OSINT: Searching the Internet in a Foreign Language

Open enrolment and in-house options available

This course is dedicated to helping you make better use of foreign language content on the internet, regardless of your language skills. The course begins with a short introduction to the world’s major languages and the challenges they pose to open source researchers. We will then demonstrate how to set up your desktop and mobile devices to facilitate foreign language research. Thereafter, we will elaborate on the principles and process of finding, interpreting and using foreign language content, including in non-Latin alphabets. We will also discuss the search tools, AI applications and browser extensions you can use to support your work. Overall, we'll help you breach existing language barriers and leverage a richer set of resources in your research.

The course is delivered over two, 3.5-hour online sessions. There are separate iterations for audiences in Asia, the Americas and the EMA region. Choose the iteration that best suits your time zone (SGT, CET, EST).

View Dates and Register Request in-house course

Course Outline

Set Up and Search Strategies

Working with Foreign Languages

  • Foreign language research: challenges and opportunities
  • Language identification techniques
  • Working with dominant languages
  • Working with niche languages and dialects
  • Translation tools: attending to the details

Device Setup

  • Browser setup
  • Mobile device setup


Search Strategies

  • Defining your research methodology
  • Search tools and strategies
  • Web-based translation platforms and extensions
  • Optical character recognition (OCR) tools
  • Research resources and source discovery

News, Social Media and AI-Enabled Search

News and Social Media Research

  • Monitoring foreign language news using free tools
  • Monitoring foreign language news Flinfo
  • Working with non-Western social media platforms

People Search

  • Working with foreign naming conventions (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Japan)
  • Finding email addresses and personal profiles


Working with AI

  • AI-enabled search strategies
  • AI-enabled translation
  • Content summarisation
  • Data extraction and exploitation

Cultural Awareness

  • The importance of cultural competency and awareness
  • Profiling national digital ecosystems
  • Understanding social media norms and behaviours
  • Leveraging digital cultures and behaviours

Applying What You Have Learned

  • Case studies
  • Exercises
  • Q&A
View Dates and Register Request in-house course

Course Details

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?

This course is intended for anyone engaged in online research, including intelligence, security and law enforcement personnel, journalists, investigators, cybersecurity practitioners, and business analysts.

HOW YOU BENEFIT

On completion of this course, you will have the ability to:

  • Access and use foreign language sources with confidence
  • Leverage an expanded range of sources
  • Use AI tools to find and process foreign language content
  • Transcend language and cultural barriers in your research

WHAT YOU RECEIVE

As a participant on this course you will receive:

  • A certificate of course completion
  • A full set of course slides
  • Templates to support the application of the techniques taught
  • Six months of post-course support


COURSE FEE

EUR 600

COURSE PREREQUISITES

Proficiency in English and basic knowledge of the Internet suffices. You do not need prior knowledge of the foreign languages discussed in this course to participate.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

To participate, you will need:

  • A Windows, Mac or Linux-based desktop or laptop computer
  • A Google / Gmail account
  • Google’s Chrome Browser
  • A mobile device with the Google Translate app installed

Additional requirements will be provided on registration.