A question I am often asked by enthousiasts is how to explore the fascinating world of OSINT. My own journey spans about 45 years and I am still learning. There is no simple answer, but for OSINT from a strategic security, international relations or forensics viewpoint, the following guidance may provide a good starting point:

Start to read

Dive into the literature to learn how countries and sometimes corporate sector have developed an OSINT production capability, the theory behind it, how to design such a capability, the issues, challenges, setup, capabilities etc. The OSINT bibliography in the OSINT Treasure Trove may be a good start http://bibliography.opensourceintelligence.biz

Know the job

To understand OSINT, you need to understand the global organisation of information. You need to know the structure and system of open sources. Which types and kinds of sources are there out there and how are they made accessible? How to get access to that wealth of information? Learn subject indexing techniques, search strategies, Boolean logic, database techniques and much more. Learn librarianship.

Know your languages

English is dominant, but it is a great help if you also understand Mandarin Chinese, Arabic and Russian. Languages are much more difficult than you think. It is not just translating words and sentences, equally important is to understand the culture behind it. Someone who writes about the English Channel is probably British.

Build your information position

Choose the subject category you want to specialise in at a very early stage in your OSINT career. If you are interested in OSINT for financial fraud, start learn about bookkeeping, accountancy and related disciplines. Learn what it is, how to do it, learn the best sources, the language used, best authors, experts, conferences, journals, forums, websites. Know what you are talking about.

Learn computer coding

Last, but not least. I started learning computer programming in the 1980ies and have been doing that ever since. It is one of the most helpful things I ever did in OSINT. Until today I make use of these skills. Learn HTML, XML, XSLT, JavaScript PERL or PYTHON, C++ LaTeX. Learn how your operating system actually works, learn basic networking technologies to better understand OSINT support tools like Maltego.

And for your personal qualities: I expect three things: extreme curiosity, highly eager to learn, and a sharp mind. But the first two are basically sufficient. Being eager to learn and being very curious will get you almost anywhere.

That’s it. Hope this makes any sense!

We are delighted to say that the programme is now fully booked! Next training programme will be in September, so no worries here. If you register for April, we shall put you on a Standby List in case a seat comes available. If it does not, you will get a Priority Invitation for the next training.

Exciting news from Team OSINT! We have finalised the 2025 dates for the new range of our most popular training programme: OSINT Pathfinder as well as a date for the specialisation programme, the OSINT Master training.

In addition, due to the ever increasing demand, we shall be offering the Pathfinder also as an online training programme, to be delivered in short parts over a period of a month. Each part will be offered in a different time zone to accommodate customers living far away from The Netherlands.

In addition, we are planning to extend the Pathfinder with a fourth day of training. Three days is quit often too intense for many customers. The fourth day will be a practical session day to end at 1500 or so with hors d’oeuvres and a cocktail for saying properly goodbye.

Stay tuned for updates!

Essential OSINT reading for this week:

Open source investigations in the age of Google / Wilson, Henrietta ; Samuel, Olamide ; Plesch, Dan . – London : World Scientific Publishing Europe Ltd , 2024 . – 388 p. . – (Security Science and Technology ; 4)
Collection of papers on OSINT, reflections of, experiences, lessons learned and a variety of applications thereof, like arms trade, human rights, weapons of mass destruction, and more.

Can the open source intelligence emerge as an indispensable discipline for the intelligence community in the 21st century? / Minas, Harris . – Athens : Research Institute for European and American Studies , 2010 . – (Research paper ; no. 139)

Building your information position on OSINT is essential when you are in the OSINT world. In Ready, Research, Read I shall share on a weekly basis one or two titles that I consider very worth while reading, based on working in OSINT since 1990. Let me know your thoughts.

Remember, OSINT is a very broad and general concept that applies to many different areas. That explains why there are so many different definitions and visions. It is up to you to derive what is useful in your own environment.

Want to read more? Consider the OSINT Treasure Trove, a bibliography devoted to the finer art of OSINT.

Happy reading!

Thank you all for joining the OSINT Pathfinder Fifty Sessions of Success party in gorgeous Scheveningen! We had a hell of a time, lots of fun, laughter, food and drinks and good memories, thank you all for coming!

We are now on our way to the OSINT Pathfinder training programme number 51 in 2025. That one will be renewed to include new developments and remove content that we consider too much and not important enough anymore. We still cover the material in the documentation though, so no worries there.

We also have other plans for 2025: Refresher workshops, OSINT Q&D, full online training sessions and more. Stay tuned!