Open-Source Intelligence

Collection Search Strategies, Techniques & Tools – Analyzing – Reporting & Presenting Results For Law Enforcement, Security Professionals and Public Safety Officials
Intelligence Best Practices Training for Government - Government Support Contractors - Corporations - Banks

 

This course is available for On-Site Training. We will bring this course to your agency or company.
Contact Don Dickson, On-Site Training Manager at (301) 455-5633 or Don.Dickson@GovernmentTrainingInc.com

About this course

Acquiring open source intelligence (OSINT) requires more than just an ability to use the Internet. Special databases and off-line sources are among the many rich veins of intelligence which go unknown and untapped by law enforcement, business researchers, security personnel, terrorism, gang and financial researchers and intelligence analysts.

This course provides a five step process developed over ten years and augmented by tips, hints, checklists, examples and case studies that will lead the student to information once considered unavailable and unreachable.

Finding online databases, deep and hidden web sites that return key intelligence while remaining within the law and privacy consideration is a skill needed for the law enforcement, intelligence or business intelligence professional.

Our instructor has supported global investigations in support to anti-terrorism, threatening organizations, financial and money flow monitoring and discovery, organized crime, gang movements and plans, and business intelligence for major corporations

Read paper by MGen Flynn and members of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) based on last year’s White House analysis on Intelligence Operations and movement to Open Source Intelligence by the Military, dated January 2010 … Read more …

Shown below is an evaluation by several members of a Federal Agency Intelligence Unit attending our Open Source Training Course. The use of yellow highlighter is from the client

Training Course Evaluation – Level I
Training Topic: Open Source Intelligence Training
Presenter: Government Training Inc.

Q 1. The length of the training presentation was adequate. (Indicate)
Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
Q 2. The training presentation was useful to you. (Indicate)
Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
Q 3. The training presentation materials (if any) were useful to you. (Indicate)
Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree

Q 4. What aspects of the training were most valuable?
The links that were discussed as well as the strategies for open source searching of information

Q 5. What aspects of the training were least valuable?
None noted

Q 6. How can the training course or series be improved? (Additional topics/methods, other changes)
No improvement necessary

Q 7. Would you recommend this course and/or provider to others? Why/Why not?
Superb course, anyone interested in learning how to use the internet to its full capabilities as well as using it to find subjects of interest make this course a must attend event

What is the value I will receive from this instruction?

In its most fundamental form, what we do on this course is to train the attendees to find more data in less time when online, and then to make better sense of it. As we say, we enable our clients to harness the power of the Internet to allow them to get the information they need when they need it. We give our clients bang for the buck in that they will now take less time, to find more, online.

We live in an information based society in which information is the commodity of greatest value - finding the right information and understanding how to interpret it is essential in business whether it is competitive intelligence, enhanced due diligence, brand protection, reputation management, employee background screening or any other of the myriad of information focused business functions.

We also teach attendees how to do this safely (without leaving their organization's "footprints" all over the web sites they are visiting) - this being said, we discuss counter-intelligence opportunities on the web.

Attendees will not only learn a new range of skill sets to make them more efficient online, they will also develop a new mindset regarding online searching that will carry them through the technological revolution that will continue in cyberspace for many years to come.

In our experience, most clients "don't know what they don't know" about online searching and miss far more relevant information online than they find.

Take-aways

• Lists of search tools linked to intelligence collection objectives
• Traps to avoid
• Check lists for each step in the process
• Most common mistakes and how to avoid them
• Proven search queries – Examples that work based on target intelligence

Course Objectives

• To understand the intelligence capabilities of the Internet as a whole in both proactive and reactive scenarios.
• To become more effective and efficient in exploiting the Internet as an intelligence and investigative research tool.
• To organize and archive information recovered from Internet sources for intelligence and evidentiary purposes.
• To maintain security and privacy when engaged in gathering online intelligence.
• To understand both the policy and legal implications associated with various online Investigative techniques.

Content Summary

• Understanding search engine indexing and ranking protocols.
• Surface and Deep Web advanced searching strategies and tools.
• Hiding web documents from search engines and recovering pages that have been removed from Web servers.
• Researching forums, discussion boards, newsgroups and mailing lists.
• Introduction to multi-media search, weblogs, searching the blogsphere, social networks, wiki databases
• Online privacy and anonymity.
• OSINT counterintelligence techniques used by the criminal element.
• Web site mapping and archiving techniques and tools.
• Introduction to Internet architecture (TCP/IP basics and WHOIS tools).
• Introduction to Open Source Intelligence and the Intelligence Analysis process.
• Effectively planning online OSINT projects.
• Tools for collating and organizing Internet
• Team exercise and presentation.

Who Should Attend?

This course is suitable for managers of employees who conduct investigations to which there may be an intelligence component or who must do Internet research in the course of their duties. This includes those dealing with and aspect of Intelligence Led Policing, Internet Scams and Frauds, Trafficking/Supplying Controlled Drugs or other illegal materials such as Stolen Vehicle Parts, Forged or Fake Documentation, Groups causing Public Order/Community Safety problems , Child Exploitation, etc.

Many past attendees have attended for defensive reasons. What is available about their agency, their key staff, their plans, their sensitive databases - on line?

