Practical, methodology-first guides for open-source intelligence work. Each guide covers a specific research scenario from initial question to documented findings — with tools, ethics checkpoints, and failure modes included.
The foundational methodology for using open-source intelligence in investigative reporting. Covers verification workflow, tool setup, and ethical guardrails for newsroom environments. Where to start when you have a name, a website, or a video to verify.
A step-by-step self-OSINT audit. Before you can protect your privacy, you have to see what the world sees. Covers search engine indexing, social media exposure, data broker records, and opt-out strategies. What you find will probably surprise you.
A WHOIS record is a window into a domain's history, ownership, and infrastructure relationships. Most researchers miss 80% of the signal. This guide covers every field, what privacy proxies hide (and don't), and how to use historical records to trace ownership changes over time.
Practical techniques for confirming the authenticity and origin of visual media. Covers the complete verification pipeline: reverse image search across multiple engines, EXIF metadata extraction, Error Level Analysis for manipulation detection, and geolocation from visual context clues.
A structured approach to social media research — from username pivoting across platforms to identifying account age, behavioral patterns, and network relationships. Includes how to archive evidence before accounts go private, and the ethics of collecting social media data at scale.
When a domain alone isn't enough. This guide covers how to trace a website's infrastructure relationships — shared hosting, certificate chains, reverse DNS, and ASN routing — to build a picture of who controls a network of domains and what they share beneath the surface.