detailed picture.
Speaker 2: It really hits herme how much is actually out there?
Speaker 1: Doesn't it? It really does.
Speaker 2: And so for this deep dive, we'll be focusing on
Speaker 2: those book excerpts you provided. Our aim is to well
Speaker 2: go beyond just defining OSAN and really extract the key insights,
Speaker 2: the practical understanding you can use.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's unpack this then, So in a more maybe
Speaker 1: formal sense, what exactly is osent.
Speaker 2: Well, formally osin is it's the process of analyzing publicly
Speaker 2: available facts, evidence, observations, arguments, all that stuff to form
Speaker 2: a judgment. Right, critical thinking is really at its heart
Speaker 2: that ability to you know, connect the dots and evaluate
Speaker 2: the information you find.
Speaker 1: And this isn't exactly a new field, is it. The
Speaker 1: sources touch on its history a bit correct.
Speaker 2: Traditionally, within intelligence circles, osent was just one of several disciplines.
Speaker 2: It sat alongside things like human that's human intelligence getting info.
Speaker 1: From people, right, spies and stuff.
Speaker 2: Sort of, and sigant signals intelligence or seat imagery intelligence,
Speaker 2: and Mason measurement and signature intelligence. Those were the established
Speaker 2: categories for wow a long time.
Speaker 1: Things have changed a lot, especially recently.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, what's really shaped ocent today is just the explosion
Speaker 2: of data from mobile phones and social media platforms like Instagram,
Speaker 2: TikTok x formerly Twitter. They're just massive public archives of information.
Speaker 2: Huge plus maps and satellite images are incredibly accurate now
Speaker 2: and easy to get hold of.
Speaker 1: Okay, but here's where it gets interesting. Right, while all
Speaker 1: this open data is exploding, there's also this big push
Speaker 1: for security privacy. You see encrypted communication like signal and
Speaker 1: telegram everywhere. Yeah, that creates a bit of a puzzle
Speaker 1: for OCENT, doesn't it.
Speaker 2: It definitely presents challenges. But you know, these obstacles have
Speaker 2: actually driven the development of new tools, often.
Speaker 1: Open source tools like on GitHub.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can find loads on platforms like GitHub. And
Speaker 2: we're also seeing the growth of really active OCENT communities
Speaker 2: online sharing knowledge exactly, sharing knowledge through blogs, videos, even
Speaker 2: live streams. And it's not just governments anymore. Profits are
Speaker 2: using crowdsourcing and OCENT for things like finding missing people. Wow,
Speaker 2: the lines between those old intelligence categories they're getting blurrier.
Speaker 2: Analysts need a broader skill set now, and.
Speaker 1: The sources even hint at what's coming, right with a
Speaker 1: chapter called What's Next. Sounds like it's always changing.
Speaker 2: Precisely, the digital world is always moving, so OCENT methods,
Speaker 2: the information we can access, it'll just keep.
Speaker 1: Evolving, which makes those core skills like critical thinking even.
Speaker 2: More crucial, absolutely essential.
Speaker 1: Speaking of skills, the source material really hammers home critical thinking.
Speaker 1: Why is that so vital for someone doing OCENT well?
Speaker 2: Without critical thinking, it's just so easy to get overwhelmed
Speaker 2: by the sheer amount of data right.
Speaker 1: Information overload totally.
Speaker 2: And it's hard to tell what's reliable. Critical thinking is
Speaker 2: about being able to see the connections between different pieces
Speaker 2: of info and figure out, you know, what's credible and
Speaker 2: what's not.
Speaker 1: Like journalists verifying stuff on social media.
Speaker 2: Exactly like that, they're off on the front lines separating
Speaker 2: fact from fiction. It's a core part of the job
Speaker 2: that makes perfect sense.
Speaker 1: You can have mountains of data, but if you can't
Speaker 1: analyze it right, it's not really useful intelligence, is it.
Speaker 2: Not at all?
Speaker 1: Now? Something you might not immediately link with intelligence work
Speaker 1: is mental well being, But the sources bring this up.
Speaker 2: Yes, And it's such a crucial point ascent analysts can
Speaker 2: unfortunately encounter deeply disturbing content I can imagine, especially when
Speaker 2: dealing with topics like violence or exploitation. It's vital to
Speaker 2: acknowledge the potential for trauma for mental health challenges for
Speaker 2: ourselves and our colleagues.
Speaker 1: Because ignoring it affects.
Speaker 2: The work absolutely. It can seriously impact the quality of
Speaker 2: the work and of course personal lives too. It's something
Speaker 2: we have to talk about.
Speaker 1: Another really important aspect highlighted is personal bias. How can
Speaker 1: our own beliefs mess up ocent analysis.
Speaker 2: Well, our biases can lead us to misinterpret information, plain
Speaker 2: and simple. It undermines the impartial. That's just key to
Speaker 2: good investigations.
Speaker 1: And you need to be aware of them exactly right.
Speaker 2: Being aware lets you actively question your interpretations. The example
Speaker 2: and the source about the Nicholas Cage fans.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, the best actor investigation. Right.
Speaker 2: It perfectly shows confirmation bias, that tendency to just favor
Speaker 2: information that supports what we already believe.
Speaker 1: We all do it, we all do.
Speaker 2: Recognizing that everyone has biases is the first step in
Speaker 2: reducing their influence. You have to constantly question credibility and evidence.
Speaker 1: That's a good reminder. Okay, So the sources then get
Speaker 1: into the methods. This idea of the intelligence cycle can
Speaker 1: he gives a quick overview.
Speaker 2: Sure, the intelligence cycle is basically a structured way of
Speaker 2: doing intelligence work. A process, Yeah, a process. It generally
Speaker 2: involves planning and requirements first, then collection, followed by processing
Speaker 2: and evaluation, then analysis and production, and finally dissemination and
Speaker 2: consumption with feedback looping.
Speaker 1: Back like a continuous loop.
Speaker 2: Pretty much. Yeah, it feeds back in to itself.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's break some of that down starting with planning
Speaker 1: and requirements. What's really important in that first stage.
Speaker 2: The planning and requirements phase is well, it's all about
Speaker 2: defining the who, what, why, and how of your investigation.
Speaker 1: Who needs the info and what do they need exactly?
Speaker 2: Those questions should be driven by the stakeholders, the people
Speaker 2: who need the intelligence. Without clear goals, clear objectives, you
Speaker 2: just risk wasting time chasing rabbits, right, wasting time on
Speaker 2: irrelevant information, and ending up with intelligence that doesn't actually
Speaker 2: answer the original question.
Speaker 1: Makes sense.
Speaker 2: As analysts, we might be tempted to just dive in
Speaker 2: and start gathering data, but setting these initial requirements is
Speaker 2: so essential. The key takeaway. Without clear goals upfront, you
Speaker 2: risk drowning in data that doesn't help total sense.
Speaker 1: You need to know what you're looking for before you
Speaker 1: start digging. Okay, next step collection. The sources highlight this
Speaker 1: technique called pivoting. What's the art of pivoting?
Speaker 2: In osent pivoting, it's like following a trail of digital breadcrumbs.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: When you're collecting info, you'll often find clues that lead
Speaker 2: you to other related data, things that potentially connect different
Speaker 2: findings or user accounts.
Speaker 1: Like starting with an email address.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a great example. You start with an email,
Speaker 2: and you might pivot to a username, maybe a phone number,
Speaker 2: maybe even an IP address.
Speaker 1: And each new piece becomes a new starting point exactly.
Speaker 2: Each new bit of information lets you pivot again build
Speaker 2: out the picture. Mastering. Pivoting really transforms scattered data into
Speaker 2: like interconnected narratives. It reveals hidden relationship is crucial. It is,
Speaker 2: and it's a skill that really improves with practice. Learning
Speaker 2: to spot those potential connections, those pivot points.
Speaker 1: And where do we usually start this collection? The sources
Speaker 1: mentioned a few common jumping off points.
Speaker 2: Well, analysts might start with large collections of data, you know,
Speaker 2: big data, right, or just basic search engine results, or
Speaker 2: maybe social media profiles. The specific starting point often depends
Speaker 2: on what you already know, what you're trying to find out.
Speaker 1: Okay, so we've gathered our data. The next step in
Speaker 1: the cycle is processing and evaluation. The sources mentioned a
Speaker 1: couple of interesting techniques here, reset and gap analysis. Let's
Speaker 1: start with reset. Okay.
