OSINT investigations are a lot like unraveling a web. Investigators pull on different threads to reveal the bigger picture. But this process isn’t one-sided. Just as investigators gather data on their targets, those suspects can also acquire information on them—if they’re not careful. And in the world...
In today's digital landscape, the open-source data API has become an indispensable tool in helping developers, product teams, and analysts build effective, data-driven products and processes. By providing access to a wide range of data types from open sources, such APIs can simplify the development process and add...
Every dataset tells a story—but one that’s often incomplete. While a powerful resource, raw data can only take us so far before the blind spots start showing. Whether it’s tracking cyber threats, streamlining hiring processes, or verifying identities, organizations across the board are discovering that context is...
Social media has become a double-edged sword. While it connects billions of users worldwide, it also presents a growing risk landscape. Phishing scams, misinformation campaigns, and brand impersonation are just a few of the cyber threats that thrive on social platforms. Yet the same data that makes social media a...
At a time when our lives are becoming ever more integrated with the online realm, dating apps have become a new norm. And their stellar rise in popularity is hardly to be wondered at. After all, a lot of people simply don’t have large enough social circles—or a...
The corporate world is well aware of the manifold risks that M&A and other investment deals can pose. This is reflected in the immense growth of the commercial due diligence market, which currently has an astonishing growth rate of 9.5% and is set to hit a volume...
API solutions are indispensable for various intelligence platforms and investigations. The seamless operability that comes with API integration means that all kinds of workflows and processes can be streamlined, collaboration becomes natural and effortless, many routine tasks just vanish, and the productivity of the whole organization soars. Our new article...
In today’s climate, background checks have become a staple of verification, and open-source intelligence has risen to the fore as an indispensable element of this widespread practice. Anyone who’s applied for a job may be aware of basic screening checks. But, in fact, the world of background checks...
To the uninitiated, background checks may appear to be straightforward things. But the truth is they come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from the basic checks employers might run off from a CV to profoundly enhanced checks reaching into the recesses of the Dark Web for more serious matters....
Intelligence work is a multifaceted thing. To anyone acquainted with the field, this will be obvious from the many -INT terms that seek to categorize the various sides of the discipline. And this article is all about one of these in particular—HUMINT (Human Intelligence)—and the tools out there...
It’s a pillar of the modern intelligence cycle, taken very seriously by the national security departments of leading global powers, and is entering the mainstream in various ways. But what exactly is OSINT (open-source intelligence) in 2025? The truth is that open-source intelligence encompasses a lot, but don’t...
It’s time for our quarterly OSINT product updates where we bring everyone up to speed on what we’ve added to our functionality over the last few months. And so far, the first quarter of 2024 has been hugely productive, seeing us introduce some major new features connected to...
While it’s hard to deny the utility of open data in investigative work, how to make the most of it is not so obvious. Investigators can’t become seasoned data analysts overnight, and the effort required to process information can even be counterproductive. The place where investigative work meets...
That’s right, this is part 2 of open-source intelligence games (here is the first part if you missed it). But to recap, this two-part guide is all about learning OSINT in an entertaining way. After all, it turns out that many of the skills and techniques that make a...
Big news! Social Links has partnered with a leading provider of breached identity data, Constella Intelligence. To mark the start of this exciting partnership, we—the two companies—are getting together for the co-hosted webinar: Stealer Logs for Investigations: A New Era in OSINT. Join us on April 4, at...
Cyber security news has really ramped up as we approach the New Year. While the FTX story has understandably drawn a lot of attention, there have been plenty of other recent developments in the sphere. In our final digest of 2022, we give our slant on the elephant in the...
Welcome to the November edition of our monthly OSINT digest. Over the past month, a number of stories have caught our eye, including the development of a new algorithm for reconstructing display content reflected in the glasses of a webcam subject, and a huge influx of brand impersonation scams that...
Looking back over 2022, we realised we’ve put on a great variety of webinars addressing many aspects of OSINT. The goal of these sessions has always been to bring as much practical value as we can to investigations and other analysis work, to show how our tools can be...
We’re happy to announce our participation in the upcoming CEPOL training program Understanding the Darknet: The Basics of Encryption in the Context of Counter Terrorism to be held in Riga, Latvia, from November 21-25. About the Event CEPOL is a European Union agency, which provides dedicated training for law...
OSINT is fast becoming a fundamental aspect of modern investigative work. Digital forensics, footprinting, and reconnaissance are now central to most criminal cases, where open data is often crucial for verifying information, collecting evidence, and finding new leads. However, such demanding work calls for effective tools and techniques. Join us...
We recently published a guide to some of the most essential SL Professional methods every investigator should be taking advantage of. However, essential though these search queries are, the solution has much more to offer, and if you get set in your ways, it may be limiting or even counterproductive....
