Professional Social Media and Professional Con Artists: The Dangers of Fraud on LinkedIn

Before LinkedIn, lying on your resume was common practice for job seekers. According to a 2020 ResumeLab study, 56% of people embellish the truth on their resumes, with 36% outright lying. Recruiters are experts at honing in on the usual areas where white lies exist – experience, skills, grade point average, salary, and references.

On LinkedIn, profiles are digital resumes and fall into diverse forms of exaggeration and sometimes fraud. According to the Federal Trade Commission, fraud reports across social media have soared over the last five years.

LinkedIn is equally vulnerable to hackers and impersonators seeking to take advantage of the increased demand in employment and challenges straining human resource departments since the pandemic, everything from the debate of remote or hybrid work environments, pay gaps, diversity and inclusion, scarcity in middle management, and now, “quiet quitting.” These are all factors that play into the high cost of employee turnover.

In this brief, Overwatch analysts investigate the common mis- and disinformation found on LinkedIn. We will also explore the impact on human resources and how recruiters can apply critical thinking skills taught in open-source intelligence (OSINT) to hire qualified and honest candidates to reduce turnover costs.

The Bottleneck of Employment Verification

According to LinkedIn’s mission statement, they strive to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. This makes LinkedIn an excellent source to publish employment history and a glimpse into a candidate’s professional circle of influence. However, a surprising lack of verification goes on when posting information on the site.

When individuals update their profile, they can link to companies, universities, and professional connections, but like Wikipedia or other social media platforms, not all content posted can be taken at face value, leaving it to recruiters to verify the information.Notifications are not sent to page administrators to verify the information. Only mentions in LinkedIn posts receive LinkedIn notifications to invite companies or brands to engage with the post.

Based on the latest information on LinkedIn’s site, it does look like there is progress to help recruiters verify employment.

The feature was unavailable when we attempted to turn on employee verification for our company page. As HR recruiters, we recommend turning on the option, if available. This helps monitor brand sentiment and gives fellow recruiters greater confidence and validation behind LinkedIn profiles. Instead, it leads to a backlog of validation.

LinkedIn Profiles

It all starts with a LinkedIn profile. A LinkedIn profile consists of a profile picture, avatar, and digital resume of experience, certifications, referrals, and posts to share accolades and gain grassroots professional development. Because of this, LinkedIn is where 94% of recruiters vet potential candidates for a position. This is where good actors’ white lies live and where bad actors thrive.

In LinkedIn’s User Agreement, it is prohibited to create a fake profile. This does not hinder bad actors from creating accounts to spread disinformation with the intent of spamming job seekers for money or building a digital presence for more significant harm. LinkedIn’s latest Transparency Report outlines how they combat fake accounts and scams through automated defenses. Last year, LinkedIn said they removed more than 32 million fake LinkedIn accounts.

Bad Hires and Bad Actors

Beyond bad hires and the cost of turnover, there is the risk of bad actors. A bad actor’s intent could range in scope and scale from personal stalking, spreading disinformation online, or even targeting specific people or businesses to perform material theft or corporate espionage. When uncovering a fake profile, some indicators can help you spot the profiles. It is why inviting and connecting with another profile without knowing their intent requires you to stop and take a moment to ask yourself why the connection matters.

Perhaps the most well-known example demonstrating just how far a bad actor with a fake profile can go in exploiting LinkedIn comes from the “Robin Sage Experiment” conducted by Thomas Ryan, a “White Hat” hacker and Threat Intelligence expert. Ryan created a fake profile on LinkedIn and other social media channels. In 28 days, he connected with nearly 300 people, including security specialists, military personnel, defense contractors, and intelligence personnel. In addition, the profile gained privileged information about the people she connected with and their businesses; information such as home addresses, email addresses, bank accounts, and even classified information about the location of military units.

However, the revelations of Robin Sage do not appear to have stemmed the tide regarding the ease with which a fake profile can connect to high-value targets on LinkedIn. A confidential source close to Overwatch analysts spoke with us during the research process for this brief and claimed to be running a similar experiment. In just one week, they maintain that they have been able to amass fifty LinkedIn connections, all of whom are in the aerospace and defense contracting sector. Some people have even reached out to talk with this fake profile, unprompted.