Speaker 2: The reset technique it stands for refresh, explore, think, seek.
Speaker 2: It's basically a way to get a fresh perspective when
Speaker 2: you feel stuck.
Speaker 1: We all get stuck.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, It encourages you to take a break, maybe look
Speaker 2: at things from a different angle, think creative right, find
Speaker 2: the box, yeah, without being limited by your current focus,
Speaker 2: and then actively look for new information or new ways
Speaker 2: to approach the problem, like taking the walk exactly. The
Speaker 2: example of taking a thirty minute walk to clear your
Speaker 2: head and come back with a fresh outlook. That's reset
Speaker 2: in action.
Speaker 1: Sounds like a good way to avoid getting lost in
Speaker 1: the weeds. And what about gap analysis? How does that
Speaker 1: help in processing and evaluating?
Speaker 2: Gap analysis is a bit more systematic. It's a technique
Speaker 2: for breaking down an investigation.
Speaker 1: How does it work?
Speaker 2: It involves asking four key questions what do I already know? Oh,
Speaker 2: what does this mean? What do I still need to know?
Speaker 2: And crucially, how do I find that out?
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 2: By methodically answering these you can break down large amounts
Speaker 2: of info into a more manageable form and identify the
Speaker 2: critical gaps in your knowledge.
Speaker 1: The example with the image was good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, analyzing the image, noting the boat, the German flag,
Speaker 2: the name temptation, and then asking what those details imply
Speaker 2: and what else you need to know? It really shows
Speaker 2: how effective this can be. It forces you to be methodical.
Speaker 1: Right, It's about being methodical in your approach. Okay, after
Speaker 1: processing and evaluation comes analysis in production, making sense of
Speaker 1: it all. Documentation seems really key.
Speaker 2: Here, absolutely essential. Taking detailed notes, capturing the data you find.
Speaker 2: You just have to do it or you'll forget or
Speaker 2: lose track exactly and depending on how complex the cases,
Speaker 2: visualizations like mind maps, charts, graphs, they can be incredibly.
Speaker 1: Useful for seeing connections.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for understanding entities, connections, characteristics. Link analysis charts are
Speaker 2: great for visualizing relationships between people, for instance, Right, while
Speaker 2: mind maps can help you see how different pieces of
Speaker 2: information relate and maybe spot potential pivot points you missed.
Speaker 2: The key is finding a documentation method that works for
Speaker 2: you and allows for collaboration if needed.
Speaker 1: The sources even mentioned specific tools for this, like Hunchly
Speaker 1: in Obsidian. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Hunchley is a browser extension. It's designed to automatically grab
Speaker 2: and organize your web based research as you go.
Speaker 1: Sounds handy any downsites?
Speaker 2: Well, One thing is it only works with chromium based
Speaker 2: browsers like Chrome or Edge, and some users find its
Speaker 2: little overlay box a bit intrusive. But it's powerful for.
Speaker 1: Autocapture okay, and Obsidium.
Speaker 2: Obsidian is different. It's note taking software. It stores your
Speaker 2: notes locally on your machine, which is great to privacy,
Speaker 2: and lets you create links between notes.
Speaker 1: More like building a personal wiki kind of. Yeah.
Speaker 2: It offers features like graph views, seeing the connections visually, slideshows,
Speaker 2: even automatic mind map generation.
Speaker 1: Why do people like it?
Speaker 2: People tend to like it because it's easy to use.
Speaker 2: Your data stays secure on your own computer, and it
Speaker 2: offers a lot of flexibility in how you organize things
Speaker 2: free for personal use too.
Speaker 1: Good options. Yeah, okay. So once we've analyzed everything, the
Speaker 1: next step is production, putting it all together in a report.
Speaker 1: The sources emphasize this is critical, even if it's maybe
Speaker 1: not the most glamorous part.
Speaker 2: That's so right. All that hard work you put into
Speaker 2: collecting and analyzing, it's wasted if you can't effectively communicate
Speaker 2: your findings to the people who need them, right, the
Speaker 2: stakeholders again, exactly. The report needs to clearly answer the
Speaker 2: questions defined way back in planning and requirements, and it
Speaker 2: absolutely has to be tailored to the specific audience.
Speaker 1: So a CEO gets something different than say, a technical
Speaker 1: expert totally different.
Speaker 2: The CEO needs the bottom line quickly. The expert might
Speaker 2: need all the technical details. The report itself needs to
Speaker 2: be well organized, easy to read, key elements, clear title
Speaker 2: and date. Obviously, and crucially, an executive summary gets straight
Speaker 2: to the point, uses the BLUF approach, bottom line up front,
Speaker 2: got it, and the information in the report needs to
Speaker 2: be accurate, relevant, objective. The example the US government struggles
Speaker 2: to implement OSENT shows that kind of direct statement you
Speaker 2: might find in an executive summary.
Speaker 1: Clear concise, clear, concise, tailored key for reporting uh okay,
Speaker 1: shifting gears a bit. The sources introduced this idea of
Speaker 1: the adversarial mindset. Why is it important for someone doing
Speaker 1: ocent to well think like an attacker?
Speaker 2: Adopting an adversarial mindset? It really helps you understand potential targets.
Speaker 2: What kind of data might be valuable to someone looking
Speaker 2: to cause harm? How might they try to get it?
Speaker 1: So you can anticipate threats exactly.
Speaker 2: This perspective is really important for creating intelligence that can
Speaker 2: lead to proactive security measures. By understanding the techniques attackers use,
Speaker 2: how they might get into systems, how they collect information,
Speaker 2: you can better identify weak spots.
Speaker 1: In an organization's online presence or even in individuals both. Yeah.
Speaker 2: It's a common approach in threat intelligence, red teaming security testing,
Speaker 2: thinking like the bad guy to.
Speaker 1: Find the holes, which leads us directly to the crucial
Speaker 1: topic of operational security op set. Why is OPSX so
Speaker 1: vital for someone involved in ocent?
Speaker 2: OHPSC is absolutely essential. You have to protect yourself and
Speaker 2: your investigations.
Speaker 1: Because the work can be risky.
Speaker 2: Exactly because of the nature of the work. You might
Speaker 2: be dealing with sensitive information or looking into potentially hostile
Speaker 2: individuals or groups. Good OPS practices help prevent your activities
Speaker 2: from being detected traced back to you. It ensures your
Speaker 2: safety and the integrity of your research.
Speaker 1: Okay, the sources outline a specific OPSE process. What are
Speaker 1: the main steps involved there? Yeah?
Speaker 2: The OPSC process usually includes several steps. First, you analyze
Speaker 2: the threat who might be targeting you?
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 2: Then you determine vulnerabilities where are your weak spots? Followed
Speaker 2: by a risk assessment how likely is an attack and
Speaker 2: what's the impact? And finally you apply countermeasures to plug
Speaker 2: the holes.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: It's a systematic way to identify potential day and put
Speaker 2: measures in place. To reduce those risks.
Speaker 1: One interesting method mentioned is the persona non grata or
Speaker 1: PNG method.
Speaker 2: What's that about the PNG method? It involves creating detailed
Speaker 2: profiles of potential adversaries. You actually give them names, backgrounds,
Speaker 2: skill sets.
Speaker 1: Like creating fictional characters sort of, Yeah.
Speaker 2: But based on realistic threats. This helps you think from
Speaker 2: their perspective, understand their goals, how they might operate, and
Speaker 2: it helps you spot weaknesses in your own opsec strategy.
Speaker 1: That's clever proactively thinking about how someone might target you exactly,
Speaker 1: and when it comes to actually applying those countermeasures. What
Speaker 1: kind of privacy tools are available?
Speaker 2: There are several tools that can really enhance your OPSS.
Speaker 2: VPN's Virtual private networks are common.
Speaker 1: What do they do again?
Speaker 2: They encrypt your Internet traffic and hide your real IP address,
Speaker 2: makes it harder to track your online activities back to you.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: Then there's tor, the Onion router. It provides anonymous browsing
Speaker 2: by routing your traffic through multiple servers multiple relays, obscures
Speaker 2: your origin and destination.
Speaker 1: Can you use both?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Using both a VPN and tour together can offer
Speaker 2: an extra layer of security. Free net is another option
Speaker 2: it's a peer to peer platform using decentralized storage and
Speaker 2: encryption for anonymous communication.
Speaker 1: Virtual machines vms are also mentioned for security. How do
Speaker 1: they help with.
