Open-source intelligence has become a critical part of modern security work. As online footprints expand across social platforms, forums, infrastructures, and public records, organizations rely on OSINT to make informed decisions—from fraud detection and cybersecurity to due diligence, threat monitoring, and corporate protection. This article breaks down how OSINT...
Facial recognition has become one of the most powerful analytical capabilities in modern investigations. As digital platforms expand and images circulate across the open web, the ability to identify people in photos has reshaped how OSINT analysts verify identities, expose fake accounts, and connect digital footprints across platforms. In this...
Every position of trust in government, defense, or critical infrastructure begins with verification. Background checks form the backbone of that trust, ensuring that individuals granted access to sensitive data and facilities, or in critical decision-making roles meet strict standards of reliability and integrity. Such checks are essential for safeguarding institutions...
Every investigation starts somewhere, and in open-source intelligence (OSINT), that somewhere is online. And the range of websites that an OSINT practitioner may use can be vast and varied, from social media posts and breach forums to WHOIS registries and archived pages. But correctly channeled, these sites can capture the...
In the endless stream of digital communication, every tweet, review, and comment contributes to a massive and chaotic archive of human emotion. Understanding what people think and how strongly they feel was once the domain of surveys and focus groups. Today, artificial intelligence can do it at scale and in...
When people think about iPhone security, they usually imagine theft—someone grabbing the device off a table or slipping it out of a pocket. But in the world of Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT), the real danger isn’t just losing the phone itself. It’s what can be seen, linked, or...
Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) has become a core pillar of modern investigations. Yet the success of a given case depends not only on the analyst’s skill but also on the strength and synergy of their tools. If the internet is an ocean of data, the right OSINT toolkit is the...
As we navigate the shifting threat landscape of late 2024 and 2025, characterized by generative artificial intelligence, a splintering digital commons, and the blurring of online and physical risks, the role of Open-Source Intelligence is not just growing—it is transforming into the primary sensor for understanding our world. This...
It has a notorious reputation to be sure. Yet the common perception of the Dark Web purely as an arena for nefarious enterprise overlooks the double-edge nature of the beast. While its mix of anonymity and obfuscation does indeed make it a haven for fraudsters peddling fentanyl, stolen creds, and...
Imagine throwing a handful of glitter at a party. Days later you’ll still find specks on your clothes, your sofa, maybe even your dog. Every click, post, like, purchase, and late-night Google search is the internet equivalent of that glitter—tiny, persistent markers that stick around long after the...
Relationships are currency. The way people, organizations, and ideas link together shapes how information spreads, how influence takes hold, and how communities form. Social Network Analysis is the field that maps and measures these relationships, shifting the view from isolated individuals to webs of interconnected nodes. Applied to digital life—...
In the sprawling, interconnected digital landscape of the 21st century, social media has grown from a simple communication tool into a detailed, living record of human activity. And this vast store of publicly available information has become an essential resource for a particular field: online investigation. Social Media Intelligence (SOCMINT)...
In our vast, interconnected digital world, information is the ultimate currency. For cyber defenders, the ability to gather, analyze, and act upon information is what separates success from failure. It’s also the purview of OSINT, which in the context of cybersecurity, represents the art of turning the endless sea...
Imagine the classic police-room evidence board covered in photos and documents, and interconnected by strings, with the detectives sitting back trying to identify patterns, establish connections, and so on. This technique, in essence, is link analysis—only, with today’s tech, the data involved can be scaled up to a...
In the dynamic landscape of open-source intelligence, investigators are continually searching for reliable methods that deliver actionable results. Among these, reverse image search has emerged as a cornerstone OSINT technique, employed by intelligence professionals, law enforcement agencies, investigative journalists, and security researchers worldwide. Social Links have led the way in...
As we’re closing the calendar year, we took this opportunity to compile our top OSINT articles with handy tips to share some insights and inspiration during the holidays. So, let’s unwrap your gift and see what’s inside: we have an open-source intelligence landscape for 2023 and beyond,...
We’re finishing the year with a serious bang. Not only have we launched our all-new, standalone OSINT solution, SL Crimewall, but we’ve also been busy bringing a bumper round of new features to SL Professional. These include three (!) completely new sources—Duolingo, Tripadvisor and WeChat—as well as...
This week in the Social Links Center of Excellence Column, we’re diving deep into increasing an organization’s cybersecurity state with OSINT. Since the benefits of open-source intelligence for cybersecurity are often discussed, we created a case study to show exactly how it’s possible. Let’s jump into...
Learning a discipline such as OSINT is not always as straightforward as learning some techniques and discovering new tools. Understanding how and when these things should be employed in a given case is crucial. This is why we publish our use cases—they give the reader a real-world context for...
This week in the Social Links Center of Excellence Column, we’re looking at video game platforms as a great source to enrich OSINT investigations. Given that gaming has exploded in popularity, and with digital distributions becoming the norm (modern computers don’t even have CD drives anymore), platforms like...
When talking about corporate security, many might think only about the digital infrastructure of companies. However, this component—cybersecurity—is only one side of the coin. Beyond online threats, organizations must deal with substantial dangers in the real world. When the potential risks combine with a constantly shifting business environment,...