While the above-listed examples showcase altruistic experiments to raise awareness about the dangers of bad actors online, there still exist actual bad actors on LinkedIn. A more recent example is an incident with the company Meta-Play, which brands itself as a blockchain incubator for Defi, Gamefi, and the Metaverse. On January 12, 2022, the company released a tweet claiming that a former employee named Jikun Liao had stolen $2.7 million.

A look at Liao’s LinkedIn profile begins to paint an interesting picture. He is from Singapore, allegedly living in Houston, Texas, and since 2013 he has worked for eleven companies, lasting 2-3 months or less. Attempts to verify employment using open-source business data aggregators and company websites confirmed only three of the listed experiences. While Liao had deleted his LinkedIn profile after the theft, the company had an archived version and published it on the tweet. This leads analysts to believe that the profile’s work experience could be exaggerated or fabricated.

A close look at the profile photo also shows an indication that it is a fake or at least an altered picture. A look at Liao’s ears shows that they are somewhat mismatched, a general sign of an altered profile picture of a human being. Additionally, the outline of Liao is blurry, suggesting that the photo was possibly cropped and dropped onto a vague background.

Taking the research further, analysts searched for Liao on various social media sites and forums using his names, including multiple variations/aliases in English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. Overall, Liao has a minimal online presence and appears not to be present on any of the leading social media platforms where most people usually congregate. Analysts could find potential profiles on GitHub, KeyBase, Telegram, DXDao, OutSourcely, and VK. The OutSourcely and VK profiles contain the most interesting information, as the OutSourcely profile lists Liao’s age as 29. In contrast, the VK profile includes a new picture and a birthday that would fit the age listed on OutSourcely. In addition, the VK lists Mr. Liao’s location as Vladivostok, Russia.

Analysts then ran the account’s profile photo through a free, open-source tool called FotoForensics.  As can be seen from the results, the lack of color on the background indicates that the photo was cropped and placed on a different background, accounting for the fuzziness of the edges. Proof that this photo is inauthentic can further be seen in the video below, provided by Forensically, which shows that the edges of the individual in the photo are full of inconsistencies and errors, again denoting that it was cropped.

The above evidence leads Overwatch analysts to believe that Jikun Liao is likely not a real person and that MetaPlay potentially hired someone posing as Liao based solely on his LinkedIn profile. The use of open-source intelligence techniques by HR recruiters and knowledge of the potential threats on LinkedIn likely could have stopped this alleged crime from happening, saving the company and its investors a large amount of money.

Our Assessment

Overwatch analysts assess that companies will have to make a more significant investment in human resource departments to grow their skills and capabilities in open-source intelligence training (OSINT).  To meet the growing demands and respond to cultural trends in a digital hiring age, employers will require a more in-depth understanding of how social media platforms play into hiring. The role of recruiters has evolved tremendously, requiring critical thinking skills to invest in a company’s most significant investment – their people.

Similar to the skills used to monitor current trends, HR experts will require a long-term investment in OSINT skills. While these skills may be used to monitor the activities of current employees, it is more likely they will be used to anticipate trends within the workforce and to monitor former (possibly disgruntled) employees. Understanding this digital space allows recruiters to proactively show current and prospective employees how a company’s core values come to fruition.

The most significant value a company will see from this investment is protecting its brand and its assets. A loud voice ofg brand sentiment comes from employees and having bad actors represent your company without acknowledgment can devastate your brand as they are an extension of your team.

Ultimately, companies will not be able to rely on social media sites like LinkedIn to protect them. While many sites are making strides to verify and validate information, it will always be up to the company to take their best interests to heart by investing in additional skills for their people.