Speaker 2: OPSA VMS let you run separate, isolated operating systems on
Speaker 2: your main computer, like a computer within your computer, a
Speaker 2: sandbox exactly a digital sandbox. So if you click on
Speaker 2: a risky link or open a dodgy attachment, it's contained
Speaker 2: within that virtual environment. It can't harm your primary system.
Speaker 2: But they're not perfect, right, It's worth noting vms aren't
Speaker 2: a silver bullet against everything. Things like webcam hijacking or
Speaker 2: browser fingerprinting might still be issues.
Speaker 1: Browser finger printing, what's that?
Speaker 2: Ah, that's when websites collect data about your browser configuration, fonts, graphics,
Speaker 2: card drivers, plugins, all sorts of tiny details.
Speaker 1: Could identify you potentially.
Speaker 2: Yes, enough of these details combined can create a unique
Speaker 2: fingerprint that can identify you even if you're using a
Speaker 2: VPN or VM. It's a tricky.
Speaker 1: Area, okay. Another key part of US and OPSEC seems
Speaker 1: to be using research accounts or sock puppets. Yeah, what's
Speaker 1: the idea there? Creating fake profiles?
Speaker 2: Pretty much? Yeah, research accounts are separate online profiles you
Speaker 2: create and maintain specifically for your OCENT work.
Speaker 1: To keep it separate from your real life.
Speaker 2: Exactly, keep your personal online life completely separate from your
Speaker 2: research activities. But just creating them isn't enough.
Speaker 1: You have to make them look real.
Speaker 2: You got it. To make these accounts look legitimate, you
Speaker 2: need to engage in consistent activity that mimics normal human behavior,
Speaker 2: like what adding friends, making comments, liking posts, sharing relevant
Speaker 2: content stuff related to the persona you've created, and doing
Speaker 2: it at typical regional hours.
Speaker 1: So they don't get flagg by algorithms.
Speaker 2: Right. This helps prevent social media platforms from flagging the
Speaker 2: accounts as suspicious and potentially shutting them down. You want
Speaker 2: to blend in mean some of that you can. The
Speaker 2: source mentions nico building recipes with IFTTT, if this then
Speaker 2: that to automate posting things like soccer scores to keep
Speaker 2: a persona active.
Speaker 1: That makes a lot of sense. Blend in to observe effectively,
Speaker 1: don't raise red flags. Okay, let's move into part two
Speaker 1: of the sources. This dives into specific OCENT touch points,
Speaker 1: starting with something really fundamental. Search engines.
Speaker 2: Yes, search engines absolutely central to OCENT they're versatile, they're free,
Speaker 2: and often the first place you'll go on starting well
Speaker 2: pretty much any investigation.
Speaker 1: The mastering search engines is key, more so than fancy
Speaker 1: tools sometimes definitely.
Speaker 2: While specialized tools have their place, mastering how to use
Speaker 2: search engines effectively is absolutely essential. Don't underestimate the basics.
Speaker 1: The sources suggest using different search engines depending on what
Speaker 1: you're looking for right, not just Google right.
Speaker 2: Different search engines use different algorithms the index different parts
Speaker 2: of the web, so for more targeted results, it helps
Speaker 2: to use search engines popular in specific regions or languages.
Speaker 2: Examples Bad is good for researching Chinese entities, yandex is
Speaker 2: useful for Russian content. And a good tip is to
Speaker 2: set your VPN to the region you're investigating. That can
Speaker 2: sometimes give you more relevant local results.
Speaker 1: How do you find out which search engine is popular somewhere?
Speaker 2: The website similar web dot com for top dash websites
Speaker 2: is a good resource for identifying popular sites, including search engines,
Speaker 2: in a particular region.
Speaker 1: Good tip. It's a good reminder that Google isn't the
Speaker 1: only game in town, and the sources also kind of
Speaker 1: push back against the idea that you always need specialized
Speaker 1: tools to be great at ocent exactly.
Speaker 2: While specialized tools can definitely be helpful, a strong understanding
Speaker 2: of basic ocent techniques, especially how to use search engines
Speaker 2: really well, is far more important. The Defcon story, Yeah,
Speaker 2: the story about winning the Defcon twenty eight Missing Persons
Speaker 2: Capture the Flag event using mostly basic ocent skills really
Speaker 2: highlights this.
Speaker 1: It's about the fundamentals, and that brings us to the
Speaker 1: power of Google dorking. What are these advanced search operators?
Speaker 2: How do they help Google doorking? It sounds funny, but
Speaker 2: it's powerful. It involves using special commands and syntax within
Speaker 2: the Google search bar to really narrow down your searches.
Speaker 1: To find stuff you wouldn't normally find.
Speaker 2: Exactly, find information that might not show up with simple
Speaker 2: keyword searches. You can use operators like site to search
Speaker 2: only within a specific website okay, or in title to
Speaker 2: look for keywords just in the page title, or combine
Speaker 2: keywords with terms like misconduct for business intelligence or specific
Speaker 2: technology names for industrial intel.
Speaker 1: So it's about being really precise, very.
Speaker 2: Precise, filtering out the noise, pinpointing the information you actually need.
Speaker 2: It's a core OCENT skill.
Speaker 1: Got it, Okay. The next touchpoint explored is subject intelligence,
Speaker 1: focusing on a person's digital footprint.
Speaker 2: Yes, subject intelligence. It's fundamental because well, people are involved
Speaker 2: in virtually everything. Right. It's about gathering and analyzing publicly
Speaker 2: available information about an individual to get a comprehensive understanding
Speaker 2: of them, who they are, what they do, who they know.
Speaker 1: The sources give some really compelling examples, tracking the Boston
Speaker 1: marathon bombing suspects.
Speaker 2: Right, though there were issues with how Reddit handled that and.
Speaker 1: How that executive's online activity led to the compromise of
Speaker 1: HP Gary.
Speaker 2: Yeah, those really highlight how much you can learn just
Speaker 2: by analyzing someone's digital footprint, the good and the bad uses.
Speaker 1: Which brings up legal and ethical stuff like privacy laws.
Speaker 2: Absolutely crucial, especially with regulations like GDPR. You need to
Speaker 2: stay on the right side of the law. Getting stakeholder
Speaker 2: approval for subject intelligence is often recommended.
Speaker 1: Now, the sources introduce this idea of pattern of life
Speaker 1: analysis within subject intelligence. What does that involve?
Speaker 2: Pattern of life analysis? It's about examining a person's regular activities,
Speaker 2: their movements to understand their habits and behaviors online habits
Speaker 2: in ocent. Yeah, it means using digital footprint data, social
Speaker 2: media posts, location check ins, online activity patterns to figure
Speaker 2: out when, where, and with whom a person interacts.
Speaker 1: Like online surveillance, it's essentially.
Speaker 2: The online version of traditional private investigator work. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: it can even help you predict future actions sometimes or
Speaker 2: confirm assumptions based on observed patterns.
Speaker 1: The dark web marketplace example.
Speaker 2: Right analyzing the owner's posting habits when they posted could
Speaker 2: reveal clues about their time zone, maybe even their offline
Speaker 2: activities or sleep schedule.
Speaker 1: And the John Stewart example.
Speaker 2: Analyzing his Twitter posting times using a tool like account
Speaker 2: analysis dot app provides another concrete example of figuring out
Speaker 2: patterns from public data.
Speaker 1: When researching people. Names can be tricky different cultures, different conventions.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Like in China, someone might use several different names,
Speaker 2: social names, married names, maybe a westernized name. In Russia,
Speaker 2: Russian naming conventions include a given name, a patronymic based
Speaker 2: on the father's first name, and a surname with gender variations.
Speaker 2: Being aware of these cultural nuances is really important for
Speaker 2: accurate idea identification. Don't assume Western naming conventions apply everywhere.
Speaker 1: Usernames too, they can be really significant.
Speaker 2: Pivot points, can't they hugely significant? People often reuse usernames
Speaker 2: across different platforms.
Speaker 1: Pn on example showed that right linking accounts across four
Speaker 1: chan eight can.
Speaker 2: Exactly Ron Watkins. Even if someone tries to stay anonymous
Speaker 2: on one platform, if they use the same username somewhere else,
Speaker 2: maybe on a less secure platform, it can reveal a lot.
Speaker 1: So always start with a basic search for the username.
Speaker 2: Always a good first step. Just plug the username into
Speaker 2: a few search engines and see what pops up.
