Looking Back: An Overview of Pantellica’s OSINT Championship 2023
We received more than five dozen applications for this year’s Championship, more than thrice compared to the previous (and our first) year. After necessary due diligence, 35 players were shortlisted.
Throughout the month of October 2023, competitors were individually sent a common set of riddles for each week. The four weeks were designed around a specific theme: Round 1 focused on social media platforms, Round 2 focused on indexed links which can usually be found through dorking, Round 3 was all about extracting the geographical coordinates about an assigned subject and Round 4 was a rather complex set of inter-connected sequential riddles which had a combination of techniques used in all the previous rounds.
Each riddle’s cumulative score of 5 was further broken down as such:-
• A correct answer carried 2 points.
• A brief explanation of how the competitor found the answer carried another 2 points.
• Link/ URL to the correct answer (for mod verification) carried 1 point.
A handful of competitors were inactive and were subsequently struck-off; so too were more than a dozen competitors who were unable to solve a single riddle. The set of players had become quite ‘distilled’ before proceeding to Round 2.
An interesting thing we observed was that competitors who were qualified in computer science-related subjects by qualification were more prone to facing issues in solving analytical questions of Round 2, whereas those from social science backgrounds had some difficulty in solving Round 1 and Round 3. The contrast was striking and helped us understand the nuances of multi-layered OSINT and the cognition behind attempts to solve each issue.
Since competitors were mandated to explain their thought process/ methods, we were able to witness firsthand the diverse approaches to problem-solving. It is generally understood that there is no hard-and-fast rule to deconstructing problems, so the techniques adopted by competitors from the technical versus non-technical academic backgrounds were informative.
I would like to acknowledge the wonderful efforts of Hamza Ashraf alias TRIXIANT, a practitioner of OSINT and Cyber Security in the public sector, who put up a tough fight till the end and secured 2nd Position. His clarity of thought and enthusiastic approach toward problem-solving were very impressive and testified to the skills he has accumulated. Observers keeping track of our game progress would have easily bet on him before the finals.
Commendations are also due to journalist and researcher Saadain Gardezi alias Morpheus who is associated with Forbes Middle East and the Islamabad-based think tank Strategic Vision Institute (SVI). Like Ali and Hamza, Saadain was able to articulate his thought process meticulously and was very clear about where and when he faced certain limitations. We also found his approach to be well thought through and rigorous, this is why he was able to secure 3rd Position.
Each competitor, including those not in the Top 3, carried their own strengths. It was heartening to see them attempting to prove their mettle till the very end. After all, this Championship was primarily an infotaining exercise in self-evaluation for every one of them. Our Champions Fahad Nabeel (2022) and Ali Raza Maher, CFA (2023) have articulated this point wonderfully.
While the contents of our weekly challenge sheets remain strictly confidential, we can share a set of broad key words to give you a glimpse of the broad canvas we prepared for competitors during each week:-
• Round 1 (Social Media): Southeast Asia, Oceania, indigenous peoples, naval forces, multimedia archives,
• Round 2 (Deep Web): Civil aviation, federal bureaucracy, HADR support, diplomacy, philanthropic activities, banks, nuclear warfare, intelligence organisations,
• Round 3 (Geolocation): Europe, Hong Kong, Lebanon, India,
• Round 4 (Inter-Linked Case): Doomsday cult, patent and trade affairs, academic institutions, North America, multimedia broadcasting group.
As the convener of the Championship, I wish all participants the best for their future endeavours and would like to take this opportunity to extend a special vote of thanks to the Championship Coordinator, M. Zubair, for his reliability and support throughout this event. His input during the game design process and also regular liaison with the competitors was invaluable.
Pantellica (Pvt) Ltd hopes to sustain this venture into an annual event to identify, celebrate and award OSINT practitioners of Pakistani origin.
