Top 5 Social Links OSINT Webinars of 2022

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 used to their greatest advantage.

So, welcome to our selection of the five best Social Links OSINT tutorials to have taken place over the last year! Our picks have been largely based on feedback from attendees – these are the webinars that really resonated with the audience.

1.OSINT: A Game-Changer for Private Investigators

Private investigators and analysts clearly don’t have the same manpower as full-blown investigation bureaus. But in terms of capabilities, modern OSINT tools have really narrowed the gap. Work that once required an entire department can frequently be achieved by a single analyst with the correct tools to hand.

This webinar covers crucial techniques that can totally transform the workflows of these individualists. Learn how to bypass immense amounts of manual work, verify hypotheses in a reliable way, and generate intelligence of a very high quality. And don’t worry if you’re not a private investigator – the tutorial will be useful for anyone who works with OSINT.

2.OSINT for Due Diligence and Fraud Prevention

Organizations from both the public and private sector are starting to embrace open-source intelligence as an essential ingredient of diligence and counter-fraud intelligence procedures. And for good reason. Accurate, up-to-date, and versatile data is essential for conducting these processes to maximum effect. This is what OSINT tools can provide.  

The methods discussed in this webinar have a huge practical utility in areas from compliance and corporate security, to HR and finance. Discover some central approaches for manipulating open data to identify red flags and mitigate risks which could negatively impact the entire organization.

3.OSINT and the Gaming Sphere Part 1: Steam

Gaming platforms may not leap out at you as go-to sources of investigation but they can be – and are being – channelled for an array of negative purposes. To name a few, extremist recruitment and propaganda, financial scams, and even money laundering, can all crop up on these platforms.

In this webinar, we focus solely on Steam, exploring methods through which investigators can identify threat actors, frauds, and extremists, as well as trace their activities and map out the broader structure of networks, including financial structures and internet presence on both the Dark and Surface Web.

4.OSINT and the Gaming Sphere Part 2: Extremism on Discord

While the community format of Discord is great for like-minded people to discuss common interests, it is also unfortunately a place where impressionable youths can be radicalized, and antisocial organizations can recruit members and plan disruptive events. The battle to counteract extremism on the platform is real, difficult, and ongoing.

In this session we’re joined by Miro Dittrich, an expert on far-right propaganda, networking, and radicalization in digital spaces. Find out how Discord can be leveraged to elaborate an expansive digital footprint around a subject, in a way which unearths a full digital environment including both connections and financial streams.

5.OSINT Case: Countering Global Money Laundering

In 2021 alone, people lost around $7 billion through ransomware, scams, and extortion, and figures are only expected to increase. With populations being defrauded of so much money, scammers need to find a way to legitimize their ill-gotten gains. However, this often isn't easy, and launderers leave trails that the switched-on investigator can pick up on.

Alongside Christof De Windt, OSINT specialist at Belgium's Federal Judicial Police, we run through an entire case from the investigator's perspective, demonstrating the logic behind the decision-making as the investigation unfolds. The result? The identification of two frauds who had received laundered profits of around 2 million EUR.

We really hope you find these tutorials useful and employ the courses and techniques to great effect in your own investigations. If you have any questions about how our products can further enhance your work, you can book a free product demonstration with one of our representatives. Simply follow this link and select a time slot for whenever you're ready.