Speaker 1: Email addresses are another key piece of data. What can
Speaker 1: we get from an email address?
Speaker 2: An email address can be a massive pivot point. It
Speaker 2: can leads you to associated accounts, other usernames, potentially phone numbers,
Speaker 2: even Google IDs. Google IDs, Yeah, Gmail accounts have a
Speaker 2: unique Google ID link to them. This ID can sometimes
Speaker 2: give you access to a user's publicly available data across
Speaker 2: various Google services, maps, contributions, reviews, use photos uploaded wow,
Speaker 2: and always check if an email address has shown up
Speaker 2: in data breaches.
Speaker 1: That can be very informative, which brings us to breach data.
Speaker 1: How useful is information from data breaches seems risky?
Speaker 2: Well, it's useful for the investigator, risky for the person breached. Unfortunately,
Speaker 2: data breaches are incredibly common.
Speaker 1: They seem to happen all the time, they.
Speaker 2: Do, and they can expose huge amounts of user info. Emails, passwords,
Speaker 2: often hash but sometimes cracked, usernames, IP addresses, real names.
Speaker 1: How do you search it?
Speaker 2: There are specialized search engines like intel X that index
Speaker 2: data from numerous breaches. You can search for an email, username,
Speaker 2: et cetera, and potentially link different pieces of information about
Speaker 2: your subject from various leaks.
Speaker 1: Could you find passwords?
Speaker 2: Sometimes you might even find patterns in the types of
Speaker 2: passwords someone uses across different breaches, which could help uncover
Speaker 2: additional accounts or email addresses they use. People reuse passwords a.
Speaker 1: Lot, risky habit Okay. Phone numbers another potential data point,
Speaker 1: but the verse is to say they can be inaccurate.
Speaker 2: They can indeed be unreliable. Numbers get reassigned, people use
Speaker 2: burners or VoIP numbers, so it's always best to try
Speaker 2: and verify a phone number using multiple sources.
Speaker 1: Cross referencing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the story about verifying a foreign national's identity by
Speaker 2: cross referencing their landline number with their wife's info found
Speaker 2: in public records databases that's a perfect real world example
Speaker 2: of confirmation.
Speaker 1: Finally, for subject intelligence, public records, what kind of gold
Speaker 1: can we find there? And what are the challenges?
Speaker 2: Public records can be an absolute gold mine. Voter registration details,
Speaker 2: local city and county records, permits, licenses, property.
Speaker 1: Records, but access varies hugely.
Speaker 2: Access varies wildly depending on where you are. Voter registration
Speaker 2: info different rules in Florida VERSUS, say California local records.
Speaker 2: Some cities make it easy, others require specific info. Property
Speaker 2: records often found on county websites or secondary sources like
Speaker 2: Zilo and Trulia can have cashed or related info.
Speaker 1: They can give you.
Speaker 2: Addresses, ownership details, sometimes even things like security system permits.
Speaker 1: International differences too.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Data protection laws very significantly country by country. Francis
Speaker 2: CNIL is very different from US regulations. There are even
Speaker 2: maps showing data protection levels globally. You need to be
Speaker 2: aware of the laws where the data resides and where
Speaker 2: your subject resides.
Speaker 1: So you canbine official records with maybe unofficial stuff.
Speaker 2: Exactly, you combine and enriched data from official documents, maybe
Speaker 2: social media news articles. The pivot shart example, starting with
Speaker 2: just a subject's name shows how you build out that
Speaker 2: picture layer by layer.
Speaker 1: Okay, that covers a lot on subject intelligence. Moving on
Speaker 1: the next big area, social media analysis. This seems massive
Speaker 1: and constantly changing.
Speaker 2: It is. Social media platforms are just incredibly rich sources
Speaker 2: of ocent data. They show connections between people, organizations, give
Speaker 2: insights into routines, locations, and often reveal other online accounts.
Speaker 2: You can pivot from.
Speaker 1: The sources highlight correlating user accounts. What are the key
Speaker 1: things to look for when linking different profiles to the
Speaker 1: same person.
Speaker 2: When you're trying to connect social media accounts, you look
Speaker 2: for consistency shared usernames across platforms.
Speaker 1: That's a big one.
Speaker 2: Identical or very similar profile photos, also patterns of interaction
Speaker 2: accounts that frequently like or comment on each other's posts
Speaker 2: that might suggest they're run by the same person or
Speaker 2: people who are closely connected.
Speaker 1: The fbik study tracking the George Floyd protest suspect through
Speaker 1: Etsy poshmark LinkedIn that was powerful username and profile photo.
Speaker 2: Pivots a perfect example. Following those digital breadcrumbs across different,
Speaker 2: seemingly unrelated platforms ultimately leading to identification, even confirming a
Speaker 2: tattoo from a profile picture and.
Speaker 1: Once you have multiple accounts, maybe in a group, how
Speaker 1: do you visualize those connections? Association matrices and link analysis charts.
Speaker 2: Yeah, those are really useful for visualizing relationships within a group.
Speaker 2: And association matrix is basically a table showing how strongly
Speaker 2: different people are.
Speaker 1: Connected based on followers or interactions.
Speaker 2: Exactly shared followers, frequency of interaction, things like that, and
Speaker 2: then you can turn that data into a link analysis.
Speaker 1: Chart using tools.
Speaker 2: Using tools like it Maltago or even simpler mind mapping software,
Speaker 2: these visuals make it much easier to see who the
Speaker 2: key players are in a network, who the influencers are,
Speaker 2: how they're connected.
Speaker 1: The ability to continuously monitor communities on social media is
Speaker 1: also discussed. The analysis after the January sixth Capitol riot
Speaker 1: groups like Bellingcat using osand image analysis. Incredible work shows.
Speaker 2: The real power of it, doesn't it, But monitoring groups,
Speaker 2: especially private ones, definitely has its challenges.
Speaker 1: How do you get into private groups?
Speaker 2: Well, you can directly observe open groups easily enough, but
Speaker 2: for private ones like on Facebook, you often need those
Speaker 2: sock puppet accounts.
Speaker 1: We talked about fake profiles, right.
Speaker 2: Accounts designed to blend in with the group's interests to
Speaker 2: gain access without raising suspicion. Telegram also has its own ecosystem.
Speaker 2: There are platforms like tgs dot dot com that can
Speaker 2: atalog public channels and provide spats, which can be useful
Speaker 2: starting points.
Speaker 1: Beyond text, image in video analysis is critical. What can
Speaker 1: visuals tell us?
Speaker 2: Oh a lot? Analyzing images and videos can give you
Speaker 2: the location where they were taken, details about what's happening,
Speaker 2: who's there, what objects are present, even clues to help
Speaker 2: figure out who owns the media or find related accounts.
Speaker 1: Reverse image searching seems key here using an image to
Speaker 1: search online.
Speaker 2: Yes, reverse image searching is a fundamental technique. You upload
Speaker 2: an image or its URL to a search engine and
Speaker 2: it tries to find similar images online.
Speaker 1: Why is it useful?
Speaker 2: It can often reveal the original source of an image,
Speaker 2: other places it's been posted, maybe higher resolution versions, or
Speaker 2: even identify objects or people within the image. The case
Speaker 2: study about identifying a sports logo and a fundraiser photo
Speaker 2: is a good.
Speaker 1: Example which search engines are best for this.
Speaker 2: The main ones are Google Images, Bing, Visual search and
Speaker 2: yandex Images is often very good, especially for faces or
Speaker 2: locations in Eastern Europe. Well, you might need patients. You
Speaker 2: can get a lot of results to sift through, and
Speaker 2: it doesn't always work perfectly on all social media platforms
Speaker 2: due to how they handle images, but it's always worth trying.
Speaker 1: The sources also go into geolocation of images, figuring out
Speaker 1: where a photo or video was taken. How do we
Speaker 1: do that?
Speaker 2: Gelocation is like being a visual detective. You look for
Speaker 2: clues within the image itself, like what language on signs.
Speaker 2: Seeing ditch text might suggest the Netherlands or Belgium or
Speaker 2: maybe South Africa, or surname, unique buildings, landmarks, mountains, types
Speaker 2: of vegetation, road signs.
Speaker 1: The road sign example, planes or plans right.
Speaker 2: That specific clue could help narrow it down significantly. Once
Speaker 2: you have a general region, then you use online mapping.
Speaker 1: Tools Google street View.
