Certified Open Source Intelligence Specialist®

The training “Certified Open Source Intelligence Specialist®” is an accredited SPEN-Registeropleiding. After completing the exam the student will receive a certificate in the form of a diploma fromf the Stichting Permanente Educatie Nederland (SPEN). The student will also receive personal education (PE) points and will be enrolled in the so called “Abituriëntenregister” of the Centrum voor Post Initeel Onderwijs Nederland (CPION).

The SPEN-Registeropleiding lasts for six days and consists of the OSINT-training I (Beginner) and the OSINT-Training II (Professional).

SPEN-Registeropleiding

Practical information

Course description

Millions of messages, photos and videos are posted on the internet and social media every day. All these bits of information form a highly valuable asset for anyone who is professionally engaged in activities to collect and analyze information from the internet.

The Registeropleiding “Certified open Source Intelligence Specialist®” is a six-day practical and interactive training in which this information from public sources on the internet and social media plays a key role.

By following the Registeropleiding “Certified Open Source Intelligence Specialist®”, the student will gain a high-level knowledge of and experience
with the use of Open Source Intelligence. The student is able to conduct safe and effective internet investigations and can successfully create structured case reports.

The knowledge and skills gained in this Registeropleiding are of added value to for any detective, analyst or researcher within the public and private sector or within an organization in which collects and analyzes information from the internet.

Who should attend this program?

The Registeropleiding “Certified Open Source Intelligence Specialist®” is intended for detectives, analysts and researchers from within the public and private sector and for any person who, in the context of detection, law enforcement or intelligence is engaged in collecting and analyzing information from the internet.

This OSINT-training is suitable for law enforcement, intelligence personnel, private investigators, insurance investigators, researchers, recruiters, sourcers, customer due diligence analyst, lawyers, governments and (local) authorities.

Structure of the course

The Registeropleiding “Certified Open Source Intelligence Specialist®” consists of the 3-day OSINT-training I (Beginner) and the 3-day OSINT-training II (Professional).

The OSINT-training I (Beginner) consists of three days of seven hours and three additional hours of self study. An exam will be taken on the last day of training. After passing the exam the student will receive the certificate of “Certified Open Source Investigator®”. Passing the exam will provide access to the OSINT-training II (Professional).

The OSINT-training II (Professional) consists of three days of seven hours and an addditional three hours of self study. An exam will be taken on the last day of the training. After passing the exam the student will receive the certificate of “Certified Open Source Intelligence Specialist®”.

In order to secure and update the gained knowledge, students who have successfully completed the Registeropleiding may register for one of the yearly refresher trainings. By enrolling in two day refresher training events, the students will not only update their knowledge but also practice with new techniques.

Prior knowledge

No specific prior knowledge is required for enrolling in this SPEN-Registeropleiding. Experience with surfing on the internet and using social media is a plus.

When a more experienced student would like to register for the OSINT-training II (Professional) without successfully having completed the OSINT-training I (Beginner), an admission test will be taken. If the students passes the admission test, the student is able to enroll in the OSINT-training II (Professional).

Participating in the OSINT-training II (Professional) is not equal to passing the Registeropleiding “Certified Open Source Intelligence Specialist®”. By completing the OSINT-training II (Professional) the student will not receive the diploma of “Certified Open Source Intelligence Specialist®”. The student will receive the certificate of participation of the OSINT-training II (Professional) instead.

Study load and contact hours

The total duration of this Registeropleiding is 48 hours. These study hours consist of six days of each seven contact hours and six self-study hours.

Examination

This SPEN-Registeropleiding will be completed with a digital exam which takes place at the end of the last course day. The student passes the exam when at least more than half of all exam questions have been answered with a correct answer.

The exam tests whether the student has gained sufficient knowledge and skills to conduct a structured and effective internet research in a safe manner and to be able to report on this in a thorough manner.

During the exam, these knowledge and skills are assessed by means of practical assignments in which the student himself has to perform online research and on the other hand by means of multiple-choice assignments in which the student should select the correct answers.

After successfully passing the exam, the student obtains the diploma “Certified Open Source Intelligence Specialist®“, the student receives personal Education (PE) points and the student is enrolled in the Abituriëntenregister of the CPION.

Learning goals

General Learning Objectives

The purpose of the Registeropleiding “Certified Open Source Intelligence Specialist®” is that the student will be able to conduct a secure, effective and
high-quality open source intelligence investigation within current Dutch legal frameworks. The student will learn how to create proper case reports and to present and explain its findings.

Learning goals OSINT-training I (Beginner)

Gaining insight into how the internet works globally;

Gaining insight into what internet Service Providers are;

Gaining insight into what the internet Protocol and TCP/IP are;

Gaining insight into what IPv4, IPv6, internal, and external IP addresses are;

Gaining insight into what are Regional Internet Registries;

Gaining insight into the traces that are left over the internet;

Gaining insight into the risks associated with this;

Gaining insight into which web browsers are there and how they work;

How to configure web browsers for internet research;

Learn how to install and configure browser extensions and add-ons to enhance the security and functionality of internet research;

Gaining insight into how mobile internet, WiFi networks, proxy servers, VPN services and the TOR network work and how they can provide more anonymity on the internet;

Gaining insight into how the intelligence cycle can be applied in an internet research;

Gaining insight into the difference between the Surface Web, the Deep Web, and the Dark web;

Gaining insight into how search engines work, which search engines are there and why search engines do not find all the information on the internet;

Practicing with advanced search operators within search engines;

Practicing “ethically hacking” through search operators;

Practicing research on the Deep web;

Practicing the recording and reporting of research data;

Gaining insight into what Internet Hosting Providers are;

Gaining insight into how a website is built up;

Practicing with investigating the WHOIS data of a website;

Practicing with examining texts on a website;

Practicing with researching images on a website;

Practicing with identifying and interpreting metadata & EXIF data;

Gaining insight into what types of social media there are;

Practising a study on a research subject;

Practicing with conducting research on Facebook;

Practicing with conducting research on Twitter;

Gaining insight into the latest laws and regulations in the field of internet investigators;

Practicing with the geolocates of photos and videos via (satellite) images.

Gaining insight into how passwords can be hacked;

Gaining insight into how passwords can be securely set;

Gaining insight into how encryption works.

Learning goals OSINT-training II (Professional)

Learning to install the TOR browser;

Practicing research on the Dark web;

Gaining insight into how the Domain Name System (DNS) works;

Practicing with examining the source code of a website;

Practicing the mapping of links and sub-domains of a website;

Practicing searching for open ports on a website;

Practicing with visualizing the links of a website;

Practicing with using the Windows Command Prompt in investigating a website;

Practicing downloading and scraping information from a website;

Practicing with the automated monitoring of data on a website;

Practicing the structuring of the own research;

Practicing with creating fake accounts;

Practicing research on relevant international social media such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki, Livejournal, Qzone, Weibo, Skype, Strava, etc.;

Practicing with the application of “Automating OSINT”;

Practicing with the application of “social engineering”;

Learning to configure a virtual research machine;

Conducting research on livestreams;

Learning to configure a virtual mobile phone environment;

Practicing conducting research on relevant international mobile applications such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, WeChat, Instagram, Snapchat, Tinder, Facebook Messenger, etc.;

Gaining insight into how WiFi networks work;

Practicing conducting research on WiFi networks;

Gaining insight into the safe use of (public) WiFi networks;

Gaining insight into how your own equipment and data carriers can be better secured.

Using available (commercial) OSINT-tools.