OSINT can take us to some grungy places. When you OSINT search a target, another investigator’s target could be you. Have you ever thought about how to keep your own online life secure while searching for open-source information?
These privacy measures are known as ‘cyber hygiene’. When working with OSINT, or Open Source Intelligence, the importance of keeping squeaky clean can't be overstated. But what exactly does ‘cyber hygiene’ mean, and why is it so particularly important for investigators who rely on publicly available data?
Let's break down scrubbing up.
What is Basic Cyber Hygiene?
Basic cyber hygiene refers to the routine practices and precautions that individuals and organisations should take to maintain their digital environments' security. Like your shower in the morning, most people do these basic practices every day.
These include creating and managing strong, unique passwords (and changing them from time to time), regularly updating software and devices, and using multi-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security. Like washing your hands keeps the germs at bay, consistently applying these digital disinfectants will significantly reduce your risk of cyber threats like malware, phishing attacks, and unauthorised access to sensitive information.
Another cyber hygiene must is ensuring the security of your internet connections. Use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), keep your router's firmware updated, and avoid unsecured public Wi-Fi networks like the plague!Additionally, employing firewalls and encryption tools can help protect your data from being intercepted or accessed by malicious actors’ grubby fingers. Proper cyber hygiene also requires regular data backups, to protect your files from loss due to hardware failures or ransomware attacks.
Lastly, don’t forget to wash behind your ears - and use them. Staying cognizant and informed about the latest online threats and cybercriminal tactics is vital to maintaining good cyber hygiene. Engaging in safe browsing habits, such as avoiding suspicious links and downloading software only from trusted sources, can also help prevent slip-ups.
By incorporating these practices into your daily routine, you’ll create a sparkling, spotless digital environment, protecting both your personal and professional information from all the cyber bugs out there.
What are the Best Practices of Cyber Hygiene?
When it comes to OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) investigations, practising good cyber hygiene is all-important for protecting not only your own data - but the integrity of your investigations as a whole.
Here’s some spick-and-span best practices tailored to OSINT professionals:
- Protect Your Research Environment
Using a secure and isolated environment for OSINT investigations is needed. This means employing privacy-focused browsers, using a VPN to mask your IP address, and considering the use of virtual machines or isolated systems dedicated solely to your OSINT work. These measures help prevent cross-contamination between your personal and investigative lives, reducing the risk of exposing your identity (a.k.a. doxxing yourself) or compromising the investigation.
- Implement Strong Authentication Measures
Strengthen the security of your accounts by using strong, unique passwords for all OSINT-related platforms and tools. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) wherever possible to add an extra layer of security, so even if a password is compromised, your accounts remain protected. Password managers can help generate and store these complex passwords securely, keeping everything immaculate.
- Secure Data Handling and Storage
OSINT investigations often involve the collection of sensitive information. It’s vital to keep this clean. To protect this data, use encrypted storage solutions, whether on local drives or in the cloud. Practice data minimisation, by only collecting the data necessary for your investigation and securely deleting any information that’s not needed.
- Protect Your Communication Channels
Keep your chat bubble tightly sealed. When discussing or sharing sensitive OSINT data, use encrypted communication tools to prevent unauthorised access. Only secure collaboration platforms should be used for team-based investigations, making sure that all participants have proper access controls and that the data shared remains confidential, hermetically sealed.
- Maintain a Controlled Environment
Treat your OSINT data like a scientist treats his samples. Control access to your OSINT tools and data by limiting permissions to only those who really need it. Doctors don’t let random germy people into the operating theatre, do they? Regularly review and update access controls to make sure that no unauthorised individuals can access sensitive information. Maintain logs of all your activities to monitor for any suspicious behaviour, which can help in identifying potential breaches.
The Importance of Cyber Hygiene in OSINT
Recap - cyber hygiene refers to the practices and steps that individuals and organisations take to maintain system health and improve online security. Let’s put all this cleaning up in context of OSINT:
- Protecting Sensitive Data
Risk Mitigation: Don’t let your data get infected. OSINT involves gathering vast amounts of publicly available information, which can include sensitive data. Poor cyber hygiene can lead to inadvertent exposure of this data to outside contamination; vulnerable to exploitation by malicious actors.