Speaker 2: Google street View is huge, Wikimapia, panoramio though partly archived,
Speaker 2: Mappillari earthcam for live webcams live on map dot com
Speaker 2: for conflict zones, and you use these tools to try
Speaker 2: and match the visual clues from the image to a
Speaker 2: real world. There's a whole step by step process involved.
Speaker 1: And sometimes the clues are hidden in the file itself.
Speaker 2: Metadata exactly metadata specifically exif data for images can embed
Speaker 2: information right into.
Speaker 1: The file like GPS coordinates.
Speaker 2: Sometimes yes, GPS coordinates showing exactly where the photo was taken,
Speaker 2: also the date and time, camera model, phone.
Speaker 1: Type, how do you see it?
Speaker 2: There are online tools like Jeffrey's exifuere or browser extensions
Speaker 2: or desktop software that can extract this data.
Speaker 1: That it can be faked.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, metadata can be easily stripped out or deliberately changed,
Speaker 2: So treat it as a clue, but always try to
Speaker 2: verify it with other evidence if possible. Don't take it
Speaker 2: as absolute gospel makes sense.
Speaker 1: Then there's attribution. Figuring out who owns the photo or video.
Speaker 2: Yeah, trying to identify the original creator or owner of
Speaker 2: the media and potentially other accounts they might have. Reverse
Speaker 2: image search can help here, trying to find the earliest
Speaker 2: instance or associated profiles.
Speaker 1: Social media is also full of bad information, misinformation, disinformation, malinformation.
Speaker 2: Yes, understanding that spectrum is important. Misinformation is false but
Speaker 2: not necessarily intended to harm. Disinformation is false and intended
Speaker 2: to harm. Malinformation is based on truth but used out
Speaker 2: of context to harm. Examples oh Pizzagate, celebrity death, hooxes,
Speaker 2: false vaccine, claims wild five G conspiracy theories. Debunking these
Speaker 2: often involves ocent techniques like what a verification process, asking
Speaker 2: who shared it, what's the source, why was it shared?
Speaker 2: How is it created? Using tools like archive dot org
Speaker 2: to see past versions of websites, doing reverse image searches
Speaker 2: to check the photo's origin. It's about critical examination.
Speaker 1: Social network analysis another powerful technique mentioned using graph theory sounds.
Speaker 2: Complex it can be, but the basic idea is simple.
Speaker 2: It uses concepts from graph theory like nodes representing people
Speaker 2: or accounts and edges representing their connections, to visualized relationships
Speaker 2: like a map of connections exactly. And you can even
Speaker 2: show the stres length of a connection, maybe by the
Speaker 2: thickness or color of the edge the line maure nodes.
Speaker 1: How tools do you use?
Speaker 2: Tools like neo forge or Giffi are popular for creating
Speaker 2: these network visualizations. They make it much easier to identify
Speaker 2: key influencers see how information spreads, spot clusters or communities.
Speaker 1: The example of Benjamin Strick analyzing the pro Indonesian bot
Speaker 1: network on Twitter using Giffi a.
Speaker 2: Perfect example of visualizing complex networks to uncover coordinated activity.
Speaker 1: And the puppy scam case study that really tied a
Speaker 1: lot of these threads together. Google dorking, pivot charts, whis
Speaker 1: data uncovering that whole network of fake websites linked by
Speaker 1: one email address.
Speaker 2: Right Jane Do at gmail dot com. It's a great
Speaker 2: example of how different OCENT techniques work together in a
Speaker 2: real investigation, starting broad finding, pivot points, layering information.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's move on to business and organizational intelligence. Why
Speaker 1: is understanding companies and organizations so important?
Speaker 2: Well? Understanding these entities, their structure, ownership, back activities is
Speaker 2: crucial for so many things due diligence for investments, competitive intelligence,
Speaker 2: tracking supply chains, investigating fraud or other illegal activities.
Speaker 1: The wire Kurt fraud example. Dan mccrumb's OSID.
Speaker 2: Work a prime example of how impactful OCENT can be
Speaker 2: in uncovering massive corporate fraud. It shows this isn't just theoretical.
Speaker 1: So what are some key things we look at when
Speaker 1: analyzing an organization structure? Seems important? Parent companies, subsidiaries.
Speaker 2: Yes, Understanding the corporate structure is fundamental. Who owns whom?
Speaker 2: Where are the branches? Seeing this visually like in an
Speaker 2: org chart, if you can find or build one is
Speaker 2: really helpful.
Speaker 1: We els.
Speaker 2: You also look at key people, executives, board members, locations,
Speaker 2: financial health, if possible, partners, main products or services, building
Speaker 2: a complete profile.
Speaker 1: Publicly available documents seem like a huge resource here, What
Speaker 1: are the most important ones?
Speaker 2: They really are. Annual reports give you a great broad
Speaker 2: overview of companies' activities over the past year.
Speaker 1: For public companies in the USA, SEC filings exactly.
Speaker 2: For US public companies, forms like the ten K, the
Speaker 2: Big Annual Report, ten Q quarterly, and eight K for
Speaker 2: significant events like mergers or leadership changes are essential.
Speaker 1: Where do you find them.
Speaker 2: On the SEC's EDGR database. They contain incredibly detailed financial
Speaker 2: and operational information. Other filings like proxy statements for shareholder
Speaker 2: votes and S one forms when a company plans to
Speaker 2: go public are also valuable.
Speaker 1: Social media isn't just for people, right, Companies use it too.
Speaker 1: How can we leverage that?
Speaker 2: Definitely? Organizations use social media heavily for marketing, pr, customer communication, recruitment,
Speaker 2: announcing partnerships, events, So.
Speaker 1: We can use the same tactics as subject intelligence pretty much.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can use similar techniques to find an organization's
Speaker 2: various social media accounts. They often link them from their
Speaker 2: main website. Analyzing their posts, who they follow, who follows them.
Speaker 2: It can reveal activities, partnerships, key employees, sometimes even information
Speaker 2: not intended to be public. Tesla's Twitter account is mentioned
Speaker 2: as a potential pivoting point.
Speaker 1: The sources also mentioned violation trackers. What are those?
Speaker 2: Violation trackers are databases often run by government agencies or
Speaker 2: watchdog groups that keep records of legal actions, fines penalties
Speaker 2: against companies and sometimes individuals.
Speaker 1: Useful for due diligence, very.
Speaker 2: Useful helps you identify if a company have a history
Speaker 2: of misconduct, safety violations, environmental issues, discrimination, lawsuits. Things like
Speaker 2: the contractor misconduct database or violation tracker. The Fair Noose
Speaker 2: case is mentioned as an example of corporate wrongdoing.
Speaker 1: Contracts seem like another area ripe for osand what can
Speaker 1: we learn from public contracts?
Speaker 2: Publicly available contracts, often found on government procurement websites like
Speaker 2: sam dot gov in the US, can be incredibly revealing.
Speaker 1: What kind of details, who the.
Speaker 2: Main contractor is, who the subcontractors are, the specific services
Speaker 2: or products being provided, maybe the technology involved, project timelines, costs,
Speaker 2: sometimes contact info, even supporting documents like blueprints or plans, occasionally.
Speaker 2: The soil hauling for Yosemite Park example shows the level
Speaker 2: of detail you might find.
Speaker 1: Understanding contract jargon helps too, Definitely.
Speaker 2: Knowing terms like contractor subcontractor purchase order RFP request for
Speaker 2: proposal helps you make sense of the documents.
Speaker 1: Power mapping sounds intriguing figuring out influence through investments and
Speaker 1: donations exactly.
Speaker 2: Power mapping involves identifying key individuals and organizations and then
Speaker 2: analyzing their connections through things like investments, campaign donations, board memberships,
Speaker 2: lobbying activities.
Speaker 1: To reveal hidden influence.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it can help reveal political affiliations, links to super
Speaker 2: PACs or think tanks, and other relationships that might influence
Speaker 2: decisions or policies. The tool Little Messis is mentioned for this.
Speaker 2: The twenty nineteen college admission scandal is a related example
Speaker 2: of mapping influence and money.
Speaker 1: The sources also touch on spotting shell companies. What are
Speaker 1: the red flags?
Speaker 2: Shell companies, often used to obscure ownership or facilitate illicit
Speaker 2: activities like money laundering, tend to have certain characteristics. No
Speaker 2: real physical address, maybe just a PO box or a
Speaker 2: mail drop. Often they use a registered agent address that's
Speaker 2: shared by hundreds or thousands of other companies very little
Speaker 2: public presence or operational activity.
