OSINT for Criminal Investigation

In today's modern age driven by digital innovations, the widespread adoption of technology has transformed criminal activities, leading to the emergence of cybercrime as a significant challenge for law enforcement agencies globally. Cybercrime acts have left a considerable dent on criminal activities and nowadays that we are halfway into the subsequent technological era stands as one of the most crucial issues for law enforcement agencies all around the globe. The aim of this work is to discuss the relationship between cybercrime and organized crime and the importance of OSINT within criminal investigations in supporting law enforcement itself. Particularly, due to the current amount of data available online, law enforcement has access to crucial information concerning important matters in criminal cases, therefore OSINT has offered an advantageous opportunity to law enforcement agencies to investigate criminals.

History of Criminal Investigation

Since the 1900s, innovative developments have revolutionized law enforcement and forensic science’s ability to tackle the most complex criminal cases. In 1901 fingerprint identification was first accepted as evidence in British courts following its development throughout the 19th century, bringing more accurate identification of suspects and the ability to link individuals to crime scenes. In 1921 John Augustus Larson developed the modern polygraph to measure physiological responses to determine truthfulness. Forensic pathology emerged in the 1930s, advancing autopsy techniques to identify the cause and time of death more accurately, while the 1950s saw improvements in ballistics to link bullets to specific weapons. By 1984, DNA profiling had come in to play to intrinsically link criminals to their crimes.

Law enforcement authorities’ attempts to ensure perpetrators are held responsible for their crimes has seen rapid advancements in the past century, and it shows no sign of slowing down. Now, with the emergence of digital technologies gaining momentum throughout the 2000s, police forces around the world are increasingly looking to utilize the latest and most innovative technology to ensure justice is delivered. It is an evolution of policing which investigative technology specialist, Altia, is seeking to lead the charge on.

In an era where information is both abundant and accessible, the role of open-source intelligence (OSINT) in combating criminal networks has become indispensable. Holding the ability to collect and analyse publicly available data, OSINT is inspiring a transformative shift in the way law enforcement agencies approach crime prevention and investigation, as they look to utilize comprehensive, real-time insights.

OSINT Criminal Investigation Steps

These are the steps that investigators use to help when investigating a crime when they are using the OSINT method. This method is still being used today.

Purpose: The primary objective is to detect and respond to potential cyber threats swiftly by systematically analyzing indicators of compromise (IoC) and indicators of attack (IoA).

Harvest: A multi-faceted approach is employed to gather relevant information, including accessing commercial data sources, leveraging insights from industry-specific Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs), and monitoring data streams from social media and other repositories.

Categories: The analysis framework focuses on two main categories, IoCs and IoAs, which denote specific artifacts or events indicating system compromise or ongoing attacks, respectively.

Refine: Targeted inquiries are made to refine the threat assessment, distinguishing between known malware signatures, unauthorized system modifications (IoCs), and suspicious activities' context (IoAs). This refined analysis enables prompt and decisive responses to emerging cyber threats.

Role of OSINT in Criminal Investigations

Expanding the net

OSINT holds a crucial role in dealing with criminal networks. Using software with a vast reach and ability to capture key information in real-time empowering investigators to expand their net of operations. Where traditional intelligence methods relied on covert and classified operations, OSINT allows authorities to tap into a wide array of sources available to anyone with internet access, enabling them to build a digital picture of a suspect’s movements.

Whether it be on social media platforms, via news reports or online forums, or even public records, everyone leaves a digital footprint, and where criminals are concerned, investigators can use these domains to paint an online picture of their actions. By monitoring these sources, authorities can identify patterns, track movements, and uncover connections that might otherwise have remained hidden to the naked eye.

Managing the risks

By leveraging OSINT, police forces can revolutionise how they manage and respond to criminal risks. By monitoring data, police forces are able to anticipate, and therefore mitigate, potential threats with unprecedented precision. As well as helping authorities to identify potential suspects and understand criminal networks, it also enhances situational awareness.

As a result, authorities can apply a strategic approach to optimize their resource allocation and bolster public safety. This is further enhanced with encouraged collaboration and information sharing between different agencies. As the data is publicly available, and can be shared across regions and sectors seamlessly, organizations can pool their resources to develop a coherent, effective approach to tackling criminal investigations.

