OSINT- an essential investigation tool? – the Maltese context

Abstract

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (2001) defines Open Source Intelligence as; Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is information that has been deliberately discovered, discriminated, distilled, and disseminated to a select audience, generally the commander and their immediate staff, in order to address a specific question. OSINT in other words, applies the proven process of intelligence to the broad diversity of open sources of information, and creates Intelligence (p.2). OSINT has over the years been used by a multitude of agencies and individuals to support investigational procedures. This research sets to explore the extent to which OSINT is used by Maltese Agencies. Semi-structured interviews were held with stakeholders from law enforcement, government agencies and financial institutions to ascertain the extent to which OSINT is used to support daily operations. Findings suggest that OSINT is an important and integral part of daily work in each organisation of the participants’ in this research. Findings also suggest that the level of awareness and competence varies according to the organisation. There appears to be a need for more training on OSINT and how to best use specific tools for different needs.