Information and data are among the most valuable assets for any business or industry. They are critical elements that can either strengthen or compromise the security of an organization’s assets, network, or applications. No industry is exempt from the risk of cyberattacks, ranging from healthcare to education, data-rich organizations are potential targets, with information being a primary target for cybercriminals for abuse, extortion, or ransom. Former FBI Director Robert Mueller stated that “there are two types of companies: those that have been hacked, and those who don’t yet know they have been hacked.”
The Integration of OSINT and Cybersecurity
Open source intelligence involves gathering, filtering, and analyzing publicly or commercially available information and data from the surface, deep or dark web. This method has gained significant traction in national security and defense due to the need to swiftly identify risks in an overwhelming and rapidly growing volume of data. Consequently, the private sector has also begun adopting OSINT for similar purposes as they are increasingly a target among criminal organizations and adversarial nation-states.
Publicly available sources include accessible sites used daily, such as public websites, social media platforms, chat groups, and discussion forums. The deep web encompasses the hidden sections of the internet, those not indexed by standard search engines. The dark web is a segment of the encrypted internet that is accessible only through specialized tools. Its reputation largely stems from the criminal activities that exploit its anonymity to share information and plan attacks.
Cybersecurity and investigation teams use specialized OSINT tools to monitor dark web communications between cybercriminals, extracting valuable information about their activities. These discussions often cover new or improved tools and techniques, targeted companies or industries, and newly identified supply chain vulnerabilities. Breaches are identified on the dark web with marketplace sales, individuals who brag about their exploits, or the release of personal information or intellectual property.
How Does OSINT Help Foil Cybercriminals?
Open source intelligence can significantly impede or uncover the activities of cybercriminals in several ways:
- Detection and Attribution: OSINT tools and techniques allow cybersecurity professionals to gather information from publicly available sources to identify and track cybercriminal activities. This information can include data from social media, forums, websites, and public records. By analyzing this data, security teams can often trace and attribute attacks to specific individuals or groups, making it harder for cybercriminals to remain anonymous.
- Legal and Law Enforcement Collaboration: OSINT provides valuable evidence that law enforcement agencies can use to investigate and prosecute cybercriminals. The ability to collect and analyze data from open sources can strengthen legal cases against individuals or groups involved in cybercrime.
- Threat Intelligence: OSINT can be used to gather cyber threat intelligence, potential cyber threats, and methods used by cybercriminals. By monitoring online forums, dark web marketplaces, and other sources where cybercriminals communicate, security professionals can gain insight into emerging threats.
- Counterintelligence: Security teams can use OSINT to conduct counterintelligence operations. By understanding cybercriminals’ tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), they can develop countermeasures to disrupt their operations. This can include taking down malicious infrastructure, such as command and control servers, or misleading attackers.
- Public Awareness and Education: By leveraging OSINT, security professionals can raise public awareness about the tactics used by cybercriminals and educate individuals and organizations on how to protect themselves. This increased awareness can lead to better security practices and reduced susceptibility to cyberattacks.
- Exposure of Identities: Cybercriminals often rely on anonymity to conduct their activities. OSINT techniques can uncover links, networks, and personal information that cybercriminals have inadvertently left online, such as alias accounts, usernames, email addresses, or IP addresses. This can lead to the identification of the individuals involved. The added use of breach data can be used to uncover hidden accounts, passwords, or usernames of criminals that would be otherwise impossible to identify.
- Proactive Defense: OSINT enables organizations to identify potential threats before they materialize into attacks. By staying informed and up to date about the latest developments in the cybercriminal ecosystem, organizations can implement preventive measures and reduce their susceptibility to attacks. Setting up real-time alerts through ShadowDragon’s Monitoring capability to watch individuals, entities, keywords, or hashtags posted online in near real-time. This allows investigators or analysts to monitor trending topics or issues related to potential or emerging threats.
The ShadowDragon OSINT platform scans social media, online forums, and other communication channels. This has helped identify potential terrorist threats, by analyzing language patterns, keywords, and group affiliations, law enforcement have been able to identify radicalization efforts and planned attacks. After identifying a group discussing terrorist activities on a messaging app, law enforcement used OSINT to gather intelligence on the group’s movements, associates, and locations. This led to the prevention of a planned attack and the arrest of several individuals involved.
