What is OSINT (open source intelligence)?
OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) is the discipline of collecting, analyzing and correlating publicly available information to produce intelligence: social media, public records, metadata, leaks, specialized search engines and the open web. It's the foundation of reconnaissance in pentesting, investigations and cyber intelligence.
OSINT techniques and tools
It includes advanced search with operators (Google Dorking), reverse image search, username profile enumeration (WhatsMyName, Maigret), domain and metadata analysis, and data-breach lookups. The key isn't the tool but the method: start from one data point and expand the information graph until you answer the investigation's question.
OSINT in cybersecurity
An attacker does OSINT to profile a target before striking; a defender does it to know their own exposure surface and get ahead. Mastering OSINT — now supercharged with artificial intelligence — is one of the most in-demand skills in the field.
