OSINT for beginners

Tackle information overload and emotional impact in OSINT investigations by sorting data into sections, developing a schedule, and maintaining objectivity with mental health breaks.

Avoid bias and outside influence by approaching investigations with an objective mindset. Verify evidence, stay open to findings, and pursue the truth even when results differ.

Explore virtualization by running multiple operating systems on one host and use snapshots to maintain a clean, evidence-ready virtual machine for investigations.

Install VirtualBox on your machine to run virtual machines for OSINT coursework. Mac M1/M2 users may try Mac dot Getmap as an alternative.

Install and configure CSI Linux, the ubuntu-based osint-focused operating system for investigations, and learn to use VirtualBox, manage snapshots, and access built-in osint tools.

Learn essential Linux basics by using the terminal, mastering commands like ls and cd, and recognizing case sensitivity and autocomplete. The lesson covers sudo, apt-get update, and upgrade.

Discover social engineering, the psychological manipulation behind actions and information disclosure, and how scarcity, fear, and authority influence responses; pause to think before reacting in open source intelligence investigations.

Develop open-source intelligence workflows using mind maps to organize investigations from usernames to data across Facebook, GitHub, Instagram, and Twitter, employing searches, Sherlock scans, and reverse image checks.

Investigators practice open source intelligence gathering within legal and ethical boundaries, avoiding phishing, a virus, and illegal scanning to keep evidence admissible and compliant with local laws.

Discover why OSINT tools and websites break when platforms change or APIs update, and how to adapt by using alternative tools or a robust methodology.

Verify Osint results by cross-checking sources and evaluating credibility to avoid false positives and disinformation. Vet sources for reliability, dating accuracy, and satire to ensure reporting reflects reality.

Ask what information the client already has before starting an osint investigation to save time and avoid redundancy, especially regarding social media accounts, emails, or phone numbers.

Learn what a sock puppet is and why it matters for investigations; create burner accounts with fake details to protect yourself, using a clean VM and VPN or Tor.

Explore tips for building sock puppet identities, from fake names and Gmail accounts to AI-generated photos and a full profile with disposable emails, phones, and fake credit card numbers.

Identify methods to create Gmail sockpuppet accounts using burner smartphones to avoid real-number verification. The video notes VoIP flags and suggests typically three accounts can be created per day.

Explore how VPNs encrypt internet traffic and hide your real IP address on public wifi, and examine risks of free VPNs, data sharing, kill switches, exit nodes, and multihop options.

Learn how to run DNS leak tests to verify VPN privacy and ensure your real IP and location stay hidden, with features like kill switch and multihop.

Discover CSI Linux's built-in Tor VPN, routing traffic through Tor to hide your IP and location with a Netherlands exit node; note slower speeds and captchas.

Use disposable emails and burner accounts, such as temp mail, 20 minute mail, and gorilla mail, for sock puppet profiles. Avoid real names, real emails, and password reuse in OSINT.

Learn about burner phones and VoIP numbers, including text free and MySudo privacy tools for generating numbers, calls, texts, emails, and virtual cards, plus pay-as-you-go options and safety tips.

Explore two-factor authentication and secure options like YubiKey, BMU, OnlyKey, and Authy to protect OSINT and personal accounts, highlighting safer alternatives to email or SMS codes.

Secure accounts with KeePassXC, an open source password manager pre-installed on CSI Linux, creating encrypted databases and strong unique passwords, then use two factor authentication and guard against keyloggers.

Explore practical encryption options to keep files safe, from KeePassXC and VeraCrypt to audio and photo steganography, and share securely with OnionShare over the Tor network.

Explore international cards from gray.co, Revolut, and cloaked app, including one-off online cards, and learn about 2024 rollout timing and regional availability.

Create open source intelligence reports for corporate investigations by defining contracts, scope, milestones, contacts, timelines, and data collection nodes, and produce both a technical report and an executive elevator-pitch summary.

Start a CSI Linux starter case to generate the built-in OSINT report template, then customize fields like case ID, document title, suspect, and client information for your investigations.

Document your osint investigations with obs, recording methodology and findings across Windows, macOS, and Linux, using scenes and sources like display capture and audio capture, with frame rate and hotkeys.

Understand the right to be forgotten, a 2014 EU principle enabling deletion of data from search engines. AI speeds delisting, but archived copies or social profiles may still reveal information.

