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Serhii Nesterenko

Warning

Before enrolling in the course, please read the following carefully.

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Warning

Before enrolling in the course, please read the following carefully.

Don't enroll in the course just out of curiosity.  This course is not for everyone. OSINT requires a special mindset, including analytical abilities, flexibility of thinking and patience.  If you suppose to find in the course a magic button that'll give you an ability to find everything about anyone in a click, you'll be disappointed. You'll find many OSINT tools in the course but none of them is a magic button.  In any OSINT investigation, you should use a bunch of different tools to get the result you need.  Depending on circumstances, some tools can give you fantastic results,  some can be helpful and others won't work at all. This is how OSINT really works.  It's not just about tools, it's about your thinking and creativity in using them.

Let's be honest, not so many people are appropriate to working in the intelligence sector, be it the physical or the digital world.

But if you feel you're one of those extraordinary people, I'm glad to welcome you. Let's see what exactly you'll gain from taking this course.

The course description

Information is the king today. If you have it, you’ll be able to make the right decisions and win. If not, you will be taken advantage of and lose. It relates to any area of your life – business, work, family, relationship and, especially, security.

Wouldn’t it be dreamy if you were able to get the truth about your business partners? Spot scammers before they have ripped you off? Locate a bully that pursues you or your child in social media? Find a criminal? Be sure a person you speak with does not lie to you? Get the darkest secrets of a company that deceived you? Gain information that helps you to get the job of your dream or get along with your boss? Have powerful leverage in negotiations? And even find the college sweetheart you’ve never met since then?

You’ll be able to do every item of the list and even much more after taking my course. And, more of that, you'll be able to get paid good money for finding information of such kind for other people/companies who don’t know the OSINT secrets revealed in this course.

And what are these techniques exactly? Here you go.

What the course covers

  1. Section 1, “Going undercover” is about your security, privacy and anonymity. You’ll know how you can be (and, in fact, constantly is) tracked on the Internet and how to prevent it. You’ll find out why a VPN does not provide you with total anonymity and what to do with this issue. Then we’ll learn how to harden your browser and test it for privacy so you can be sure you’re protected from adversaries' eyes. You’ll get a pack of tools and tricks that will let you feel sure no one is after you. You’ll set up search engines that don’t track you. And ultimately, have a browser James Bond would appreciate.

  2. In Section 2, “Recruiting Intelligence Sources” you’ll get to know with the OSINT investigation chain and learn to use it. We’ll consider how to obtain plenty of valued information about a target having only its IP- address, name, email, phone number or image. You’ll gain various techniques for analyzing, tracing and combining these items to dig out the data hidden in them. And more of that, you'll be able to detect a faked image with digital forensics tools. Of course, any theory means almost nothing without practice, so I’ll demonstrate a real-life example of catching a gang of scammers with these techniques for you to be sure they really work.

  3. In Section 3, “How to make search engines talk”, you’ll learn how to ask search engine questions they won't able to ignore. You’ll get to know with the special search engine language – advanced operators - and be able to gain information that 98% of people will never do. And it’s not only about Google. You’ll also learn some special search engines that can be used to find the exact information you look for. And you’ll even know how to recover information from websites that were closed and destroyed years ago. Of course, you’ll find an example of using these techniques in a real-life situation. This time you’ll know the compelling story of spotting the bully in social media and revealing a two-tongue politician.

  4. In Section 4, "How to interrogate social networks", you’ll learn the tools and techniques to extract floods of information about your targets, be it a person or a company, from social networks. We’ll discuss Twitter advanced search operators and you'll be surprised how much information can be obtained with them. You’ll learn how to dig into LinkedIn deeply. Find out how to reveal the real name of a person hidden under a nickname account. Know what valued data you can obtain from Facebook even after they blocked its Graph Search. Finally, you’ll get the story that demonstrates how to spot a criminal using his pictures on Instagram. And there is even more stunning case: how internet-trolls that interfered in the US election were spotted on Twitter. And you’ll be able to use this strategy to discover any group of trolls.

  5. Finally, in Section 5, “Loading heavy guns”, you’ll get to know with the favorite tool of many OSINT investigators – Maltego. We’ll combine the OSINT investigation chain we’ve learned in Section 2  with the powerful capabilities of Maltego. You’ll know how to build connections between IP addresses, domain names, persons’ names, emails and phone numbers to create visual graphs like those you see in popular movies about police or intelligence work. Thus, your ability to conduct investigations will skyrocket and help you to get insights by seeing the big picture. And you’ll be able to get a bunch of information about a person or a company in a couple of clicks.

The art of OSINT is not about techniques and tools only. First of all, it’s about mindset and strategies. In the last video of the course, I’ll give some useful advice about these factors, for you to know how to build your OSINT investigations to get the best results.

