Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is the collection and analysis of data from open sources (social medias, news media, blogs, forums, public records…).
Used in tactics: Incrimination
Mitigations
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Avoiding self-incrimination | An adversary can use open-source intelligence to collect information that you publish voluntarily. To mitigate this, you can avoid using social media and generally avoid making any information about yourself or your networks public. |
Used in repressive operations
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Repression of Lafarge factory sabotage | Investigators collected metadata from photos of the action posted online, including the name and serial number of a camera[1]. This helped them identify a person they accused of taking the photos. |
| 2019-2020 case against Mónica and Francisco | The photos used to identify Mónica and Francisco in public CCTV footage were found on social media[2]. |
| Bure criminal association case | Investigators visited a Facebook page associated with the struggle against Cigéo and then analyzed the Facebook profiles of everyone who had “liked” the page[3]. |
Private source.