OSINT: Competition — Training Exercise

ART By VEEXH

PURPOSE OF OSINT?

If you’re not familiar with the term “OSINT” it stands for “open source intelligence.” A branch of intelligence concerned primarily with the aggregation and analysis of publicly available information. However, I like to spell it “OS-INT” because a lot of individuals misunderstand the intelligence component. It’s easy to ignore the INT in OSINT because OSINT has become a tool in many areas of professional tradecraft simply as a means of gathering information, but that’s not the initial aim of OS-INT. To truly comprehend OS-INT, one must first understand the distinction between information and intelligence.

Information is anything that can be known, regardless of how it is discovered intelligence on the other hand refers to information that meets the necessary outlines defined by some form of policy or intended end goal and has been through a refining process to meet those necessary requirements by which objectives have been clearly defined. All intelligence is information, not all information is intelligence.

TRAINING EXERCISE

PRIZE

100% off ALL on-demand courses from The OSINTion

This exercise had ended, and the winner had successfully received their prize. You’re still free to practice.

Alright students pay attention

OBJECTIVE

I’m planning a vacation to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in December and in need of information. Your goal is to gather information that I can turn into useful intelligence to aid me while I’m in Rio. I’ll be staying in the iconic Copa Cabana Palace, which is pictured here. This is the beginning point for the three questions that follow.

Starting point

Remember, OSINT is not guessing all the questions can be answered using the starting point.

QUESTIONS

• I’ll be flying into SDU Airport. To assist me in arriving right on time for check-in. How much time will it take me to get from SDU airport to my intended destination if I'm driving?
  ANSWER EXAMPLE FORMAT: 30 minutes
• Unlike James Bond, who drinks martinis, my friends and I enjoy a superior substance known as sake. At Copa, there is a pan-Asian restaurant; how many Brazilian reals would 5 bottles of “Hakutsuru Chotokusen Daiginjo (1800 ml) — Hyogo” cost me for my friends?
  ANSWER EXAMPLE FORMAT: R$ 3,000
• Image 6 of the website’s destination guide “The Best of Rio De Janeiro” shows zipline cable cars traveling up and down a mountain. I did some preliminary investigation and discovered that these cable cars travel to a location up the mountain with the word “Parque” in the title. There is a shop there that sells delectable brownies. What is the name of the place that sells these brownies?
  ANSWER EXAMPLE FORMAT: Carolina Brownies
  Brownie is in the title but it’s just 2 words.

You can relay the answers to me via Twitter/X @UnshelledSec

BONUS — TAKE YOUR SKILLS FURTHER

If you want to advance your skills, I recommend focusing on intelligence analysis rather than tools, which often leads to tool burnout because there’s always some fancy new tool being developed. Intelligence analysis is a pivotal tradecraft used across several professions and will give you a better understanding of not only yourself as you overcome biases, but a better understanding of the world we live in.

STARTING POINTS

Intermediate starting point for the experienced:

Beginner starting point: