Update 2023-osint-trends-analysis.html

2023-osint-trends-analysis.html

@@ -70,28 +70,30 @@ <h1>2023 OSINT Landscape Trends: A Data-Driven Analysis</h1>
         <p>In 2018, while conducting digital investigations in a former role, I started bookmarking lists of tools & resources useful for open-source intelligence (“OSINT”) research, including a surprising number of <i>lists of lists</i>. The collection grew, and after some (pretty painstaking) normalization efforts, I published the <a href="https://metaosint.github.io/" target="_blank">MetaOSINT</a> dataset & web app in 2021.</p>
         <p>MetaOSINT is first & foremost a tactical aide, designed to help <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVYCKu42LAk" target="_blank">jumpstart OSINT investigations</a>. But after steadily gathering more tools & resources over nearly half a decade - a period that witnessed immense geopolitical, societal, and digital change & disruption - it seemed worthwhile to take a step back and survey how the dataset itself had changed, while considering what those changes might reflect about any broader trends.</p>
         <p>This summary spotlights some of the most apparent changes I noticed in the makeup of the MetaOSINT dataset and quick takes on what those changes might suggest about the underlying landscape. It’s far from an academic assessment, but I haven’t seen a study quite like this conducted before - rooted in data points and at this scale, so I hope it adds value for more strategic-focused analysts and more tactical practitioners/investigators alike.</p>
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         <h2 id="summary">There’s a Tool for That</h2>
         <p>The number of tools & resources for conducting OSINT research - as measured by MetaOSINT - has grown considerably in recent years. In 2021, MetaOSINT tracked ~4,800 resources. ~1,000 were added in 2022, and the December 2023 update added a staggering 7,000 additional resources. These are certainly imperfect measures (especially considering that the <a href="https://metaosint.github.io/learn-more#methodology" target="_blank">inclusion methodology</a> evolved since launch), but the data presented here suggest the landscape has almost certainly seen considerable growth in recent times.</p>
         <p>There are now more OSINT tools than ever, useful for a wide variety of applications. If you are trying to find some bit of information online, there is a really good chance that some resource exists to help you. MetaOSINT is designed to help you surface that resource quickly - use the <a href="https://metaosint.github.io/table" target="_blank">table</a> if you have a pretty clear focus, or the <a href="https://metaosint.github.io/chart" target="_blank">chart</a> to start more broadly.</p>
         <br>
         <h2 id="social-media">Social Media OSINT is on &#128293</h2>
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         <p>An immense number of tools & resources exists to support OSINT research on social media platforms, and recent years stand out for the sheer number, depth, and variety that have been shared. With the addition of nearly 1,800 resources since 2021, Social Media is now the top MetaOSINT <a href="https://github.com/MetaOSINT/MetaOSINT.github.io/blob/main/docs/categories.md" target="_blank">resource category</a>.</p>
         <p>The boom in tools for social media OSINT likely parallels <a href="https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-global-social-media-research/" target="_blank">continually growing social media use</a> in general, but I find it valuable to observe the scale of overall and especially specific changes. Trendlines for specific platforms are likely influenced by a number of factors, including usage in general, more or less OSINT value from particular sources, and/or ease or challenges in retrieving relevant data from each platform.</p>
         <p>Most platforms saw a dramatic increase in the number of available OSINT tools, including Twitter/X, which retained the top spot by a healthy margin, more than doubling an already sizable number [note: most resources referenced here were likely published before changes to Twitter’s API took effect in Spring 2023].* Image- & video-forward platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Twitch saw immense increases in the number of OSINT-related resources, as well as chat & messaging platforms like Telegram, Discord, and WhatsApp and dating sites (COVID-19 pandemic quarantines probably further influenced many of these trends, including the latter &#128521). Type the name of any of these platforms as a keyword into the search bar on the <a href="https://metaosint.github.io/table" target="_blank">MetaOSINT table page</a> to instantly surface the range of OSINT resources related to it.</p>
         <p style="font-size:12px">*<i>Reduced</i> category tallies (e.g. VKontakte/Russian-speaking social media) were typically caused by either my own cleanup of the original data, or efforts to keep the collection from getting too unwieldy. For the small number of cases where resources were possibly “cut” from MetaOSINT, I feel the benefits of the far-deeper 2023 dataset greatly outweigh these limited potential downsides.</p>
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         <h2 id="geopolitics">Conflict & Crisis OSINT</h2>
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         <p>The Geopolitics segment of tools & resources grew the most - by far - of any category since MetaOSINT launched. A huge volume of resources around the Russia-Ukraine war were added, related to all aspects of the conflict - certainly open-source tracking of military and logistical movements & activities (evidenced especially with growth in ship and plane identification & tracking/traffic services), but also new information & people searches focused specifically on the region. Some approaches to surfacing these in the <a href="https://metaosint.github.io/table" target="_blank">MetaOSINT table feature</a> include:</p>
         <ul>
             <li>Type the simple keywords “Russia” or “Ukraine” in the search bar to quickly start a broad lookup.</li>
             <li>The “Maritime” and “Aviation” sub-categories within the “Transportation” category will surface a large number and variety of resources related to vessel identification & movement tracking.</li>
             <li>Type “Russia Resources” to find an entire new, dedicated sub-category within the Identity/Person Search Category.</li>
             <li>Another new sub-category, “Illicit Trade” (type that phase in the search bar), was added under the Geopolitics category in order to facilitate easier surfacing of this now-substantial segment of OSINT resources (over 100 are now currently tracked in MetaOSINT).</li>
         </ul>
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         <p>Table search in action:</p>
-        <a href="https://metaosint.github.io/table" target="_blank"><img style="float:left;margin:10px 25px 10px 0px;width:660px;height:410px;border: 1px solid #f3f3f3" src="assets/images/geopolitics_table.gif"/></a>
+        <a href="https://metaosint.github.io/table" target="_blank"><img style="float:left;margin:10px 25px 10px 0px;width:51%;border: 1px solid #f3f3f3" src="assets/images/geopolitics_table.gif"/></a>
         <p>The boom in OSINT applications for conflict & crisis tracking doesn’t come without limitations and potential downsides, and this <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/israel-gaza-war-highlights-power-and-limits-open-source-reporting" target="_blank">timely Reuters Institute piece</a> summarizes several specific, critical considerations. It’s also well worth noting that the many resources recently added to MetaOSINT were compiled prior to the launch of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023. Many dedicated OSINT resources surely now exist related to that conflict, and the trends covered here suggest that more will come around inevitable future conflicts as well.</p>
         <h2 id="disinformation">Verification & Disinformation Resources</h2>
         <p>The “News & News Verification” category saw the next-largest jump in tools & resources between 2021 and 2023. This trend is also not likely a surprise, especially to OSINT practitioners, but the scale of the increase seems notable - the number of verification/disinformation-related resources rose from 28 originally to <i>118</i> last year.</p>