OSINT tools and techniques are common in cybersecurity, where they are used to identify external threads or for ethical hacking and penetration testing. Law enforcement agencies, private investigators, and journalists also rely on the same techniques to learn more about a crime, suspect, organization, or person of interest.
Similarly, HR professionals can perform searches on potential candidates by conducting background checks on open source directories.
Marketing and sales teams can use OSINT tools when they need to target a specific user, or simply need to check if an email address is valid.
Sadly, it should also be acknowledged that fraudsters and criminals can use the same tools and techniques for exploits. For instance, when building a synthetic ID, a fraudster can stitch data they have acquired from a darknet marketplace, and combine it with data acquired through public records.
In the context of fraud detection, OSINT helps make decisions relating to:
Similarly, HR professionals can perform searches on potential candidates by conducting background checks on open source directories.
Marketing and sales teams can use OSINT tools when they need to target a specific user, or simply need to check if an email address is valid.
Sadly, it should also be acknowledged that fraudsters and criminals can use the same tools and techniques for exploits. For instance, when building a synthetic ID, a fraudster can stitch data they have acquired from a darknet marketplace, and combine it with data acquired through public records.
In the context of fraud detection, OSINT helps make decisions relating to:
- accepting a transaction in a scenario
- onboarding a new user on a platform (neobank, financial institution, iGaming)
- accepting a withdrawal (iGaming, crypto exchanges)
- performing a credit check for a loan (fintech, microfinancing)