Ultimately, you’ll find a bonus video. Let it be a pleasant surprise for you.

Who this course is for

This course is for everyone who wants to get more information to make the right decisions, avoid losses and secure their assets. Creating this course, I had in mind in the first place security-related professionals: private investigators, law enforcement officers, journalists, HRs, penetration testers, ethical hackers, state and business intelligence specialists and so on.

But in reality, I’m sure that everyone needs to have these skills because OSINT techniques will help anyone in the usual life. For example, these techniques will be extremely helpful when you try to hire a nurse for your kid or starving to get a job in the company of your dream. In the first case OSINT techniques will help to avoid hiring a bad person; in the second they’ll raise your odds to get the job.

That’s why I aimed to create a unique OSINT course. Firstly, I left aside the dullest theoretical parts to make the course powerfully hands-on. That means you can use all these techniques right after you’ve learned them. Secondly, the course does not require any special IT knowledge. Unlike other OSINT courses, it even does not require learning Linux. I specially picked up the tools that are available for anyone but at the same time are extremely effective.

Enroll now

What's inside

Learning objectives

  • Osint (open source intelligence) methods and techniques
  • How to conduct professional osint investigations to obtain information about a person or company
  • How to spot scammers and criminals and not let them take advantage of you
  • How to find out if you can trust your business partner, friend or lover
  • How to find info about a person by an email address, ip address, phone number ... and more
  • How to spot a bully that pursues you or your kid in social networks
  • How to detect a faked image with digital forensics tools
  • How to reveal a hidden truth about a company
  • How to protect yourself from surveillance while browsing the internet
  • How to use maltego framework to track connections between ip addresses, emails, phone numbers, persons, companies ... and much, much more
  • How to detect faked accounts and expose internet trolls
  • How to check background of any person to be sure he/she does not deceive you
  • How to track bitcoin transactions
  • What your competitors are up to
  • Show more
  • Show less

Syllabus

Introduction
About the author
Disclaimer
Section 1. Going undercover
Read more
How to secure yourself from adversaries
Neutralizing Betrayers
Choosing a Browser James Bond Would Appreciate
Going for Search Engines that don't Track You
Section 2. Recruiting Intelligence Sources
Understanding the OSINT Chain
How to Trace an IP Address
How to Extract Hidden Data from an Email
Where Phone Numbers May Come
How to Get Invisible Information from an Image. Part 1. Reverse Search
How to Get Invisible Information from an Image. Part 2. Forensic Analysis
What's in a Name?
Practical Case: Vehicle Scammers Get Caught
Section 3. How to Make Search Engines Talk
Do You Speak Google? (begining)
Do You Speak Google? Getting to know with Google advanced operators (continued))
Seducing Duck
Time Travel by Wayback Machine
Practical Cases: Spotting a Bully and Two-Tongued Politician
Section 4. How to Interrogate Social Networks
Entering the Battlefield
Digging into Twitter
Digging into Twitter (continued)
Digging into Twitter (continued): Filters
Infiltrating LinkedIn
How to Spot a Person under a Nickname
What about Facebook and Instagram?
Practical Cases: How to Spot Trolls in Twitter
Section 5. Loading Heavy Guns
Getting to Know with Maltego
Extracting Domain Names and IP Addresses Connections
Playing with Names, Emails and Phone Numbers
How to Track a Bitcoin Transaction
Efficient Tips&Tricks for your OSINT Investigations
BONUS! How to Make People Share Their Darkest Secret

Good to know

Know what's good
, what to watch for
, and possible dealbreakers
Provides hands-on techniques applicable to security-related professions, offering practical skills for immediate use in investigations and intelligence gathering
Teaches methods to secure oneself from online tracking, which is valuable for anyone seeking to enhance their digital privacy and anonymity
Develops skills in analyzing and tracing digital information, which are crucial for uncovering hidden data and identifying potential threats or scams
Offers techniques applicable to various life scenarios, such as business negotiations and background checks, which empowers individuals to make informed decisions
Requires a specific mindset, including analytical abilities and patience, which may not suit learners seeking quick or effortless solutions
Explores the Maltego framework, which is a powerful tool for visualizing connections between digital entities and gaining insights from complex data sets

