👋 Welcome to the 109th issue of The OSINT Newsletter. This issue contains OSINT news, community posts, tactics, techniques, and tools to help you become a better investigator. Here’s an overview of what’s in this issue:
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Which data is easiest to find this way
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Why jurisdictions matter if you want to stay on track
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How the right workflow can make any OSINT fun
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…and why real life isn’t the X-Files.
🪃 If you missed the last newsletter, here’s a link to catch up.
⚡ Codifying Open Source Intelligence Methodology with AI
🎙️ If you prefer to listen, here’s a link to the podcast instead.
Let’s get started. ⬇️
Public records have a reputation problem. Namely, they’re boring.
A government database doesn’t have the fast-moving, high-noise chaos factor of social media. No avatars, hot takes, or late night posting sprees about that jerk Stephen Colbert. Instead, you’re working with PDFs, registries and forms that look like they were last accessed in 2002. It’s enough to bore an investigator to sleep.
Sure, this isn’t OSINT that screams “start here” – but that’s precisely the point. Public records are unchanging and largely unnoticed, and that makes them some of the most reliable anchors out there. You can spend hours chasing a username that leads nowhere, or watch an account or post vanish mid-investigation when OP decides it’s too cringe to bear. But once a public record’s recorded, it sticks, and it won’t have moved in years – no matter how toe-curling.
Sometimes, with OSINT, boring is better.
This issue will cover:
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What you can get from public records and government databases
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Where to start without getting lost in endless registries
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A fun, repeatable OSINT workflow for even the dullest investigations
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…and why Trump’s tweets are actually relevant here.
Just resting your eyes, right? Let’s get started.
Think less X-Files, more just… Files.
Put simply: public records are any documents created, filed, or maintained by government bodies as part of official processes. They’re usually verifiable, real-world data that maps activity in the real world, such as:
The least exciting documents that answer the most useful question: where someone actually lives (or lived). Property records show the ownership of a house, land or business, alongside purchase history, co-owners, and addresses.
If something serious went down, it probably ended up here. Court records cover disputes, and charges, adding the context, timelines, and connections you definitely won’t find on someone’s carefully curated online presence. In Florida, for example, arrests are a matter of public record under specific rules – blessing the world with Florida Man.
Follow the companies, find the employees (or bosses). Business records list directors, shareholders, and addresses for premises. They’re perfect for mapping who’s connected to what – especially for financial investigations, or if you’re looking to verify the wild claims on a subject’s LinkedIn.
Speaking of verification, these can prove if someone is (or isn’t) what they claim to be. Licensing records cut through inflated bios with something much less exciting: the truth.
Depending on the jurisdiction, they can confirm occupations, qualifications, certifications, and sometimes disciplinary actions in sectors like healthcare, law, construction, or transport.
Don’t try to play The Lone Gunmen straight off the bat. Start simple, with official sources.
The beginner-friendly following will get you direct access to structured, government-held data for OSINT investigations that get results. No Mulder and Scully shenanigans required.
Pros: Great for quick wins without advanced tooling.
Cons: Easy to get lost.
The official hubs of “we’ll just leave this here”. Governments publish datasets on everything. Property, crime, spending, infrastructure – they all get dumped here in searchable, downloadable, and surprisingly underused form.
Pros: Solid and often the fastest way to anchor an investigation in reality.
Cons: Interfaces from hell.
If this type of OSINT could get any less glamorous, it just did. On a local level, registries for property, courts, or business filings usually let you search by name, address, or company. Interfaces can be clunky (and ugly as sin), but the data can be beautiful.
Let’s demonstrate why OSINT looks good in beige. Follow these steps for a high hit-rate:
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Identify the Jurisdiction
Start by figuring out where the records you need live. Rules governing database access can vary quite randomly by country, state, or even county. Get the jurisdiction wrong and you’ll either get locked out, or waste time combing through the wrong (potentially frustrating) system. Get it right and your search becomes far faster, and far less painful.
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Search
Once you’ve got the jurisdiction, search. Search names, companies, or addresses directly in official databases. Search, search, search. Don’t overthink it. It’s that easy.
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Cross-Reference
One record is a clue, but four that match is a jackpot. Always cross-check names, addresses, dates, and associates across different databases to validate what you’re seeing; this is important, real-world data, so mistakes can cost you big.
That’s it. You should have found what you’re looking for… and you’re still awake!
Public records can help you find the following:
If you find out who owns what, and who they own it with, you can identify a subject’s partners in both business and life. It’s common to discover hidden relationships like family ties that aren’t visible elsewhere online through ownership records.
Company filings can help trace networks of influence. Look for repeat partnerships, for example, or the same names in operation across multiple businesses. Structures are the thing to look for here.
If there’s disputes, criminal charges, civil cases, financial issues… These can act as great behavioural context, showing patterns over time that help to strengthen your overall investigation.
See? Public records and government databases aren’t that painful. Sure, it’s all very static. This OSINT just sits still, being true. While everything else moves (and generates the excitement that comes with it), records don’t – but that’s exactly why they’re priceless.
You should now know:
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Which data is easiest to find this way
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Why jurisdictions matter if you want to stay on track
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How the right workflow can make any OSINT fun
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…and why real life isn’t the X-Files.
Still wondering why Trump’s tweets were relevant in this article? The answer: they’re a matter of public record. The US National Archives has all of them on a database, free to browse. Yes, all of them. Even covfefe. What OSINT value one could gain from an AI President dancing with the Cracker Barrel Man is unclear, but it’s there.
Maybe we need Mulder and Scully on it after all.
🏁 New CTF Challenge Live – Secret Meeting
A new CTF challenge has been posted on our CTF website. This week’s challenge involves geolocating an image that has been intercepted by a counter intelligence agency.
Start competing in our Capture the Flag (CTF)
🪃 If you missed the last CTF, here’s a link to catch up.
Last week’s CTF challenge featured a challenge titled “The Scammer” where participants were tasked with conducting an investigation on a phone number linked to a suspected scammer, in order to find the country and the phone operator associated to it.
Searching for the country code +91, we can see that it belongs to India.
Using https://www.emobiletracker.com/trace-process.php, we can see that the operator is Reliance Jio.
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