Learn more about open-source intelligence courses for recruiters, check out Echo Academy here: https://echoanalyticsgroup.com/open-enrollment/

Sources

Top Issues Facing HR Leaders Heading Into 2022, Forbes, December 2021

What is ‘quiet quitting,’ and ow it may be a misnomer for setting boundaries at work, NPR, August 2022

‘Quiet quitting’ trend may lead to layoffs and complicate the Fed’s inflation fight, USA Today, August 2022

HR Trends in 2022. Changes in the Human Resources Landscape

How many job seekers like on their resume? CNBC, February 2020

The risk of a little white lie on your resume. Fast Company, February 2021

Fake LinkedIn Profile Accounts. NPR, March 20

Skull Games Volunteer Form

Narratives Going into the Congressional Election

The United States is preparing for the 117th congressional race. There are 469 seats in the U.S. Congress, comprised of 34 Senate seats and 435 House seats for election on November 8, 2022. While there is ample coverage of presidential elections, Congress is as, if not more important, in our system of checks and balances. Candidates have begun their political campaigns by keying into voters’ social media timelines, news feeds, televisions, commutes, mailboxes, and more.  

As political campaigns launch, social media platforms, like Meta, are learning from previous elections and plan to combat misinformation by investing millions of dollars to combat dis-/mis- information from spreading on their platforms. For example, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is investing an additional $5 million in fact-checking. The proposed intent is to protect election integrity and avoid campaigns from leaning into polarizing topics to seed propaganda that quickly impacts the polls or makes it challenging for voters to decipher fact from fiction.  

As Assistant Professor of Communications at the University of Arizona, Dam Hee Kim observed politicians, the media, and voters have become the scapegoats for the harms of fake news. Few of them produce misinformation. Most is produced by foreign entities and political fringe groups who create the content for financial or ideological purpose. This is where foreign entities or domestic bots will achieve their greatest effect. Another aspect will be that the misinformation will manifest in congressional races as representatives have to campaign every two years and done so without extensive social media or public affairs support. 

In this issue of Overwatch, analysts examine the current trends to see what topics generated strong responses from different electoral bases as politicians attempt to influence and swing the voter electorate.  

The 2020 Census Apportionment 

One key factor impacting the midterm elections is the recent 2020 census apportionment. Six states (Texas, Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon) gained seats in the U.S. House, while seven (California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia) lost seats.  

This reapportionment will shift campaign strategies, forcing them to hone in on keywords with the most significant influence for voting power in the hopes of ‘flipping’ red or blue states. This will be true, especially for states with a larger number of delegates, like California, Texas, and Florida. This approach will permeate the current political discourse, creating an environment ideal for actors in the field of dis- and misinformation. Their goal, regardless of political party, is to create friction.  

Invasion 

“Invasion” is the current mainstream political dialogue addressed in campaigns around the immigration situation at the U.S. Southern border, partly due to mis- and disinformation campaigns by advocates on both sides of the debate.  

The term “invasion” in academic and open-source material is attributed to the extremist or white nationalist race replacement theory. Candidates evoking invasion are quickly labeled as racist, nationalist, or extremist by those who are pro-immigration. This classification provokes a strong emotional response, preventing an examination of potential solutions. For right-wing candidates, invasion elicits strong emotional responses highlighting the threat of loss of country and identity. This also promotes an intense sense of crisis, requiring rebuttals from political opponents.  

In a recent example, Texas is bussing immigrants from Texas to New York and Washington, DC. This event is generating strong reactions from both sides of the political divide. From the left, the narrative remains ensconced in racist policies, highlighting the singling out of offloading immigrants into the bigger cities and the unnecessary wasteful spending on a “political stunt.“ For the conservative or right-wing candidates, the move is seen as challenging perceived liberal, misguided views on immigration. This is further amplified in comment strings of video clips showing immigrants arriving in New York and Washington DC. City officials are requesting additional aid from the Federal Government, and the National Guard is seen as vindication among the right-wing affiliated groups claiming the efforts are a drain on local U.S. resources.  