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Reviews summary

Practical introduction to open-source intelligence

According to students, this course provides a solid introduction to OSINT, focusing on practical techniques and hands-on activities. Learners particularly valued the real-world case studies and the instructor's apparent expertise. The sections covering search engine operators, social media analysis, and the Maltego framework were frequently highlighted as useful. However, students note that mastering OSINT requires significant practice beyond the course material, reinforcing the course's warning that it's no magic button. Some reviewers also mentioned that due to the fast-paced nature of OSINT, a few tools and techniques covered might be outdated and require additional research.
Solid introduction to OSINT methods for beginners.
"Great starting point for someone new to OSINT."
"Covers a wide range of basic to intermediate topics."
"Accessible even without prior technical knowledge."
Maltego section found very useful by many.
"The Maltego section was a highlight."
"Learned powerful visualization techniques with Maltego."
"Appreciated the practical Maltego examples."
Instructor's knowledge and real cases are valuable.
"Instructor clearly knows his stuff."
"Real-life examples were compelling and informative."
"Learned a lot from the instructor's insights."
Emphasis on hands-on techniques appreciated.
"Learned many techniques I could use right away."
"The hands-on demos were very helpful."
"Appreciated the focus on practical application."
Some tools mentioned in course are outdated.
"A few tools didn't work anymore."
"OSINT landscape changes fast, course needs updates."
"Wish the tool demonstrations were more current."
OSINT requires mindset and practice beyond course.
"Course gives tools, but you need to practice a lot."
"It's not a magic button, just as warned."
"Applied learning takes significant time and effort."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in The Secrets of OSINT (Open-source Intelligence) with these activities:
Review Networking Fundamentals
Reviewing networking fundamentals will help you better understand how data travels across the internet, which is crucial for tracing IP addresses and understanding online investigations.
Browse courses on TCP/IP
Show steps
  • Review the OSI model and TCP/IP stack.
  • Practice subnetting calculations.
  • Familiarize yourself with common network protocols.
Review 'Open Source Intelligence Techniques'
Reading this book will provide a broader understanding of OSINT techniques and methodologies, complementing the course material.
Show steps
  • Read the book cover to cover.
  • Take notes on key concepts and techniques.
  • Try out some of the techniques described in the book.
Advanced Google Dorking Exercises
Practicing advanced Google dorking techniques will improve your ability to find specific information using search engines, a core skill in OSINT.
Show steps
  • Create a list of advanced Google dorks.
  • Use these dorks to find specific types of information.
  • Analyze the results and refine your dorks.
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Review 'The Web as a Forensic Resource'
This book provides valuable insights into using the web for forensic investigations, which is directly relevant to OSINT.
Show steps
  • Read the book and take notes.
  • Identify key concepts and techniques.
  • Consider how these techniques can be applied to OSINT investigations.
Create a Presentation on a Specific OSINT Tool
Creating a presentation will help you solidify your understanding of a specific OSINT tool and its capabilities.
Show steps
  • Choose an OSINT tool to focus on.
  • Research the tool and its features.
  • Create a presentation outlining the tool's capabilities and how to use it.
  • Practice delivering the presentation.
OSINT Investigation Project: Trace a Social Media Account
Starting an OSINT investigation project will allow you to apply the techniques learned in the course to a real-world scenario.
Show steps
  • Choose a social media account to investigate.
  • Gather information about the account using OSINT techniques.
  • Analyze the information and draw conclusions.
  • Document your findings in a report.
Create a Custom Maltego Transform
Creating a custom Maltego transform will allow you to extend the functionality of Maltego and tailor it to your specific OSINT needs.
Show steps
  • Identify a data source that is not currently supported by Maltego.
  • Develop a custom transform to extract data from that source.
  • Test the transform and refine it as needed.
  • Document the transform and share it with the OSINT community.

