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CYBV354

Principles of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)

Course Description

CYBV354 provide students with an overview of the fundamentals of Open Source Intelligence. Students will be presented with the most effective methodologies used by cyber professionals, law enforcement, and other investigative personnel to locate and analyze information on the Internet and Dark Web. Students will use interactive exercises to become familiar with the volume of sensitive data on the Internet and how it can be exploited to develop highly detailed intelligence products.

Learning Outcomes

The student will:

  • Identify and describe the goals, capabilities, and limitations associated with Open Source Intelligence
  • Define and explain the different types of files that contain useful metadata as well as how to access, modify and delete metadata
  • Describe and demonstrate how to use web-based and proprietary open source search tools to conduct investigations
  • Identify and describe the different image and video formats and how data can be embedded or hidden within the format
  • Describe and explain how to conduct reverse image searches to identify the origin, modifications, and geolocation data associated with an image or video
  • Explain and demonstrate how to conduct Social Media research to obtain and leverage sensitive personal data during an investigation
  • Describe and explain how to find the geolocation of an WiFi access point or a subject’s IP address using Internet search tools
  • Identify and explain how to locate and leverage government documentation to verify and validate information about a subject

Course Objectives

The student will:

  • Analyze the accuracy of the publicly available data in order to validate source reliability
  • Access and analyze metadata contained within a set of provided evidence files to determine who created and modified the files
  • Investigate how much open source information can be gathered on a subject; explore the inconsistencies in the amount and types of data gathered from different sources; and examine how different sources can provide contradictory information.
  • Use common search engines to locate and analyze government data to confirm or deny the validity of data located on online community sites
  • Leverage online mapping applications to locate and plot both IP addresses and WiFi Access Points