That is, surprisingly good but also surprisingly bad. ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot alike, sometimes simply do not do what they were asked to do, leave out things, add things I did not ask for, or make errors. The first two can be solved by asking very specific questions and make clear exactly what you want. Explicitly mentions sources to be used and the required output can help a lot.

Unfortunately, the bots return many errors in their answers. Sometimes so obvious that it becomes a little annoying. Especially when asking for factual data, or solutions to problems, the bots in my experience return many errors. I have therefore developed the habit of always do the following.

The second prompt I enter is by definition: correct the errors.

Regardless what the first answer was, the second prompt is always the same: ‘correct the errors’. In all cases so far, the bot apologises, admits the errors and mistakes in the first answer, explains that it should have done a better job, promises it will not happen again (blabla)  and produces a new answer. The result is really remarkable.

I call this procedure: The 2nd Prompt Principle.

As a habit, always apply this principle with more complex questions. Also for the 3rd and maybe 4th prompt. Very curious how long this will last. For now, I am still very cautious in using AI generated answers. I am sure I am not the only one.

Conducted by Arno Reuser for the OSINT part, and Marc van Oudheusden for the intelligence analysis part, the programme will be packed with the latest, proven methods of analysis to help you on your way making sense of the world.

As always, this will be a in-class training in Leiden NL, next to the central train station and a mere 20m train ride from Schiphol Amsterdam airport.

Interested? read more or send us a message

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is a collaborative, integrated research/production METHODOLOGY to CREATE an actionable intelligence product (called OSINT report) resulting from analysis of a representative selection of open source information (OSINF) in order to meet some intelligence requirement that is used to take decisions and start some change.

Open Source Information (OSINF) is information that can be COLLECTED from the public domain by anyone in a legal and ethically acceptable way, and that meets quality requirements such as authenticity, reliability, accuracy, time etc, regardless source, format or time, whether for free or commercial, and is being used to be analysed, probably in conjunctions with other sources, to become OSINT.

Information is any piece or document that serves the purpose of deriving information from, or is assigned that purpose. Thus, anything can be OSINF as long as the object is used to derive information from, like digital info, books, newspapers, audio/video, oral history, taxi drivers, porters, phone logs or archeological findings are all considered information that can be collected, indexed, catalogued, described, categorized and used for analyse, again after applying quality criteria.

Intelligence is analysed information that interprets, explains, predicts, clarifies, connects, judges, opinionates, categorizes, qualifies OSINF in order to support decision makers in making decisions and implementing change. Intelligence is by definition never collected, but created. An intelligence report produced by service P and send to Q is for the sender P intelligence, but for the recipient Q it is information, not intelligence, until Q has analysed the report, then it becomes intelligence again.

Legal and ethical restrictions mean, in short, that OSINF is only OSINF if the information was obtained in a legal way and that the information was intentionally published in the public domain. Hacking, cracking, password sniffing, stealing, data leaks etc. are therefor not considered OSINF and thus not eligable for OSINT. Wikileaks is thus not OSINF since that information was never intended to be in the public domain.

Conclusion. OSINT is thus very much more than just the world wide web (WWW) or social media. OSINT also deals with the other 98% of open source information that is NOT on the WWW or social media or even on the Internet. The W3 is only a fraction (less then 2%) of the surface web.

There is a wide variety of OSINT definitions. Mainly because there is many different requirements or backgrounds. Obvciously, an OSINT definition for a stratetic intel service is different then that of a law enforcement agency. In addition, there is different levels of OSINT, typically there are five classes with varying complexity.

One never collects or gathers OSINT. One CREATES OSINT. Also, there is no such thing as OSINT tools. All ‘tools’ are by assumption open source. OSINT is a methodology, a process, not an object. Almost all tools available today in the digital world, whether free or fee-based, can be used to collect OSINF in one way or the other. Using the phrase OSINT as an adjective does not mean something specific and does not make the tool more special or something.

Want to read more about OSINT or how to design your OSINT production capability? See the OSINT Bibliography I compiled over the years at htttp://bib.opensourceintelligence.biz

Want to learn more about OSINT training? Try http://www.opensourceintelligence.biz

#OSINT #OSINTtraining

Pretty easy to do and it has led to many cyber companies who may be classified as cyberclowns: yet another specialist that comes in, does something expensive of which no one understands what and why and then disappears. The effect is that the customers are not seriously interested any more. That’s where the real danger is.

The real danger in the broad field of cyber security is not the bad guys. It is not the foreign state or non-state actors, but the intended victims. People who are oblivious, ignorant or have other priorities then security. Companies who consider cyber security too expensive, not necessary now (may be next week), irrelevant, not ‘my cup of tea’, no time, too busy, nothing will happen anyway, not interested, or any other excuse to postpone to a later date or all together.

Cyber security should very much more focus on security awareness, training, education, informing the public that cyber security is fun! It is sexy! It is lovely to do, and important. Just as important as getting your drivers license, insurance, and wearing your safety belts when driving an motorcar. Only then it is time to discuss standards and software.

As long as cyber focuses wrongly, nothing will happen. As long as “information capabilities” is not a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools, no one will take the matter seriously. Information capabilities such as open source research, programming, validation techniques, network analysis, network configuration, etc.

(extract from the presentation I planned to deliver at CyberSec Netherlands 2025)

Cybersec Netherlands hashtag#OSINT

After a few minutes I call them back to the central table to ask them what exactly they are doing, what is the research plan, the approach, the strategy?

No one answers.

The research assignment is full of vague terms, ambiguous terms, omissions, contradictions such as: the latest, recent, some, “a list of”, references, most important, “to what extent”. But no one asks me what I mean with that. No one asked me what the information is going to be used for, what the purpose is, the goals, what the problem is I am trying to solve with that information. No one asks who the customer actually is.

Yet they are all typing.

I wonder what.

Once I show them that the assignment is so vague that it cannot be solved, the penny drops. Once I demonstrate that it is impossible to start any OSINT assignment without knowing the customers’ intent, another penny drops.  Then it is time to teach the concept of An Answerable Question. A research question that is so precise, detailed, complete and accurate that there can be no misunderstanding to what information exactly is required.

An Answerable Question is part of the OSINT process Requirement Analysis and Problem Deconstruction. Following Kettering’s law*, I share with the students OSINT Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) #4 : a full implementation of describing and solving the assignment problem Arno’s way: concept analysis, assumptions analysis, customer analysis, and Answerable Questions.

It takes time. And effort. But the benefits are clear.

1. Searching and finding the public open source domain is much easier once you know what you are looking for.
2. A well and clearly designed requirement analysis and intelligence collection plan explain when to stop.
3. Continuation at a later date or by some one else in the team is now possible.
4. Since we know exactly what to do we can now make a time planning and even a budget.
5. Collecting the requirement analyses over time allows for analysis of customers’ requirements so we can look ahead.
6. Finally, team work is now possible. An assignment can be shared amongst multiple team members.

Remember Law #4: ”no OSINT research makes any sense without detailed requirement analysis and problem deconstruction”

I have been using this technique for 25 years now, gradually changing and improving, using tables and flow charts for assistance.  But believe me, everything you think you are doing wrong I did wrong too. And I still make those mistakes. I still remember that particular customer coming to my office asking me to do the same research I did two months earlier, again. But back then, I simply started typing until I found what I needed, I compiled, edited, analysed, collated and produced. So I had no clue what he was talking about.

Making mistakes is good. Mostly, you can learn so much from mistakes, but on the condition that: 1. the person concerned acknowledges the mistake, and 2. that the person is willing to learn from it.

* A problem well stated is a problem half-solved” Charles Kettering (1876-1958)