Digital media is facing a trust crisis. According to the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer, media ranks as the least trusted innovation-driving industry, and only 40% of people trust the news they consume. The World Economic Forum’s 2024 Global Risks Report even ranked disinformation as the world’s top risk...
In 2024, a finance employee in Hong Kong transferred $25M after a video call with a deepfake CFO. The attacker? An AI agent trained to impersonate, manipulate, and execute. This wasn’t some anomaly; it was a glimpse into the future—a world where autonomous AI agents are weaponized for...
Artificial intelligence is reshaping cyber operations. What began as basic automation and generative assistance is rapidly evolving into autonomous AI agents, often described as agentic AI systems or deployed within multi-agent architectures. These systems do more than generate content or respond to prompts. They plan objectives, execute multi-step actions, adapt...
Cyber threat intelligence (CTI) exists to turn technical security signals into meaningful understanding of who is operating, how attacks evolve, and where real risk persists over time. Modern environments generate massive volumes of alerts and indicators, but detection alone rarely explains intent, coordination, or continuity. Without that context, organizations respond...
Online brand protection has become a critical priority for organizations operating in digital environments. As brands expand across social media platforms, online marketplaces, app stores, and mobile apps, they are increasingly exposed to counterfeit goods, impersonation, and other digital threats that directly impact customer trust and revenue. What once relied...
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...
Greetings from the Social Links i2 Team! March has been another highly eventful month for us and we have been focusing our energies into providing our users with some exciting and helpful new features to SL Professional for i2. Among these updates are: * The introduction of an entirely new source...
There was once a time when cyber security felt like an exclusive issue – something that needed to be taken seriously by banks, governmental bodies, or companies handling sensitive data, but not a major concern for the average enterprise. However, with IBM listing cyber security failure as one of most formidable...
Hi from us all at Social Links! Human trafficking is a global problem, and there is still a huge amount to be done in countering the issue in its various forms. In our upcoming webinar, Social Links are joining forces with Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII) to discuss this problem...
Welcome to our pick of this month’s OSINT-related stories! Being a fool in love has taken on a new meaning in the realm of online dating, where social engineering scams have gained a remarkable lease of life. Meanwhile, the soaring popularity of NFTs – tradeable units of blockchain data – has...
The landscape of open-source intelligence is so vast and varied that finding your way around it can be a little bewildering. But fret not! We’ve compiled our top recommendations across a range of formats to help you navigate and get the most out of this ever-shifting sphere. From blockchain...
With headlines appearing every week about costly corporate data breaches and compromised national security, cyberattacks have become a huge problem that simply can’t be ignored. According to IBM, the number of data breaches over the last 5 years has doubled. Furthermore, the average time it takes to identify and...