Election Integrity  

The ongoing perceptions and claims of widespread fraud during the 2020 presidential election will have a halo effect on the congressional primaries. Candidates are utilizing the talking point of election integrity to distance themselves from the “stop the steal” and/or “the election was stolen” while attempting to retain supporters with strong misgivings about the elections. The counter theme is to brand these conservative candidates as election deniers, extremists, or threats to democracy.  

Insurrection 

For many congressional campaigns, ‘insurrection’ was a keyword used in marketing messages, especially sparked by the most recent Mar-A-Lago raid. From the left, the trend was using phrases such as “armed insurrection” or “attempted coup d’état” to evoke a strong emotional response and tag them as extremists. In addition, trends emphasized attributing definitions of insurrection to images from that day.  

For conservative campaigns, the events of January 6 were de-emphasized in terms of the severity of the day’s events. Many candidates, particularly at the congressional level, utilized “trespassing” or a misdemeanor when describing the charges levied at protesters. This also is strongly linked to deep state inferences that the government was using or outright staging of the January 6 events. The January 6 event is also described in lower profile campaign races as a false flag operation by the government, with one instance comparing it to the 1933 Reichstag Burning, associating the Nazis staging the event to impose additional measures on the population.  

The other narrative is to focus on the unfairness of the January 6 committee. It is associated with their investigation as a mechanism to stir passion and anger at the government or, more precisely, the opposing political party.  

Assessment 

Going into the congressional election, Overwatch analysts anticipate narratives around invasion, integrity, and insurrection to continue, if not be amplified by misinformation. One researcher noted that “dis- and misinformation has allowed opposing sides to establish their own set of facts and attributes of responsibility.” This has enabled narratives on both sides of the coin to move from the margins to mainstream political discourse.  

Social platforms intent to secure the integrity of the election will be met with dynamic and more sophisticated content as the campaign season progresses. Beyond the digital landscape, we predict misinformation to extend to offline – small events in backyards, churches, restaurants, and community centers, transforming or expanding to social media through edited photos or video clips, adding to social media noise, challenging voters to decipher what is news and what is noise.  

For insurrection, we will see terminology like “armed,” “Nazi,” and “violent extremist” being promoted. At the same time, right-wing platforms and bots will amplify content that frames January 6 as a false flag or deep state operation and focus on the ongoing detention of protestors. Efforts will amplify government reactions or lack thereof to previous protests promulgated by Antifa and/or BLM.  

For this brief, Overwatch analysts utilized the Discover, Develop, and Monitor (D2M) methodology framework. During Discovery, the focus was on identifying those important keywords and some basic context to those words. In the area of immigration, we saw the word “Invasion” emerging as a descriptor. In the aftermath of the 2020 election, campaigns keyed in on phrases like ‘Election Integrity” or “Election deniers.” The words “Insurrection” and/or “J/6” or “January 6” were also consistently in play.  

Overwatch analysts investigated further to see if these keywords expanded into more fluid segments/platforms across social media. The result showed the recent search warrant or raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence is currently dominating the mediascape, but this is likely to blend into the deep state that is coming for the average citizen narrative emerging from the wake of January 6 and the ensuing January 6 commission.   

Overwatch will continue to monitor campaign trends between the congressional election and provide updated briefs as necessary.  

 

Dispelling Misinformation About Monkeypox 2.0

On July 23, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox a Global Health Emergency as a result of a rising number of outbreaks. Overwatch’s previous brief, entitled “Dispelling Misinformation About Monkeypox,” addressed fundamental issues surrounding the disease. From the time of the brief on May 24, 2022, to the writing of this brief, the number of confirmed monkeypox cases has grown from two confirmed cases in the United States to now 8,933, and globally, the cases have risen from 92 cases as of May 7, 2022, to 30,189.

Monkeypox Chart

In this brief, Overwatch analysts review how the narrative for monkeypox has evolved. Since the announcement from the WHO, there has continued to be a flood of misinformation, disinformation, and finger-pointing about the origin and reasons for the continued spread of the disease.

Misinformation Fuels Disinformation

The original assessment noted, “If misinformation spreads to countries like China or Russia, they could spread disinformation about the U.S. and Europe being responsible for the virus as was done with COVID-19.”

