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I’ve been thinking a lot about why conversations around OSINT feel increasingly shallow, even though the tools we use have never been more powerful. We have more data, automation, dashboards and AI-generated summaries than at any point in the history of intelligence. And yet, when I look at how conclusions are drawn, how confidence is expressed, and how often assumptions go unchallenged, I can’t escape a deeply uncomfortable feeling: We are collecting more than ever and thin

You think you know Amsterdam? You don’t. Even if you’re born and raised there. For OSINT investigators, analysts, and journalists, searching only for “Amsterdam” means missing half the signal. The city hides behind slang, symbols, codes, and multilingual aliases. This post shows how language masks location, why alias awareness matters, and how Boolean and regex uncover Amsterdam’s hidden digital footprint across the open web, social media, and the dark web.

OSINT isn’t about collecting public data, AI already does that better than humans. OSINT is about pressure-testing reality. In digital investigations, organisational security, and business risk, OSINT turns fragmented public signals into defensible understanding. As AI increases visibility but not judgment, OSINT remains a human discipline: questioning sources, timelines, intent, and absence. This article breaks down what OSINT really is, how it’s used, why businesses rely on

If you want to know why teens feel broken, watch a fresh account for thirty minutes. It starts with jokes and ends in panic attacks, body shame, and self-diagnosis. Kids aren’t searching for this. The algorithm is choosing their emotions for them, one scroll at a time

You’ve got mountains of data at your fingertips. But how do you turn that raw chaos into sharp, actionable intelligence? That’s where data analysis for OSINT comes in. It’s not just a buzzword or a fancy tool. It's the secret weapon that transforms scattered bits of information into a clear, strategic advantage. If you’re serious about cracking cases, tracking threats, or securing cyberspace, mastering this skill is non-negotiable.

Intelligence reports turn raw OSINT data into actionable insight. After two decades in the field, one lesson stands out: collection means nothing without clear communication. The real value lies in analysis, connecting patterns, interpreting meaning, and shaping evidence into a coherent narrative. Effective reports guide decision-makers with clarity, structure, and purpose, tailored to the audience’s needs.

The biggest threat in OSINT isn’t lack of data. It’s ego. The moment you think you understand the dataset, you stop learning from it. The moment you think you can’t be surprised, you stop being useful. Black Swans don’t hide, they just look irrelevant until they change everything. Your dashboard doesn’t need more data. It needs more doubt.

Explore the future of OSINT with AI as we delve into the next two decades of advancements. Discover how OSINT and AI will redefine tradecraft.

This isn’t a rant against AI. I use it daily, ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Gemini. They’re in my workflow like everyone else’s. But the tradecraft is slipping. Analysts are skipping the hard parts. They’re trusting GenAI to do the heavy cognitive lifting, and it’s changing how we operate at a foundational level.

Extracting relevant information from large blobs of text, such as text files, PDFs, Excel spreadsheets, JSON files, can be a...