OSINT: Source Discovery (Virtual Course)

Open enrolment and in-house options available

Good source awareness is what differentiates great analysts from merely competent ones. The richer your source base, the more insight, foresight and perspective you can bring to the table, all of which are vital to maintaining a competitive edge. Our Source Discovery program will walk you through the many strategies you can use to build and maintain a rich source base using the surface web, the social web, academic resources, and the latest AI search tools.

There are currently no dates planned for this course. Register your interest for future dates or enquire about in-house options.

Course Outline

Introduction to Source Discovery

Getting Started

  • Definitions
  • Principles and purpose
  • Key frameworks
  • Key strategies and process models

Requirements Planning

  • Mapping your current source base
  • Clarifying your source / knowledge gaps
  • Defining a source development strategy

Building Your Source Index

  • Why build a source index?
  • Recommended tools / resources

Source Discovery via the Surface Web

Source Mapping

  • Finding sources by country
  • Finding sources by language
  • Finding sources via backlink tools
  • Recommended search / discovery strategies

Feed Discovery

  • Feed discovery via search engines
  • Feed discovery via aggregators
  • Feed discovery via source directories
  • Feed discovery via foreign language research

Source Discovery via the Social Web

Working with Social Media

  • Source discovery via popular social media channels
  • Recommended search / discovery strategies
  • Scraping and aggregating your search results

Finding and Leveraging Subject-Matter Expertise

  • Finding experts and authorities
  • Finding opinion leaders and influencers
  • Analysing an individual's influence and reach

Source Discovery via the Academic Web

Working with Academic Search Tools

  • Working with traditional academic search engines
  • Working with AI-enabled academic databases
  • Finding journals and journal articles
  • Capturing and extracting citations and sources
  • Compiling you source base

Source Discovery via AI

Working with AI Tools

  • Recommended prompting strategies
  • Refining and iterating your prompts
  • Working with popular LLMs
  • Verifying and validating your results
  • Using AI to support citation / siteation pearling
  • Using AI to for basic source assessments
  • Using AI for basic literature reviews
There are currently no dates planned for this course. Register your interest for future dates or enquire about in-house options.

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.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this webinar you will know how to:

  • Build and maintain broad source awareness
  • Discover new sources across different digital domains
  • Use AI tools to organise and leverage your sources
  • Elevate your knowledge and expertise in your chosen profession

What You Receive

  • All course slides in PDF format
  • Cheat sheets for source discovery
  • A source discovery checklist
  • Six months of post-course support
  • A certificate of completion

Course Fee

EUR 1,200

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Please observe the following requirements:

  • You will need a Windows or Mac laptop (tablet computers are not recommended)
  • Install Google Chrome. You will be required to install a range of browser extensions, so it is important that you have administrative rights to your laptop
  • Install Zoom
  • Set up a Google account to facilitate the use of different tools
  • A second monitor is recommended but not essential

Additional software requirements will be sent prior to the start of the course.