Speaker 1: Sanctions are another p area, especially internationally. How does OSEND
Speaker 1: help here?
Speaker 2: Monitoring sanctions lists like the OFACSDN list in the US
Speaker 2: is crucial for compliance and risk assessment. OSEND helps provide
Speaker 2: context around the sanctions.
Speaker 1: Why was they imposed, who else is involved.
Speaker 2: Exactly, identifying all the parties involved, understanding the patterns of
Speaker 2: activity that led to the sanction like ilicit oil transfers
Speaker 2: mentioned as an example, and tracking historical contexts.
Speaker 1: Nonprofit organizations also have public data right form nine ninety
Speaker 1: in the US. That's right.
Speaker 2: In the US, nonprofits generally have to file an IRS
Speaker 2: form nine ninety annually. It contains a wealth of financial
Speaker 2: and operational data, revenue expenses, salaries of top executive program activities.
Speaker 1: How do you find those?
Speaker 2: There are online tools like Republica's Nonprofit Explore or Candid's
Speaker 2: nine to ninety finder that make searching and accessing these
Speaker 2: forms pretty easy.
Speaker 1: Finally, for business intelligence, the website itself loads of OSUM data.
Speaker 2: There absolutely a company's website is a primary source. You
Speaker 2: analyze its IP address, its domain name, registration, whois records
Speaker 2: via registrars like I can the actual content, the underlying
Speaker 2: code and metadata. Tools for website analysis, tools like build
Speaker 2: with can tell you what technologies a website uses, CMS, analytics,
Speaker 2: advertising networks, et cetera. Browser developer tools let you inspect
Speaker 2: the code. Commandling tools like CURL can fetch.
Speaker 1: Headers and source code hidden info.
Speaker 2: Sometimes you can find hidden information in website metadata or
Speaker 2: accidentally exposed files, maybe old spreadsheets, internal documents, printer names.
Speaker 2: You have to look carefully.
Speaker 1: Robots dot txt and sitemap dot xml.
Speaker 2: Yeah, looking at the robots dot txt file tells you
Speaker 2: what parts of the site the owners don't want search
Speaker 2: engines to crawl, which can sometimes be interesting. The sitemap
Speaker 2: doxml gives you a list of intended public pages. Analyzing
Speaker 2: DNS records using tools like mx toolbox provides info about
Speaker 2: mail servers IP addresses associated with the domain. It all
Speaker 2: builds the picture.
Speaker 1: Even understanding basic IP addresses is helpful.
Speaker 2: Definitely knowing how the Internet routes information via IP addresses
Speaker 2: is fundamental.
Speaker 1: That's a really thorough look at business and organizational intel.
Speaker 1: Let's switch gears now to transportation intelligence. Seems very practical,
Speaker 1: very real world.
Speaker 2: It really is transportation, c rail, air road. It's the
Speaker 2: backbone of global trade and movement. Being able to track, predict,
Speaker 2: or gather intel on transport can provide valuable data for logistics, security, spotting,
Speaker 2: illicit activity, you name it.
Speaker 1: Satellite imagery plays a big role here, doesn't.
Speaker 2: It a huge role? Satellites are used for mapping, weather forecasting,
Speaker 2: environmental monitoring, and of course, intelligence gathering.
Speaker 1: Types of satellites.
Speaker 2: Broadly two main types for imaging. Geostationary satellites stay fixed
Speaker 2: over one spot on the equator. They give you frequent
Speaker 2: updates high temporal resolution, but cover a wide area with
Speaker 2: less detail, lower spatial resolution. And the other type, polar
Speaker 2: orbiting satellites, circle the Earth, passing over the poles. They
Speaker 2: provide very detailed images high spatial resolution, but cover any
Speaker 2: given spot less frequently, lower temporal resolution. Think detailed snapshots
Speaker 2: versus frequent wide views.
Speaker 1: Where does the imagery come from?
Speaker 2: Sources like the Landset program or NASA's Earth Observatory make
Speaker 2: a lot of imagery publicly available, which is fantastic for osent.
Speaker 2: Commercial providers offer even higher resolution data.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's dive into specific modes, starting with maritime intelligence.
Speaker 1: AIS data is mentioned. What is that?
Speaker 2: AIS stands for Automatic Identification System. Ships over a certain
Speaker 2: size are required to broadcast information about themselves identity, position,
Speaker 2: course speed using AI transponders.
Speaker 1: So it's key for tracking ships. Absolutely.
Speaker 2: There are many websites and services that aggregate this AI stata,
Speaker 2: allowing you to track vessels globally, in near real time
Speaker 2: or historically.
Speaker 1: But it has limitations.
Speaker 2: Spoofing, Yes, that's a major limitation. AI's data can be
Speaker 2: deliberately manipulated or faked. That's called spoofing. Why would someone
Speaker 2: do that Various reasons. A Navy ship might spoof its
Speaker 2: location during a sensitive mission. A vessel involved in illegal
Speaker 2: fishing or smuggling might broadcast false coordinates to hide its activity.
Speaker 2: Someone might try to obscure a missile launch location by
Speaker 2: having ships spoof nearby, So.
Speaker 1: You can't always trust it one hundred percent.
Speaker 2: You have to be aware of the potential for spoofing
Speaker 2: and look for corroborating evidence if the track seems suspicious.
Speaker 2: GNSS jamming disrupting GPS signals is another issue affecting maritime
Speaker 2: and aviation navigation.
Speaker 1: Besides tracking ships, what else can maritime ocein uncover ports seem.
Speaker 2: Important courts are critical hubs. Analyzing port activity gives you
Speaker 2: huge insights to trade flows and ship movements. Sometimes you
Speaker 2: can find publicly available berthing reports online lists of ships
Speaker 2: scheduled to arrive and depart.
Speaker 1: What can I Tell You.
Speaker 2: Gives you clues about cargo types, origins, destinations, vessel schedules.
Speaker 2: Ports are also great places for image and satellite analysis,
Speaker 2: as ships are stationary for longer periods. Analyzing port infrastructure
Speaker 2: for vulnerabilities is another key area. Undersea cables often land
Speaker 2: near ports too.
Speaker 1: Moving onto land railway intelligence what osand opportunities exist there?
Speaker 2: Railways are vital for moving freight and passengers. Osin involves
Speaker 2: identifying rail lines visually using satellite imagery, mapping routes, finding
Speaker 2: schedules sometimes available online like the anytrip dot com dot
Speaker 2: Au example from Melbourne, and figuring out ownership and operation
Speaker 2: of rail infrastructure. Tracking freight yeah understanding how freight moves,
Speaker 2: especially the transloading process where goods switch between trucks and trains.
Speaker 2: Analyzing track side technology like RFID tags, AI tags or
Speaker 2: radio controlled SO systems can also offer insights, including potential
Speaker 2: cyber vulnerabilities.
Speaker 1: Aviation intelligence. Next, identifying aircraft seems basic but crucial. How
Speaker 1: do we do that?
Speaker 2: Aircraft have several key identifiers. There's the icoid, a unique
Speaker 2: twenty four bit hex code transmitted by the planes transponder.
Speaker 2: You see this on flight tracking sites. Then the registration number,
Speaker 2: often called the tail number. Like N numbers in the US,
Speaker 2: you can look these up in registries like the FAAS
Speaker 2: to find ownership and aircraft type. The example N three
Speaker 2: eight me leads.
Speaker 1: To a Eurocopter. Call signs too right, the call.
Speaker 2: Sign used for radio communication. Airlines have specific call signs,
Speaker 2: like Brickyard for Republic Airways, Dragon for Cafe Pacific, Cactus.
Speaker 2: After the US Airways Flight fifteen forty nine incident, military
Speaker 2: aircraft used tailcodes and serial numbers instead of civil registrations.
Speaker 1: Can you identify them visually? Yes?
Speaker 2: You can learn to identify aircraft types by looking at
Speaker 2: their key features wings, engines, fuselage shaped tail configuration, The
Speaker 2: WEFT methods engines fuselage tail is a systematic way to
Speaker 2: do this. Even identifying UAVs drones involves looking at wing
Speaker 2: or rotor types.
Speaker 1: How do we track aircraft routes using ocent flight tracking platforms? Yes?
Speaker 2: Platforms like flight Aware Flight Tradar twenty four. ADSB exchange
Speaker 2: aggregate data from ADSB receivers and other sources worldwide.
