Open source intelligence is a term that refers to all publicly available information that is used to meet a specific intelligence need. OSINT resources can take two forms, offline and online.

However, with the current digitalization of the world, most of the OSINT is now taken from online resources. This includes social media sites, blogs, forums, all types of digital files available online along with metadata, IP addresses and technical information. Other online resources also comprise deep web databases. For example, government records, dark net resources, archive data and any type of information accessible online. Traditional media sources are television, radio broadcast, newspapers and books.

Applications of OSINT in organisations

Recruitment

Hiring the right people can be a Herculean task. Not only do they need to have the right skill set, but also the appropriate corporate culture. Some employees may have access to sensitive information, or risk the company’s reputation when dealing with the public. It’s hard to be right every time, but pre-employment screening can go a long way in helping a business protect their reputation.

Why consider pre employment screening?

Protect your organization.

One’s company is only as good or bad as their people. Through pre-employment screening, the company makes sure the right candidate is hired.

Save time and money.

The costs of choosing a bad hire can be substantial. One can waste precious time and resources on placing and training someone who is not ideal. One could even end up with a damaged reputation or a court case!

Good due diligence.

Hiring the wrong person can put the business, its customers as well as the other employees at risk. The employer could be liable if someone is victimised.

There are many kinds of background checks that can be run on job applicants. Some of them include:

• Criminal record checks
• Educational verification
• Global database checks
• Previous employment checks
• Professional reference checks

Risk assessment during M&As

Is one aware of all the risks that have to be managed when they merge with an existing organization? What if they acquire a new company or product? Key due diligence activities should include thorough open source intelligence investigation of the target. An OSINT M&A risk assessment is crucial to anyone considering such a deal. When one onboards a vendor or buys another company, they implicitly inherit ALL of their liabilities!

Generally, this assessment involves a comprehensive investigation using OSINT found on the Internet, social media and even the deep and dark webs. Both positive and negative information is uncovered about the new acquisition or merger. A detailed report may then be prepared along with optional presentation to reveal the findings. Typical findings would include risks uncovered during the investigation and tips to allay and rectify them.

Designing marketing strategies

Companies must collect relevant information about their competition, target market, consumer behavior and more while devising marketing strategies to launch a product/service to push a particular company objective. OSINT can help marketing teams find such relevant information.

Globe Detective Agency has a team of specialists who collect and analyse data for specific purposes. If you’re looking at gathering qualified intelligence, get in touch with the team at GDA.

---