Explore Obsidian, a cross-platform notation tool for taking notes and building visual workflows with canvases, cards, arrows, attachments, graph view, and a free version with paid sync options.

Learn OSINT client intake and case scoping templates for structured investigations. Build legally compliant, passive reports with executive summaries, evidence logs, and sources across surface web to the dark web.

Explore popular search engines for OSINT, including Google, DuckDuckGo, Baidu, and Yandex, and learn how regional searches and cross-engine queries reveal different results and reverse image capabilities.

Learn Google advanced search, aka Google dorks, using operators to refine queries by in text, in URL, in title, site, file type, date ranges, and cache pages for OSINT.

Learn to use Google Alerts to monitor keywords and receive email notifications on your chosen frequency and sources, aiding threat intelligence and ongoing investigations.

Discover intelligence X, a European OSINT tool for beginners that scans domains, emails, IPs, bitcoin addresses, and IPFS hashes across darknet and public leaks.

Explore minerva, a web-based osint email lookup tool, to search an address, view breach data and associated accounts, with free daily lookups and paid credits, and export results to json.

Explore open source intelligence using Google maps, Bing maps, Michelin, and others to examine addresses with street and satellite views, 3D flyovers, and surrounding areas for context.

Use sun calculators to analyze outdoor photos by shadows and verify the time, date, and location. Detect manipulation or AI-generated content in OSINT investigations by assessing shadow length and direction.

Use weather reports and historical weather data to support open-source intelligence investigations, verifying dates and locations with sources like Wunderground and Geographic.org.

Analyze photo content to extract open-source intelligence from screen details, notes, calendars, and office setups, then use reverse photo search and exif data to build a bigger picture.

Explore car sticker osint for beginners by analyzing decals to infer a driver's demographics, political views, and beliefs on science and climate change, while noting family composition.

Discover how photos from smartphones and cameras can carry embedded geolocation, revealing latitude and longitude. Learn to verify with pick2map.com and perform a reverse image search for osint.

Learn how Exif data reveals metadata in photos, including camera settings, geolocation, and creation time, and how to view or scrub this information using simple online tools.

Explore photo manipulation and GANs, identify AI-generated or Photoshop-edited images, and use photo forensic tools and detectors to assess image integrity for OSINT investigations.

Explore reverse image searches to locate where an image appears online. Compare results across Google Images, Bing, Yandex, Baidu, and TinEye to verify identity, origin, and potential impersonation.

Explore how to conduct OSINT on Twitter/X by analyzing posts, profiles, and metadata, navigate platform changes, and use manual methods like geocode searches within a radius.

Learn OSINT on X (formerly Twitter) using advanced searches, filters, and people and reverse image searches with sock puppet accounts to explore misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech.

Examine Facebook osint by analyzing profile names, profile photos, followers, following, links, posts and photos, plus metadata and geolocation to build a fuller picture, including Facebook Live broadcasts and timestamps.

Explore Snapchat basics, including snaps, auto-delete, and delivery alerts, and learn to assess authenticity and evidence integrity using canary tokens and VPN spoofing risks.

Discover how Telegram operates, including built-in encryption, self-destruct messages, and screenshot restrictions. Learn OSINT techniques to analyze groups, posts, hashtags, and user handles, including its use by extremist groups.

Explore how to analyze LinkedIn profiles and posts as an online resume to extract details like work history, education, licenses, skills, and connections, while verifying information to avoid exaggeration.

Discover how WhatsApp uses voice over IP and end-to-end encryption, and how to use OSINT to analyze numbers, profiles, media, and canary tokens to spot scammers.

Explore Bluesky, a decentralized social app, and learn open source intelligence techniques to investigate profiles, posts, media, followers, and hashtags through searches and feed discovery.

Explore how internet.info helps resolve blue sky handles across decentralized platforms, enabling beginners to track branding, emails, and social media aliases for OSINT investigations.

Hoaxy visualizes how information spreads on social media with 2D and 3D views, supporting intelligence by exploring terms like white supremacist groups and QAnon, exporting data as CSV or JSON.

Identify an IP address and infer its location and ISP while checking if it hides behind a vpn or Tor. Verify with IP location.io and IP quality score.

Explore how to use canary tokens to trigger data when targets interact with tokens, covering token types, embedding in documents, and legal scope for OSINT and pen testing.