Speaker 1: What data do they show?
Speaker 2: Real time and historical flight info? Aircraft identifier, call sign,
Speaker 2: hex code, type, altitude, speed, track, origin, destination. It's incredibly detailed.
Speaker 1: Many tips for using them.
Speaker 2: Definitely check multiple sites, as coverage and data retention can vary.
Speaker 2: Pay attention to patterns. Frequent flights between certain locations can
Speaker 2: reveal routines or bases of operation. Look for low flying
Speaker 2: aircraft that might not show up on all trackers. Be
Speaker 2: aware of things like the FAA's PIA list or LADD program,
Speaker 2: which allows some owners to limit public display of their data.
Speaker 1: What about official notices?
Speaker 2: Checking FAA no TAMS notices to airmen and TFRs temporary
Speaker 2: flight restrictions is important for understanding airspace closures or special conditions.
Speaker 1: Can you track cargo on planes?
Speaker 2: Sometimes air cargo uses an Airway Bill AWB number for tracking,
Speaker 2: similar to a shipping tracking number. Combining this with ocent
Speaker 2: from other transport sectors can help track goods across the
Speaker 2: entire supply chain.
Speaker 1: What about air fields themselves? Illicit ones?
Speaker 2: Yeah, ocent, especially satellite imagery analysis can be used to
Speaker 2: identify potential illicit airstrips and remote areas looking for cleared land.
Speaker 2: Maybe science of activity Combining imagery with fire detection data
Speaker 2: like NASA firms can sometimes reveal activity like burning vegetation
Speaker 2: to clear land for strips. Google Earth is great for
Speaker 2: analyzing potential airstrips over time.
Speaker 1: Lastly, automotive intelligence, what can we find out about cars
Speaker 1: and trucks?
Speaker 2: Automotive OCENT involves identifying vehicles, make and model. Tools like
Speaker 2: carnate dot AI can help license plates resources like World
Speaker 2: license Plates dot Com show formats, then numbers cracking routes.
Speaker 2: You can monitor routes using webcams like the famous eleven
Speaker 2: foot eight bridge webcam catching trucks hitting it. Satellite imagery,
Speaker 2: social media posts showing vehicles, also figuring out ownership and
Speaker 2: operation and understanding the vehicle's security features or technology.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's a really comprehensive overview of transportation OCENT. Let's
Speaker 1: move into an area that feels increasingly urgent, critical infrastructure
Speaker 1: and industrial intelligence. Technology integration seems to be the key
Speaker 1: driver here.
Speaker 2: It absolutely is. Our critical infrastructure power grids, water systems, transportation, networks, communication,
Speaker 2: systems relies more and more on interconnected technology.
Speaker 1: Which creates vulnerabilities.
Speaker 2: Exactly, it increases the potential attack surface. Events like nine
Speaker 2: to eleven were turning point highlighting physical vulnerabilities, but now
Speaker 2: the cyber threat to industrial control systems I sees is huge.
Speaker 2: Stucks Net showed what's possible.
Speaker 1: Stuck's Net the worm that hit Iranian nuclear facilities.
Speaker 2: That's the one, a landmark case showing how cyber weapons
Speaker 2: could target and damage physical industrial processes. It really people
Speaker 2: up to ICs security risks.
Speaker 1: So OCENT here involves looking for weaknesses.
Speaker 2: Yes, often adopting that adversarial mindset again, analyzing the physical
Speaker 2: and digital footprints of critical infrastructure operators to identify potential
Speaker 2: weak points that an attacker might exploit. Understanding the ICs
Speaker 2: cyber kill chain helps frame this.
Speaker 1: What is the ICs cyberkill chain.
Speaker 2: It's a framework adapted from the traditional cyber kill chain
Speaker 2: that outlines the typical stages an attacker might go through
Speaker 2: when targeting industrial control systems, from reconnaissance to achieving their
Speaker 2: objective like disruption or destruction. OCENT is crucial in that
Speaker 2: initial reconnaissance phase.
Speaker 1: The rise of IoT, Internet of things and IoT industrial
Speaker 1: IoT plays a big role too huge.
Speaker 2: These connected devices are everywhere now integrated into critical systems.
Speaker 2: They monitor conditions, make automatic adjustments, collect data, but.
Speaker 1: They can be insecure. The casino example.
Speaker 2: Right the infamous story of a casino network reportedly breached
Speaker 2: through a vulnerabiles in a connected fish tank thermometer. It
Speaker 2: sounds almost comical, but it highlights how any connected device
Speaker 2: can be an entry point if not secured properly.
Speaker 1: So osin helps identify these devices.
Speaker 2: Yes, osent can help identify connected IOTIOT devices associated with
Speaker 2: a target, understand their functions, and uncover any publicly known
Speaker 2: vulnerabilities or default credentials that attackers might leverage. Mapping the
Speaker 2: infrastructure is key.
Speaker 1: How do you map infrastructure using osent?
Speaker 2: Tools like Google Earth pro are great for plotting known
Speaker 2: locations using GPS coordinates, and there are many publicly available
Speaker 2: data sets like what. The US DHS HIFLD Open Data
Speaker 2: Portal has tons of infrastructure data. The EIA has energy maps.
Speaker 2: There are industry specific maps like Norse Petroleum's interactive map
Speaker 2: for Norway, Geri's Thermal power plant map in Japan, wyanos
Speaker 2: World Map of Nuclear Operators, even an ARMSCM map of
Speaker 2: the Russian defense industry. Lots of data out there if
Speaker 2: you know where to look.
Speaker 1: Public disclosures too.
Speaker 2: Contract resumes absolutely, contracts like unususpending dot dove can reveal
Speaker 2: technology suppliers or specific systems being used. Sometimes people list
Speaker 2: detailed technical skills or specific ICs SCATA systems they've worked
Speaker 2: on in their resumes posted on LinkedIn. You can use
Speaker 2: Google dorks to search LinkedIn for these details, potentially revealing vulnerabilities.
Speaker 1: Wireless networks are another big vector.
Speaker 2: Wi Fi Wi Fi is everywhere. Tools like wage you
Speaker 2: wa let you map wireless networks globally by collecting data
Speaker 2: points like SSID, network name, b SSID, MAC address of
Speaker 2: the access point, encryption type, and GPS coordinates submitted by volunteers.
Speaker 1: That raises privacy concerns war driving.
Speaker 2: It does war driving driving around scanning for Wi Fi
Speaker 2: networks was the original method for building these databases. While
Speaker 2: the data itself is broadcast publicly, aggregating it raises privacy questions,
Speaker 2: but it's invaluable for mapping wireless footprints. Bluetooth can also
Speaker 2: be tracked, potentially inferring location or proximity based on device detection.
Speaker 2: Think about fitness trackers. The Strava heat map incident showed
Speaker 2: how aggregated user data could reveal sensitive locations like military bases.
Speaker 1: Other wireless types opun.
Speaker 2: LAURA yes, Low power wide area networks like LOREWN are
Speaker 2: increasingly used for industrial IoT because they offer long range
Speaker 2: and low power consumption. Understanding these protocols is also becoming
Speaker 2: important for OCENT in this space. Baselining normal wireless activity
Speaker 2: helps spot.
Speaker 1: Anomalies and finding cell towers.
Speaker 2: Identifying mobile tower locations can also be part of infrastructure
Speaker 2: OCENT using contracts, public disclosures, zoning permits, and tools like
Speaker 2: cell mapper, which crowdsources tower locations based on user signal readings.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's move to the money financial intelligence. Why is
Speaker 1: OSENT so important here?
Speaker 2: Financial intelligence or FINANT is crucial for tracking and combating
Speaker 2: illicit activities money laundering, terrorists, financing fraud, sanctions of asion.
Speaker 2: OSIN provides the publicly available pieces of that puzzle.
Speaker 1: Key players FINCIN FATF.
Speaker 2: Right organizations like FINCIN Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in the
Speaker 2: US and the International FATF Financial Action Task Force, set
Speaker 2: standards and provide guidance. Regulatory bodies like the FDIC Federal
Speaker 2: Deposit Insurance corporation in the US also provide information on
Speaker 2: banks and financial data tools like the Bank Fine Suite.
Speaker 1: Tracking criminal organizations TCOs.