Since May, we have seen many articles in traditional mainstream news and publicly available sites and platforms conducting their journalistic responsibilities by questioning the U.S. response. Analysts identified occasional loose comparisons to the U.S. response to COVID-19 and questions about why we did not act against the new pandemic threat.

In most cases, articles addressed reasons, and promoters of disinformation used snippets or headlines to create unfounded accusations. Analysts have seen messages by pro-CCP group Wumao, claiming that the U.S. and Western countries are sending infected birds to spread monkeypox to China and other Asian countries. Wumao, or the 50cent army, is a pro-CCP group that creates comments or articles intended to derail negative sentiment toward the CCP.

The intent is to create more division and blame. The Chinese narratives emerged in May and have continued unabated but are largely overlooked in the U.S. digital environment.

Example of translated WhatsApp message spread throughout Indonesia:

Hey, guys. No matter where you are, if you see a bird that can’t fly, can’t walk or struggle on the ground, you should never catch it, for fear of monkeypox infection. The relevant community has informed you, please pay attention to it. Remember United States and Western countries used the birds to carry take the Monkeypox virus to spread to the Asian region! My sister sent it from Germany and asked me to inform family and friends immediately. Have relatives and friends on the notice, do not because of compassion, get infected unknowingly.

好友轉來告知：
各位。不管在那，看見不能飛，不能走，在地上掙扎的鳥，千萬不能抓，怕是猴痘傳染，有關社區己通知，望大家注意。切記！以上美國和西方國家對亞洲地區通過鳥類可以帶猴痘病毒傳染到亞洲地區！我妹妹從德國傳來的，要我立刻通知親友。有親友就通知一下，別因為心慈悲染痘害人

This message was baseless and allegedly produced by Wumao. References to the message were accompanied by keywords such as ’‘hoax’ and ‘fake story’ and have been mainly seen on Indonesian information platforms1.

This has illuminated that the CCP wants a vector of influence in Indonesia and surprisingly enough, there are truth watch dogs actively combating it. (Fitri Haryanti Harsono from Liputan6 and Dr. Adrian Wong from Techarp.com).

Other sources, such as the New Federal State of China (NFSC) Himalaya Australia, combat CCP influence by generating more false narratives compounding monkeypox misinformation. This can be incredibly dangerous when dealing with sensitive issues relating to pandemics or global health crises.

This post by the NFSC’s Miles Guo was spread across all major social media platforms3. There is an air of provocation in Guo’s voice as he speaks in his video of the CCPs potential retaliation due to the recent Taiwan visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In this video (*reference Wayback Machine if taken down from Twitter), Guo alleges that the CCP will create a new virus that will “most likely originate from the Middle East” and would be a variant of other diseases or created by “mating” desert wildlife.

The art of being first is how disinformation campaigns gain traction. The above post is meant to provoke the CCP into a response, legitimizing Guo and NFSC_HAGnews’ narrative. Being first in the narrative allows the NFSC_HAGNews to gain a following that observes the accused (CCP), having to combat quickly drafted messages of the accuser (NFSC_HAGNews).

As the number of verified infections grows, disinformation narratives will grow. Small enablers exacerbating public opinion in the U.S. will continue to add compelling and thought-provoking ideas on top of any press release or news article to capture and hold an audience’s attention.

* Specific posts or videos referencing misinformation and disinformation are often deleted from major social media and news sites. Using the Wayback machine, researchers can reference once deleted posts, articles, and videos that were archived. The Miles Guo video has been captured here in the Wayback Machine.

Targeted LGBTQ Community

What has taken hold of the U.S. social media landscape is the predominance of infections within the gay community, triggering emotional responses outside and within the community, in both pro and anti-camps. The CDC’s confirmation of the first monkeypox cases in the United States in two unrelated children at the end of July 2022 was when this was most apparent. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky made the following statement in a virtual event with the Washington Post, “Both of those children are traced back to individuals who come from the men-who-have-sex-with-men community, the gay men’s community…” The official statement released by the CDC went further on to state that both cases were “likely the result of household transmission.” And even though the release states that sexual contact is not the only way to spread the disease and heterosexuals can contract monkeypox just as quickly as persons who identify as “gay,” the polarizing narratives began almost immediately. On the same day of the updated release Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene asked in a tweet, “If monkeypox is a sexually transmitted disease, why are kids getting it?” The tweet has over 38k likes and 9,879 retweets as of this writing.

