SOCMINT: Tools, Tips, & Tricks for Social Media Investigations

For open source intelligence (OSINT) investigators, social media has become one of the richest sources of publicly accessible evidence.

Instagram’s large user base and immense data collection make it a goldmine for Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Social Media Intelligence (SOCMINT) investigations.

X’s (formerly Twitter) large user base and immense data collection make it a goldmine for Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Social Media Intelligence (SOCMINT) investigations.

What happens when online harassment crosses the digital divide? For a decade, the practice of swatting has been on the rise, and featured in news stories the world over.

Government agencies today are facing unprecedented pressure to do more with less. Recordkeeping teams, responsible for critical functions like responding to open records requests and FOIA compliance, are increasingly challenged by staff reductions and the ever-growing volume and complexity of digital records.

Learning how to archive Microsoft Teams chats and channels is essential if you need reliable access to historical and newly created chat data. In regulated industries or organizations that are heavily scrutinized and face frequent litigation, failing to properly archive your Microsoft Teams chats can put you at financial, legal, or regulatory non-compliance risk.

SHA-256 is one of the most widely used cryptographic hashing algorithms, playing a crucial role in securing digital information. Part of the Secure Hash Algorithm 2 (SHA-2) family, SHA-256 ensures data integrity, safeguards sensitive information, and authenticates digital evidence and records in legal and compliance scenarios.

These days, you'd be hard-pressed to find an business that isn't advertising on social media. But when it comes to financial service providers, social media marketing can become a double-edged sword, or worse a compliance nightmare that results in major fines from the SEC, FINRA or the FTC.

Social media investigations can unlock a wealth of evidence for legal, fraud, and criminal cases. But if you're not using the right social media investigation tools, your investigation is likely to be frustrating and inefficient—not to mention risky.

Can social media evidence be used in court? In short, yes. But it's not always so straightforward.