Speaker 2: Yes, transnational criminal organizations operate across borders. OSEND helps map
Speaker 2: their structures, activities, and financial networks. The MS thirteen example
Speaker 2: illustrates the kind of group involved. O FAC reports like
Speaker 2: the one on the Kinahan organized crime group often contain
Speaker 2: valuable OSENT leads.
Speaker 1: What about PEPs politically exposed persons?
Speaker 2: PEPs are individuals holding prominent public functions politicians, judges, military leaders,
Speaker 2: state owned enterprise execs. FtF provides guidelines. They are considered
Speaker 2: higher risk for potential involvement in bribery and corruption, so
Speaker 2: identifying them is key in due diligence and financial crime investigations.
Speaker 1: Money laundering itself, how does OSIN help find it?
Speaker 2: OSIN helps identify red flags associated with money laundering, things
Speaker 2: like complex corporate structures involving shell companies, transactions with high
Speaker 2: risk jurisdictions, unexplained wealth, involvement of PEPs. It complements the
Speaker 2: internal KYC Know Your Customer process as banks use understanding
Speaker 2: common schemes. Helps spot indicators tax evation and fraud. OCIN
Speaker 2: can help uncover concealed income or assets, or identify inconsistencies
Speaker 2: that suggest false information is being submitted to tax authorities.
Speaker 2: The Walter Anderson case is mentioned as a major tax
Speaker 2: evasion example.
Speaker 1: Verifying VAT numbers isocodes.
Speaker 2: Yes, small practical things You can often verify value added
Speaker 2: tax VAT identification numbers online. Knowing isocuntry codes helps identify
Speaker 2: countries mentioned in financial documents or transaction data. Resources like nationsonline,
Speaker 2: dot Org list these codes. Understanding prevalent crime types by
Speaker 2: region also provides context.
Speaker 1: Finding info on organized crime and gangs.
Speaker 2: Resources like Wikipedia surprisingly details sometimes the National Gang Center
Speaker 2: DEA Fugitives List, and specialized news sites like insight Crime
Speaker 2: provide background information and potential leads on individuals and groups.
Speaker 1: Negative news searching this.
Speaker 2: Involves crafting specific search engine queries storks again to find
Speaker 2: derogatory information or negative news reports about a person or company,
Speaker 2: combining names with keywords like fraud, arrests, lawsuits, scandal, etc.
Speaker 1: Okay, now for a really hot topic. Cryptocurrency. How has
Speaker 1: ocent adapted to this often anonymous world?
Speaker 2: Cryptocurrency presents unique challenges and opportunities for Ocent. It's built
Speaker 2: on blockchain technology, which is essentially a public distributed ledger.
Speaker 2: It's anonymous, right'sseudonymous. Usually, transactions are linked to wallet addresses,
Speaker 2: not necessarily real world identities directly, but the transactions themselves
Speaker 2: are public on the blockchain. Understanding the basics is key
Speaker 2: key terms.
Speaker 1: Coins versus tokens.
Speaker 2: Right cryptocurrencies or coins like Bitcoin, BTC or Ethereum eth
Speaker 2: run on their own blockchains and are typically mined. Tokens
Speaker 2: are built on top of existing blockchains like Ethereum using
Speaker 2: smart contracts and are minted. Tokens can represent different things
Speaker 2: value like stable coins, NFTs, non fungible tokens, security tokens,
Speaker 2: utility tokens.
Speaker 1: Bitcoin Ethereum Bitcoin is.
Speaker 2: The original, best known, one decentralized ledger proof of work
Speaker 2: consensus created by the pseudonymous Setoshi Nakamoto. Finite supply fungible
Speaker 2: one Bitcoin is like any other. Ethereum introduced smart contracts
Speaker 2: enabling tokens and decentralized applications de apps. It's the second largest.
Speaker 1: Proof of work versus proof of steak.
Speaker 2: These are consensus mechanisms how the network agrees on valid transactions.
Speaker 2: POW used by Bitcoin initially involves solving complex computational puzzles. Mining,
Speaker 2: which uses a lot of energy pos used by Ethereum
Speaker 2: Now and many others, involves validators locking up staking their
Speaker 2: own crypto as collateral to validate transactions, generally more energy efficient.
Speaker 2: There are other mechanisms too, like proof of capacity or
Speaker 2: proof of acti ativity.
Speaker 1: How does the dark web fit in with crypto?
Speaker 2: Cryptocurrencies, especially privacy focused ones, became the preferred payment method
Speaker 2: on darknet marketplaces selling illicit goods like drugs, weapons, stolen
Speaker 2: data CSAM.
Speaker 1: How do investigators track this?
Speaker 2: Using the Tor browser to access the dark web, identifying marketplaces,
Speaker 2: finding sellar profiles. These profiles often contained pivot points like
Speaker 2: usernames reused elsewhere or cryptocurrency wallet addresses used for payment.
Speaker 1: Case studies Shiny Flakes Yeah.
Speaker 2: The young German guy Maximilian Schmidt, who ran a huge
Speaker 2: online drug empire from his bedroom excepting crypto mistakes and
Speaker 2: shipping led to his arrest shows operational security failures.
Speaker 1: Alpha Bat and Hansa.
Speaker 2: Two massive darknet marketplaces shut down by law enforcement and
Speaker 2: Operation Baynet. They secretly took over Hansa for a while,
Speaker 2: gathering intelligence on users before shutting both down. They seized
Speaker 2: crypto and user data shows the reach of law enforcement
Speaker 2: even in these hidden corners.
Speaker 1: So how do you analyze crypto transactions? Use ocent blockchain
Speaker 1: explorers exactly.
Speaker 2: Blockchain explorers are websites that let you view and navigate
Speaker 2: the public blockchain data. You can enter a wallet address
Speaker 2: or transaction ID and see its history balance incoming outgoing transactions.
Speaker 2: With following the money precisely, even though it's pseudonymous, you
Speaker 2: can follow the flow of funds between addresses. The funnel
Speaker 2: method involves starting with a known transaction or address and
Speaker 2: tracing funds back or forward, looking for links to exchanges
Speaker 2: where crypto might be cashed out to Fiat currency requiring
Speaker 2: identity verification, or other known illicit addresses. Layering information is key.
Speaker 2: The pivot chart example starting with a transaction shows this process.
Speaker 1: Finally, let's briefly touch on non fungible tokens or NFTs.
Speaker 1: They've had their share of crime too. They have.
Speaker 2: NFTs are unique digital assets recorded on a blockchain think
Speaker 2: digital art collectibles.
Speaker 1: Well kind of crimes.
Speaker 2: Because their value can be subjective and volatile. They've been
Speaker 2: used in Ponzi schemes and rug pulls, where it creators
Speaker 2: hype a project NFTs and then disappear with the funds.
Speaker 2: Wash trading to artificially inflate prices is another issue. Investigating
Speaker 2: these often involves blockchain analysis combined with social media OCENT
Speaker 2: to track promoters.
Speaker 1: Wow, Okay, that brings us pretty much to the end
Speaker 1: of this really deep dive into open source intelligence, all
Speaker 1: based on the incredibly insightful material you shared. We've covered
Speaker 1: so much.
Speaker 2: We really have, from its history the basic methods ops
Speaker 2: right through to cutting edge applications in crypto transport critical infrastructure.
Speaker 1: It's vast. Yeah, hopefully you, our listener, now have a
Speaker 1: much clearer picture of not just what OCENT is, but
Speaker 1: how it's actually used, how powerful it can be.
Speaker 2: Yeah, seeing how information that's just out there in the
Speaker 2: open can reveal hidden connections and provide such valuable insights
Speaker 2: when you analyze it effectively. It applies across almost any field.
Speaker 1: There are definitely some surprising facts for me, some real
Speaker 1: aha moments, like the grandmother's story at the start or
Speaker 1: the fish tank hack. It really highlights how much data surrounds.
Speaker 2: Us, absolutely and it kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it,
Speaker 2: about the power of this publicly available information in your
Speaker 2: own areas of interest, What could you uncover, what insights
Speaker 2: might you gain using these principles.
Speaker 1: That's a great point. And maybe on that note, here's
Speaker 1: something I'll leave you thinking about. Given this sheer, vastness
Speaker 1: of open source information and how fast it's changing, what
Speaker 1: are the really big ethical responsibilities for individuals, for organizations,
Speaker 1: how do we use this power responsibly? And how do
Speaker 1: we safeguard data in the future.
Speaker 2: That's the big question, isn't it. It's something we'll all
Speaker 2: have to grapple with as our digital world keeps expanding.