The formula is textbook: CDC officials or public officials provide the most current information possible, a prominent official or social media influencer makes a rhetorical comment, and the ensuing chain of response allows disinformation narratives to flow into the larger conversation.

From the creation of fake memes pushing a particular narrative, such as the one created by Twitter user “The Ferryman’s Toll,” that has been retweeted 281 times.

To the reports of hate crimes being committed towards LGBTQ members, such as an August 9, 2022, report by the Daily News (Assuncao, 2022) that a Washington, D.C. gay couple was attacked by teens who called them “monkeypox f—-s.”

When facts are disregarded in order to increase one’s number of supporters, likes, or political status, echo chambers are created, and the ensuing misinformation and disinformation propagated within them can have disastrous results. Echo chambers exist because social media users do not take personal responsibility for information shared, and sharing occurs without full context or conducting further research, which can prevent polarizing narratives before they divert attention from the main issue.

World Health Organization (WHO) Perspective

The WHO closely monitors the outbreak and favors international cooperation and information sharing with partners and member states. Since the declaration, their messaging has been in line with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) regarding how an individual contracts the virus. However, while WHO states in one tweet that “Stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus and can fuel the outbreak,” WHO also has multiple tweets singling out the Men of the LGBTQ community.

Unfortunately, discriminatory tweets are becoming increasingly popular. While WHO’s messaging around monkeypox has focused on those currently most affected by the spread of the disease, gay men, there is an underlying danger that this approach could add fuel to the narrative that this is a disease affecting gay men only. As with Covid 19, when government messaging transforms to fit the new realities of a crisis, old messaging is often resurfaced and contorted to create disinformation. While Twitter can be an efficient medium to publish alerts, the lack of context allowed by character limits can often limit qualifying statements and the addition of vital context.

Our Assessment

We assess that misinformation and disinformation messaging will closely follow the increased number of those infected with monkeypox. This issue’s vector of influence won’t just stay within the confines of the United States. We have already demonstrated that anti-US and anti-CCP influencers are attempting to control the story in Asia and possibly the Middle East.

We stand by our original assessment that if outbreak numbers exceed acceptable levels, the likelihood of quarantines or mandatory government policies could be implemented to mitigate the spread of infection. If this happens, combined with negative popular sentiment due to successful disinformation messaging, we could see in-person protests leading to pockets of civil unrest.

Overwatch will continue to monitor Monkeypox-related issues arising in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Russia, and the U.S.

*Keyword associations to keep on alert; supply chain disruption, lockdown, mandatory vaccination, quarantine, Monkeypox, MPV, MPXV, contact tracing, or hMPXV.

*Google Alerts allows you to create a list of keywords to follow and have articles and posts sent daily to your email

OSINT Monitor Workflow

IBM Watson News Explorer

Gigatweeter

SocialBlade

Tgstat

CDC Infection Rate Map

World Health Organization

 

 

Sources

  1. Adrian Wong, Is U.S. Sending Infected Birds To Spread Monkeypox?!

 https://www.techarp.com/facts/us-birds-monkeypox-china/

Anas Surya, Hoaxes Of The United States And European Countries Deliberately SpreadIng Monkey Pox To Asia – NEW OR HOAX

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8cxsji

Fitri Haryanti Harsono, Viral message chain of transmission of Monkeypox carried by birds, is it?