Here is an example list of applications for this training…

• Business Intelligence
• Enhanced Financial/Banking Due Diligence
• Brand Protection
• On-line Reputation Management
• Investigations
• Pre-Employment Screening
• Research for Journalists
• Product Counterfeiting
• Predictive Policing

Syllabus and Featured Topics

Step One: Preparation

• Strategies and Tools
• Privacy issues
• Search engines and tools
• Building your Tool box
• Validation of information collected
• Dangers from the Internet from an intelligence view
• Case Studies

Step Two: Search and Collection

• Review of the steps leading to the search
• Tactics and strategies
• How to create queries that find the target information
• Privacy and Ethics
• Using information collected to go to the next level of data.

Step Three: Sources

• ListServs
• Feeds
• News
• Multi media
• Social networking
• The “Deep Web”
• Checklists

Step Four: Organizing and Building Your Reference Library

• How to organize information for analysis and historical record
• Examples

Step Five: Analysis and Reporting

• Analysis and Reporting – The Art of
• Techniques to improve the quality and accuracy of data
• Creating your intelligence report and findings
• Case studies

About your Instructor

Sandra Stibbards Owner & Licensed Private Investigator — Camelot Investigations Open Source Intelligence Manager and Senior Instructor for The Center for Intelligence Best Practices™ – a Business Unit within Government Training Inc.

Sandra Stibbards is a licensed Investigator in California (PI18099) and Texas (A11304) and owner of Camelot Investigations. Camelot Investigations was opened for international business in January of 1996. She joined Government Training Inc in May of 2010 to head up the Open Source Intelligence Sector for the company’s Center for Intelligence Best Practices and head its Open Source Training & Publishing unit.

Ms. Stibbards education includes receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Policy and Administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNYAB). She continued her education by taking a background investigations course with the Nick Harris Detective Academy in 1992. With a general background in private investigations, she worked with other licensed investigators for approximately 4 years earning the 6,000 plus hours necessary to achieve a Private Investigator License in California.

Ms. Stibbards experience includes cases involving competitive intelligence, counter intelligence, fraud investigations, vulnerability assessments, intelligence gathering, internet investigations, asset investigations, pre-investment investigations, difficult locates, background investigations, supervising surveillances, employee theft & drug use, illicit activity, mystery shopping at bars and restaurants, and sales for investigations. The 4 years of ‘on the job’ experience preparing for a California P.I. License was mainly worked with Universal Studios Hollywood, Quest Attorney Investigations and Spiwak & Iezza.

With this experience and education, Ms. Stibbards began her own private investigation agency, Camelot Investigations, in 1996. She specializes in Fraud Investigations, Competitive Intelligence, Counter Intelligence, Vulnerability Assessments and Intelligence Collection. Elicitation is a specialized skill and trade that she has developed and refined during her years of investigations. Cases are worked internationally. Some of the most prominent clientele Ms. Stibbards has assisted are in the Medical Supply & Pharmaceutical Industry, Financial Institutions, Brokerage Firms, Security & Executive Protection Corporations, Airline Industry, International Retail Industry, Accounting Agencies and Law Firms as well as other Investigation Agencies.

Ms. Stibbards has been asked to produce training seminars on the topic of Vulnerability and Protection of Business Information, Open Source Intelligence and Internet Threat Response. These training seminars are tailored for large corporations and government agencies. Some of the bubusinesses in attendance have included retired intelligence agents, licensed private investigators, security companies and financial corporations. The presentations help to advise and prepare them on how to protect their businesses and information.

What past students have said about this training

• I was stunned at what I found out about me and my company. We were virtually an open book.
• Your training allowed us to take our intell analysis team to a new level. Many thanks. Great training with lots of utility for our agency.

Course Schedule

• Registration begins at 8:00 am
• Class begins at 8:30am
• Class ends at 4:30pm
• There are several 10-15 minute breaks throughout the day.
• Lunch generally begins at 12:00pm and lasts approximately 1 hour

GTI Cancellation Policy

You may designate a substitute in writing any time before the course.

Cancellation requests must be sent in writing (email or fax) and will be subject to a $100.00 processing fee. No cancellations or transfers are accepted within 2 (two) weeks prior to the course start date or later.

PLEASE NOTE: No shows will be liable for the entire registration fee. In the rare occasion that a course is cancelled or postponed, please note our reimbursement is limited to paid tuition only.

We're sure you'll be satisfied with the content of our courses. If you're not, please tell us why in a brief letter and we will credit your investment towards another Government Training, Inc. course….You risk nothing!

Should you have additional questions, please contact customer service at 703-622-1187 or customer.service@governmenttraininginc.com

IMPORTANT: Open Enrollment Training Terms and Conditions

Airline Tickets: It is recommended that you do not make non-refundable airline reservations – There are sometime circumstances out of our control (weather, natural disaster, other emergency situations) that would cause us to postpone our scheduled course.

It is the responsibility of the registrant to check our website for any last minute changes that may have occurred concerning our training BEFORE departing for the class. Last minute changes are posted as soon as possible. – For more information or contact customer.service@GovernmentTrainingInc.com