Speed of information

The speed at which this information can be gathered, analyzed, and processed adds another weapon to an investigator’s toolbox. In the fast-paced world of criminal activities, timely information is critical and can often be the deciding factor in whether a prosecution is successful or not, or even in ensuring public safety.

OSINT tool brings huge value in this regard, providing police forces with volumes of organized data. Meanwhile, OSINT tool significantly reduces costly outputs when they are not necessarily needed. Traditionally, intelligence operations can be expensive, requiring significant resources for surveillance, informants, and other covert activities. OSINT, on the other hand, leverages freely available information, reducing the need for expensive and resource-intensive operations, making it an attractive option for law enforcement agencies who are working from a shoestring budget.

Using Social Media in Criminal Investigations

For online investigators, social media sites like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram or TikTok could be a treasure trove of information. But just like traditional detectives, investigators must be extra careful to maintain anonymity and keep their identity and intent hidden while researching social media. Not only could a clumsy move spook the bad guys into going deeper undercover, it could also trigger retaliation (cyber or material), putting law enforcement agents at risk.

There are several specialized tools out there to help online investigators browse social media sites without risk. They can be a great addition to investigators’ portfolios when following suspects and persons of interest on social media platforms. 

Remember to use caution while searching social media where you must log in to view information. Your target may be able to see who viewed their profile, or you may pop up in recommended connections due to your interaction with their profile or posts.

Social Searcher

Social Searcher is a real-time social media monitoring engine. It allows you to search for users, keywords, and trends across 11 different social media platforms. It searches for content in social networks in real time and provides deep analytics data. Users can search without logging in for publicly posted information on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit, Flickr, Dailymotion, and Vimeo.

Free users can also save their searches and set up email alerts. Premium features include saving social mentions history, exporting data, API integration, advanced analytics, and immediate email notifications.

Inflact

Inflact is a multi-purpose service, including an excellent Instagram search tool. Influencers, bloggers and regular users can choose tools based on their needs. It offers free and paid services for building a social media audience, managing content and communicating with clients. And it’s great for investigators, too!

TikTok

TikTok has taken off in the last couple of years, and while it’s generally just good fun and a lucrative platform for some folks to make money, TikTok is also used by criminal organizations as a platform for their propaganda, drug sales and a way to connect with potential victims. Searching TikTok is very straightforward: if you're looking for a specific profile, use TikTok.com/@ and then a username. If you're looking at a particular hashtag, enter TikTok.com/tag/ and the keywords or phrases you're searching for. Searches on TikTok don’t require a login.

Telegago

Telegago is another potent OSINT tool that offers comprehensive data retrieval, advanced search and filtering, social media analysis and alert notifications, and can be integrated with other tools. Telegago enhances efficiency by providing a centralized hub for data collection and analysis, enabling investigators to track individuals and events across online platforms, make informed decisions and stay updated in real-time. 

Telegago can be employed to track and monitor specific Telegram (popular among criminals) channels and groups. Investigators can use it to collect data such as posts, comments, media content and user interactions within these channels. 

Advanced search and filtering capabilities enable investigators to perform precise queries within Telegram, allowing them to narrow down their focus and quickly locate specific content or users of interest. Telegago’s data visualization capabilities can help investigators identify patterns and connections within Telegram communities, aiding in the analysis phase of the investigation.

Telepathy

Telepathy is a versatile OSINT tool dubbed the “Swiss Army Knife” for Telegram. It aids OSINT analysts by archiving Telegram chats, gathering member lists, finding users by location and mapping forwarded messages. The ability of this program to perform various data scanning tasks, from basic chat info to comprehensive history archiving and creating CSV-based edge lists for forwarded messages, makes it especially useful. 

Telepathy also uses asynchronous data handling to ensure data integrity even when Telegram imposes rate limits. User-friendly output formats simplify data processing and visualization.

TG Stat

TG Stat also focuses on Telegram, offering a specialized solution for extracting valuable information, tracking user activities and monitoring discussions within Telegram channels and groups. Investigators can leverage TG Stat to uncover insights and track potential threats, especially in contexts where Telegram is a prominent communication channel. 

TG Stat includes features for data extraction, advanced search, visualization and user profiling. It provides real-time monitoring so investigators can stay current on activities within targeted communities.