Viral Pesan Berantai Penularan Cacar Monyet Dibawa oleh Burung, Apa Iya? – Health Liputan6.com (www-liputan6-com.translate.goog)

World Today, Viral message chain of transmission of monkeypox carried by birds, is it? https://www.world-today-news.com/viral-message-chain-of-transmission-of-monkeypox-carried-by-birds-is-it/

  1. Miles Guo, The CCP will most likely unleash another new virus!

https://gettr.com/post/p1lbsb5b7bb , (2) NFSC_HAGnews (@NFSC_HAGnews) / Twitter , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrAmk2N5VQI , Chinese whistleblower Miles Guo: “Monkeypox is just an excuse! (bitchute.com)

  1. Muri Assuncao, Washington, D.C. gay couple say they were attacked by 2 teens, who called them ‘monkeypox f—-ts’

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-dc-couple-attacked-teens-homophobic-slur-monkeypox-20220809-wvu3e627tzanxov4mprny6j3le-story.html

  1. World Health Organization (WHO) Twitter Page https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1552286397054287875

Does Valuable Intelligence Have To Be Classified?

SCIF

Intelligence agencies and commercial companies have long struggled with the concept and inception of adopting open-source intelligence (OSINT) into their range of capabilities. Open-source intelligence is a way of collecting and analyzing publicly available information. In today’s world, there is no shortage of content. The data is overwhelming and is outpacing the available resources of skilled open-source analysts who are trained on the methodology to apply critical thinking skills.

Traditionally, government agencies have gathered intelligence in a sensitive compartmented information facility often referred to as a SCIF. The purpose of a SCIF is to safeguard and store classified information. This practice is now being challenged by intelligence professionals who recognize the value behind publicly available information (PAI) and the advancements of OSINT.

Active collection of intelligence to answer requirements has been a constant. However, today intelligence and research professionals can take a more passive role in the collection process. This is due to the overwhelming number of social networks and content creators, who intentionally engage with digital content at an average rate of  3 hours per day, according to Hootsuite Social Analytics.

Nefarious actors, organizations, and entities are sharing and making their presence known at an alarming rate, and they are doing it on public channels. The speed at which this valuable information gets to the collector can now be instant. A recent example is the Ukraine/Russia conflict.

Even though OSINT and its methods have technically been around for almost a century and the term was not coined by the US Military until the 1980s, the conflict in Ukraine, civil unrest, and the crippling economic effects of COVID shined a brighter light on the need to timely and accurately collect public information.

To know a populace you must engage them, and what better way to know a distant populace than to ingest their by-the-minute sentiment and first-hand reports of an ongoing situation?

The conflict in Ukraine alone showed the value of publicly available satellite imagery to depict Russian military movements and posts from actual military members on the ground illustrating the disinformation and misinformation being spread.

OSINT in Ukraine

OSINT, being comprised of rapidly growing amounts of cell phone videos, online information, social media, and commercial images, has enabled intelligence professionals and at-home analysts to collect information around the globe, with no need for classified capabilities.

There is a vast amount of PAI which grows worldwide by the second. The intelligence community can no longer ignore the wealth of that information and its place in answering real-world requirements.

What currently lacks in the commercial space and government abroad is the training to enable analysts and researchers to harness this trove of information, but most importantly do it accurately and timely with the depth it requires. The military is now taking notice of commercial OSINT training for its own analysts to fully capture the common operating picture of any situation.

With the major disruption to international economies by COVID, having by-the-moment information was key to being proactive to ensure corporations large and small could have enough reaction time to redirect logistic lines, prepare for shortages, and handle appropriate customer needs. Many companies tapped into social media to uncover supply chain insights of panic buying during the pandemic. When researchers looked at sentiment across 200k social media posts to observe influence of individuals’ perception of threat to the supply chain and scarcity of products, it ultimately led to panic buying and creating a strain on the supply chain.

This critical need for OSINT and the collection of PAI was captured by Harvard Business Journal in an article titled “OSINT – The untapped treasure trove of United Nations Organizations,” where it outlined the catastrophic loss to international agendas and economies was due to a lacking ability to collect the raw social data and interpret it into global business decisions.