Even seemingly harmless details shared on social media, like a pet’s name after an eventful walk or a favourite vacation spot, can be exploited by attackers in social engineering attacks. Without proper cyber hygiene, our information could be used to create convincing phishing emails that trick employees into revealing sensitive data or clicking on malicious links. This type of targeted phishing, known as ‘spear-phishing’, can lead to unauthorised access to critical systems, especially if the attackers piece together information from various sources. Now, all your hygiene methods were pointless; this could feel like that muddy dog shaking off all over your new white couch. Yuck.
- Enhancing Threat Intelligence
Proactive Defence: Don’t clean up messes, prevent them. Cyber hygiene plays an important role in gathering and analysing threat intelligence.By regularly updating software, patching vulnerabilities, and ensuring that data collection tools are secure, OSINT practitioners can better identify emerging threats. This proactive approach prevents attacks that could use public information to infiltrate systems.
- Safeguarding Against Social Engineering
Preventing Manipulation: Cyber hygiene is also - as we said - vital in protecting against social engineering attacks, where attackers use publicly available information to manipulate or deceive targets. Regular training and awareness programs can help organisations recognize and mitigate these risks, making it harder for attackers to succeed in messing it all up!
- Compliance and Legal Protection
Adhering to Regulations: This one’s serious. Maintaining good cyber hygiene helps ensure that OSINT activities comply with legal and regulatory requirements. This includes protecting personal data and respecting privacy laws, which is important to avoid legal repercussions and maintain trust.
The Challenges of Cyber Hygiene in OSINT
Balancing the need to access information with the imperative to protect ourselves as investigators from cyber threats is a complex challenge. What are the challenges that make OSINT a different cyber hygiene game?
- Exposure to Cyber Threats
OSINT investigators get down and dirty with data. We often navigate various websites, including potentially harmful ones, to gather information. This can expose us to cyber threats such as malware, phishing attacks, or data breaches. Maintaining cyber hygiene here involves using secure tools and methods to mitigate these risks - but the challenge still lies in balancing access to necessary information with avoiding threats.
In 2016, cybersecurity researchers at Citizen Lab were targeted by a phishing campaign linked to the government of Mexico. The researchers, who were investigating government surveillance practices, received highly sophisticated spear-phishing emails designed to compromise their systems. These emails included malicious links and attachments that, if clicked, could have exposed them to a cyber infection: the emails installed spyware on devices, allowing the attackers to monitor activities and steal sensitive data.
This incident highlights the challenge of exposure to cyber threats when conducting OSINT, as even seasoned investigators can be targeted by these advanced persistent threats (APTs).
- Data Privacy and Legal Compliance
Ensuring that the data collected during OSINT activities complies with privacy laws and regulations is a massive but necessary challenge. We investigators must handle complex legal frameworks like GDPR or CCPA while conducting OSINT. Failure to adhere to these regulations due to poor cyber hygiene can result in mud-slinging: legal consequences and ethical breaches.
In 2020, the Clearview AI scandal brought to light significant legal and ethical issues regarding data privacy in OSINT. Clearview AI, a facial recognition company, scraped billions of images from social media platforms without users’ consent and compiled them into a database used by law enforcement agencies. The company faced numerous lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny for violating privacy laws - including GDPR in the EU - because its practices involved the collection and processing of personal data without explicit consent.
This case underscores the challenges OSINT practitioners face in ensuring data privacy and legal compliance, especially when dealing with personal information on a large scale.
- Managing Digital Footprint
Investigators need to protect our digital identities while conducting OSINT to avoid leaving tracks in the digital dirt that could be exploited by adversaries. Maintaining anonymity and ensuring that our own systems are secure can be challenging too, especially when accessing sensitive or dark web content.
During the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, OSINT investigators and activists faced significant challenges in managing their digital footprints. Governments in countries like Egypt and Syria actively monitored social media and online communications to identify and track down dissidents. Many activists were arrested or targeted because they failed to adequately anonymise their online activities - they forgot to brush away the tracks they left behind.
This situation highlights the importance of managing our digital footprints to avoid detection, and the significant risks associated with failing to maintain proper cyber hygiene in a hostile environment.
Summary
Vital for OSINT investigators, cyber hygiene is about scrubbing your digital space clean. The data you handle is sensitive, and needs a sterile and private workspace safe from bad actors’ grubby fingers.
By regularly sweeping out weak passwords, disinfecting your systems with updates and access checks, and polishing up your security with encryption, you can keep your OSINT environment spotless - and free from cyber threats or messy vulnerabilities.
