A New Era of Investigative Intelligence
Industry papers and thought leadership
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Investigating Violent Extremism with OSINT
Did you know that 95% of the deep web is publicly accessible? Or that information uncovered in a high-profile leak incident had been available on the deep web for months or years?
Without the right tools, organisations are forgoing the ability to access, understand, and leverage all the information available to them on the entirety of the internet. NexusXplore is designed to streamline your intelligence efforts, enabling efficient collection from the surface, deep, and dark web.
This paper is especially relevant to you if you:
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Investigate and map threat groups across the surface, deep and dark web.
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Work in law enforcement, military, government agencies, non-profits or intelligence teams.
Critical Infrastructure Risk - Australia
It is vital for organizations to do everything they can to prevent compromise of critical infrastructure by internal and external threats. This is a challenging task given the complex landscape of critical infrastructure operations across Australia. By incorporating open-source intelligence (OSINT) into Critical Infrastructure Risk Management Programs (CIRMPs), operators can:
- Obtain intelligence about vulnerable people, assets and/or systems.
- Understand threat actor tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) to better manage cyber security hazards and minimise risk.
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Conduct fast and effective screening of personnel to help manage personnel security hazards including insider threat.
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Identify entities subject to foreign government control within supply chains to assist in the management of modern supply chain hazards.
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Identify threats and vulnerabilities to access management and asset protection across a range of physical terrains and operations.
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In a crisis situation conduct real-time monitoring to identify and track emerging threats and evolving situations to manage hazards to life and property.
This whitepaper is intended for critical infrastructure operators and security personnel within Australia and the Pacific. It contains analysis of real-world scenarios to demonstrate the practical application of OSINT and how it may be used to inform the complex task of securing Australia’s critical infrastructure assets.
Investigating Modern Conflict with OSINT
As of January 2024, there are over one hundred discrete armed conflicts raging across the globe. Forty-five of those are in the Middle East and North Africa, thirty-five in greater Africa, twenty-one in Asia, and seven in Europe.
Across these conflicts, the evidence suggests that civilian populations do not play a passive role - instead organising themselves to survive, resist, rebel against, or assist warring factions. OSINT plays a key role in providing militaries, intelligence agencies, investigative institutions, and non-government organizations with a broad, comprehensive, and accessible source of information.
The challenge with OSINT is often in compiling, synthesizing, and correlating information from decentralized sources which can include drone footage and metadata, publicly posted online media, social media,
forums, satellite imagery, local news, and radio. OSINT can also be leveraged to misinform, disinform, and confuse analysts.
This paper is especially for you if:
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You are tasked with providing update briefs on current and emerging conflicts.
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Work in defense, national security, or the intelligence community
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Are responsible for force protection
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Have teams that routinely operate in conflict zones.
Investigating Financial Crime using OSINT
Financial criminal activity directly correlates with the strength of the economy - as economies falter and stall, crime rises. Scams, tax, and investment fraud increase along with environmental crime, creating additional risks for non-compliance in global supply chains.
Organizations that invest in technology to help solve compliance challenges and fight financial crime experience less severe impacts with cost savings averaging $25m AUD per annum. Fines for non-compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations are increasing, costing organizations millions of dollars for failing to conduct adequate due diligence. Government stimulus packages are routinely targeted by organized crime,
including state-sponsored groups. Threat actors can engage in identity theft and synthetic identity fraud using information, credentials, and details easily found online.
Using information found online, threat actors can attack organizations, businesses, and government agencies using social engineering methods.
This paper is especially relevant to you if you:
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Conduct financial investigations in the public or private sector.
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Work in law enforcement, the financial industry, or regulatory agencies.
Using OSINT for Crisis Eesponse
A key factor in responding to a crisis is ability to act swiftly. Being able to rapidly collect and correctly interpret information will help you get to an informed decision faster.
This industry paper will help you to understand how open-source intelligence platforms can be used to support rapid decision making during a crisis in order to minimise loss of life and damage to property.
This paper is especially relevant to you if you:
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Need to fuse social media, online chatter from forums, and geo-based information collection to gain rapid situational awareness of an evolving situation.
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Work in law enforcement, emergency response, military, executive protection, non-profits or government agencies.
Understanding Supply Chain Risk with OSINT
Identifying supply chain risks can be difficult. Some of the most complex are government supply chains. For example, in 2020, computer equipment and software within the Australian Department of Defence was outsourced to 828 third-party suppliers.
As the complexity and global scale of supply chains has increased, the oversight and ability of governments and executive boards to exercise control over security practices and hygiene has decreased.
This paper is especially relevant to you if you:
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Have an regulatory or legal obligation to identify and mitigate risk within your enterprise and its supply chain.
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Need help mapping, analysing, and understanding the risks in your supply chain
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Work in procurement or sustainment departments in either the public or private sector.
Managing Corporate Risk with OSINT
In 2019, the average cost of a data breach in 2019 was $3.9m. Did you know that in 2022 it had risen to $4.3m?
To ensure that your organisation is prepared for corporate risk in a digital world, you need open-source intelligence on your side.
This paper is especially relevant to you if you:
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Are required to conduct due diligence.
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Help manage, identify, or investigate issues that concern insider threat or politically exposed persons.
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Work in retail, cybersecurity, a government agency or an intelligence team.
Critical Infrastructure Risk - Europe
It is vital for organizations to do everything they can to prevent compromise of critical infrastructure by internal and external threats. This is a challenging task given the complex landscape of critical infrastructure operations that exist both within and between sovereign European Union states. By incorporating open-source intelligence (OSINT) into Critical Infrastructure Risk Management Programs (CIRMPs), operators can:
- Obtain intelligence about vulnerable people, assets, and/or systems.
- Understand threat actor tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to better manage cyber security hazards and minimise risk.
-
Conduct fast and effective screening of personnel to help manage personnel security hazards including insider threat.
-
Identify entities subject to foreign government control within supply chains to assist in the management of modern supply chain hazards.
-
Identify threats and vulnerabilities to access management and asset protection across a range of physical terrains and operations.
-
In a crisis situation conduct real-time monitoring to identify and track emerging threats and evolving situations to manage hazards to life and property.
This whitepaper is intended for European-based critical infrastructure operators and security personnel. It contains analysis of real-world scenarios to demonstrate the practical application of OSINT and how it may be used to inform the complex task of securing Europe’s critical infrastructure assets.
Insider Risk - Corporate Infrastructure
An OSINT Framework for Insider Investigations was developed by OSINT Combine in collaboration with CI-ISAC Australia. It provides practical, ethically grounded guidance on how organizations, particularly those operating in critical infrastructure, can integrate open-source intelligence into insider risk programs.