Concept · 7 min read
What is OSINT?
What makes public information research rather than Googling?
BeginnerCyberAtlas content
Open-source intelligence is the disciplined collection, evaluation and reporting of publicly available information. The discipline is the whole point.
Method over tools
- A defined question, before any collection begins.
- Sources recorded with dates, because public data goes stale quickly.
- Independent corroboration: one source is a lead, two unrelated sources are evidence.
- Explicit confidence language: confirmed, probable, possible, not established.
What public does not mean
Publicly accessible is not the same as free to use. Purpose limitation, platform terms, privacy law and professional rules all still apply to a person's public posts. Research on individuals especially requires minimisation: collect what answers the question and nothing else.
A repeatable first pass
- Write the question and what would falsify it.
- Enumerate sources by type: registrars, certificates, platforms, archives, company records.
- Run automated collection with parameters recorded; verify hits manually.
- Store artefacts (screenshots, URLs, timestamps) in one case folder.
- Write findings with confidence levels and gaps.
Where this shows up
Tools in the directory whose commands assume this knowledge.