There are over 500 million tweets worldwide that are published each day. Facebook adds 350 million photos daily. YouTube adds 720,000 hours of video and Reddit has 500,000 comments every 24 hours. With that sheer amount of public data each day, the ability to harness that and ingest it into answering real-world problems is of extreme value and importance to any commercial and government industry.

Content Infographic

Image Source: Domo

There still is an immense value and always will be to having classified means of collecting information and data to enable decision-makers to affect ongoing problem sets. The sensitive data that is collected by classified means is a key to ensuring those decisions are accurate and proportionate. On the other hand, not all issues need large-scale solutions. Insight and analysis of current local and international issues can be and are derived from much cheaper and easily accessible sources.

The need for an OSINT capability, no matter the industry or requirements, is growing exponentially. Companies large and small have taken notice and begun filling OSINT analyst positions within their ranks to increase proactive decision-making that keeps their interests, brand, personnel, and property safe.

Our Assessment

Commercial industries will lead the OSINT training venture and increase their abilities with technology backed by methodology. As common, the government will take the ability to a new level to answer real-world requirements which will feed the commercial technology and training environment. Industries that currently lack a capable OSINT function within will struggle to stay ahead of quickly changing situations and information. Forward-leaning organizations will quickly train and enable their own analysts to collect and analyze PAI. The landscape of social analytics will continue to increase but so will privacy restrictions, changing with the adaptation of collection abilities. Businesses and organizations that fail to see the immediate need for OSINT capabilities will continue to struggle with ongoing economic, cultural, and social changes, ultimately affecting their brand and public standing.

 

 

Echo Analytics Group Partners with All Things Possible for Fourth Skull Games Initiative

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

ECHO ANALYTICS GROUP PARTNERS WITH ALL THINGS POSSIBLE FOR FOURTH SKULL GAMES INITIATIVE

Counter Human Trafficking Event Takes Place August 6-7

TAMPA, FL (August 2, 2022) –Echo Analytics Group (EAG) is partnering with All Things Possible (ATP) to host the fourth Skull Games event on August 6-7. The Skull Games program crowdsources the collection of open-source intelligence (OSINT) to enable law enforcement with leads on trafficked victims and persons of interest.

The two-day event brings together vetted volunteers who have experience in open-source intelligence (OSINT) to aid in the identification of victims and persons of interest to help combat sex trafficking. The volunteers work together at the EAG Operations Center and online across the country to partner and provide information and support to law enforcement. At the conclusion of the weekend, EAG and ATP send detailed reports to law enforcement with a path of discovery for them to obtain warrant or probable cause to find victims or criminals. The previous three Skull Games identified approximately 45 victims and 20 persons of interest in eight states.

Jeff Tiegs, who served as a U.S. Army Ranger and Delta Force Operator, is the Chief Operating Officer of All Things Possible Ministries. Tiegs uses his expertise and experience to counter human trafficking with the help of Echo Analytics Group and their research platform, TORCH.

“The ability to recruit and groom victims is at an all-time high,” said Tiegs. “Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are riddled with predators. They are all over Minecraft and Roblox. They use mediums where you can share photos and videos. They are on Whisper and Scout, and they are on all the dating sites.”

“The work that Jeff and the team at All Things Possible is critical to helping law enforcement across the country,” said Buddy Jericho, CEO of Echo Analytics Group. “Through our work together, we can help save lives and put an end to human trafficking.”

Media interested in Skull Games should contact Jeffrey Kamis at 813.784.3642 for more information and interview opportunities.

About All Things Possible

The mission of All Things Possible is to identify, interrupt and restore those affected by trauma. This is done through law enforcement support and enablement. For more information, visit https://victormarx.com/.

About Echo Analytics Group

Echo Analytics Group (EAG) is a veteran owned and operated intelligence firm based in Tampa, Florida. EAG brings military grade intelligence to the private sector, combining publicly available information with advanced research methodologies to empower businesses and people to make informed decisions. With the overwhelming amount of content created daily, EAG provides best-in-class research resources from tools, case management systems, investigations, education and even analysts to make real-time decisions. To learn more, visit: echoanalyticsgroup.com/torch/.