Career center

Learners who complete The Secrets of OSINT (Open-source Intelligence) will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Law Enforcement Officer
Law Enforcement Officers work to uphold the law, investigate crimes, and protect the public. This role relies heavily on gathering intelligence and conducting thorough investigations. The Secrets of OSINT course is particularly helpful, because it provides training in open-source intelligence techniques that are critical for modern policing. The course is useful for gaining an understanding of how to trace IP addresses, analyze social media activity, and extract hidden data from digital sources. A Law Enforcement Officer may find this course useful.
Background Investigator
Background Investigators conduct comprehensive checks on individuals for employment, security clearances, or other purposes. They verify information, uncover potential risks, and assess an individual's suitability for a specific role. This course is useful for learning how to gather information from diverse sources, assess credibility, and identify potential red flags. The course directly addresses checking a person's background. A Background Investigator may find this course useful.
Private Investigator
Private Investigators conduct surveillance, locate missing persons, and gather information for legal or personal matters. They often rely on open-source intelligence to perform background checks and investigate claims. This course is valuable for aspiring Private Investigators because it teaches how to gather and analyze information from various online sources, including search engines and social networks. The 'How to Interrogate Social Networks' section is particularly relevant, as it details techniques for extracting information from platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. A Private Investigator may find this course useful.
Fraud Investigator
Fraud Investigators are responsible for detecting, preventing, and investigating fraudulent activities within organizations or on behalf of clients. A key aspect of this role involves gathering evidence and intelligence to build cases against perpetrators. The Secrets of OSINT course is useful for Fraud Investigators as it provides a foundation in open-source intelligence techniques, including how to extract hidden data from emails, trace IP addresses, and analyze social media profiles. Specifically, the course provides the learner with tools for spotting scammers. The course may be useful for those who want to pursue this career.
Intelligence Analyst
An Intelligence Analyst gathers information from various sources for the purpose of determining potential threats to national security and public safety. This career requires meticulous attention to detail, analytical thinking, and the ability to synthesize information from disparate sources. The Secrets of OSINT course helps build the foundation for these skills by detailing how to extract and analyze information from open sources like search engines and social media. The course's section on 'Recruiting Intelligence Sources' provides insights into analyzing IP addresses, emails, and phone numbers, all crucial skills for an Intelligence Analyst. The course may be useful for those who want to pursue this career.
Cyber Security Analyst
The role of a Cyber Security Analyst is to shield computer networks and systems from threats and unauthorized access. They are often called upon to find the source of attacks and perform investigations of breaches that may occur. This course is especially relevant to this career, because it provides training in techniques for understanding malicious actors' methods and how to trace them. The material covers subjects such as tracing IP addresses and extracting data from emails, which helps one become a Cyber Security Analyst. A Cyber Security Analyst may find this course useful.
Journalist
Journalists investigate and report on current events, often requiring them to gather information from various sources and verify its accuracy. This course helps enhance a Journalist's ability to conduct in-depth research and uncover hidden information. The sections on using advanced search operators, interrogating social networks, and utilizing tools like Maltego will expand a Journalist's toolkit for investigative reporting. The course may be useful for those who want to pursue this career.
Competitive Intelligence Analyst
Competitive Intelligence Analysts gather and analyze information about competitors to help companies make strategic decisions. This professional requires gathering information efficiently and discreetly. This course provides an introduction to those skills. The course may be useful for those who want to pursue this career.
Due Diligence Analyst
A Due Diligence Analyst performs investigations into individuals and entitites, usually on behalf of investors, banks, or law firms. They carefully scrutinize available information to identify red flags like fraud, corruption, or money laundering. This course is useful for professionals in those fields. The module that teaches professionals to understand the OSINT chain is a good lesson for Due Diligence Analysts. The course will help the learner improve in this aspect. The course may be useful for those who want to pursue this career.
Human Resources Specialist
Human Resources Specialists manage employee relations, recruitment, and compliance within an organization. Open-source intelligence techniques can be valuable for conducting background checks on potential hires and investigating workplace misconduct. This course teaches HR professionals how to gather and analyze information from online sources, assess credibility, and identify potential risks, such as detecting fake accounts. The course may be useful for those who want to pursue this career.
Compliance Officer
Compliance Officers ensure that an organization adheres to laws, regulations, and internal policies. They conduct investigations, monitor transactions, and implement controls to prevent illegal or unethical conduct. This course is valuable for Compliance Officers because it teaches them how to gather information, analyze data, and uncover potential violations. The course may be useful for those who want to pursue this career.
Legal Assistant
Legal Assistants provide support to lawyers by conducting research, gathering evidence, and preparing legal documents. This course is useful for Legal Assistants because it teaches them how to gather information from online sources, analyze data, and uncover hidden connections. The course can enhance a Legal Assistant's ability to assist with investigations and build strong cases. The course may be useful for those who want to pursue this career.
Research Scientist
Research Scientists design and conduct experiments, analyze data, and publish findings in their respective fields. The Secrets of OSINT course provides skills that may be useful for Research Scientists, such as gathering and evaluating information. The course may be useful for those who want to pursue this career. These skills can be applied to literature reviews, data collection, and competitive analysis.
Market Research Analyst
Market Research Analysts study market conditions to examine potential sales of a product or service. They identify and monitor competitors and analyze pricing. The skills taught in this course may be useful to Market Research Analysts, as they learn how to gather competitive intelligence. The course may be useful for those who want to pursue this career.
Librarian
Librarians manage and organize information resources, assist patrons with research, and curate collections. The Secrets of OSINT course may be useful for Librarians. The course provides a great starting point for Librarians to find and evaluate reliable information. The course may be useful for those who want to pursue this career.

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in The Secrets of OSINT (Open-source Intelligence).
Comprehensive guide to open-source intelligence techniques. It covers a wide range of topics, including online investigations, social media intelligence, and data analysis. It valuable resource for anyone who wants to learn how to gather and analyze information from publicly available sources. This book provides more depth to the existing course.
Explores how the internet can be used as a resource for forensic investigations. It covers topics such as web scraping, social media analysis, and online data collection. It useful reference tool for understanding how to gather and analyze digital evidence. This book adds more depth to the existing course.

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