The sixth edition of Open Intelligence Techniques

A year has passed since the sixth edition of “Open Intelligence Techniques”.

This is still one of the best texts, if not the best, on how to find information online. While much of the content in the fifth edition is still valid, Michael Bazzell felt the need to write a new edition that reflected the latest developments online.

What's new compared to the previous edition?

The volume has grown by approximately 50 pages. A quarter of the content still concerns well-established investigative techniques from previous editions, another quarter has been updated, and the remainder is material developed and written specifically for this edition.

The first chapter explains how to set up your workstation. It covers security protocols, free software, how to customize Firefox for research, and more.

In the second chapter we move on to virtual machines, in particular to Searcher . In short, Buscador is a virtual machine designed for OSInt and comes with all the tools you could possibly need. I should warn you that version 2 has been available for a few weeks now, and it features a lot of improvements over the previous edition. I absolutely must find the time to write a post about it. Thinking about it, it might be more interesting to compare it with the features offered by Tsurugi linux.

Michael dedicated the remaining chapters to individual topics that are explored in detail. For example, Facebook finally has its own chapter, and it fully meets the standard requirements of an analyst.

Work workflows

The chapter on workflows has also been updated. As the author mentioned, these schemes should serve as a starting point for developing your own activities. Here too, it wouldn't hurt to dedicate a post to how they can be re-mapped to the Italian scenario.

In the same chapter, the author offers some ideas on how to practice information research. The examples provided, like the workflows themselves, were mostly designed for an American audience, but I believe it's fairly easy to find alternatives more suited to Italian or European analysts.

A much-anticipated expansion is the chapter on the documentation to be produced at the end of the analysis cycle. In less than ten pages, some very basic guidelines are provided. Let's say they're the first step before moving on to specific texts on the subject.’subject.

Some final considerations

1. Keep in mind that the text dates back to February 2018 and, a year later, some techniques no longer work.
2. In several chapters of the text reference is made to the instruments that Michael Bazzell makes available to you free of charge on his website. I'd honestly be curious to know what data is retained after each use of their services. I emphasize that this is the same concern I have when using similar services (e.g.,. Stalkscan).
3. In Italy, the search for information on open sources increasingly leads to digging into social networks designed for particular user bases such as WeChat, Qzone o VKontakte. Even in this edition, the space dedicated to these social networks is limited. Perhaps for the European audience, a more in-depth analysis of these social networks would not have been a bad thing. It is also true that, as suggested in this item, mastering search techniques on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter allows you to cover most of your needs.

I can only recommend purchasing and consulting this text, which is currently perhaps the only one that is practically indispensable to purchase and keep on hand.