Ritu Gill

@OSINTtechniques osinttechniques.com

What was your OSINT highlight of 2021?

I’m from the west coast of Canada and with the spike of gang related shootings I created a visual to highlight the public versus residential shootings in Metro Vancouver.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=14ii0RD12wwH3n-hUHtRTjzwxc_YnSxOr&ll

What emerging (good or bad) trends did you notice over the past year?

I noticed a trend of people using alternative social media platforms which made OSINT more interesting in that I had to go find out about the new platform, do the research, set up sock puppet accounts and then find all the ways to leverage the content from these newer and lesser known social platforms.

Any favorite tool or technique that you tried in 2021?

Since I spend a lot of time on Facebook for research purposes, once I identify a subject’s Facebook profile, using the magnifying glass is the number one trick for finding interesting content related to a subject.

It’s about finding the right keywords to search related to your subject, the investigation and more! This search helps with identifying “hidden” Facebook posts and sometimes finds group membership as well.

How do you see the OSINT landscape changing in 2022?

Rather than change, I would say continue as in two trends that might continue.

1. the interest in OSINT and
2. offerings of virtual and low-cost OSINT cons!

The more of us that contribute to the OSINT community, the more attention OSINT gets… this attracts people who are interested in this field of work - I see this as a positive and believe it will continue to grow.

I enjoyed all the virtual and relatively low-cost OSINT conferences I was able to attend this past year. That said, I feel that 2022 will bring cons that will have a virtual component which some people appreciate during these times.

Promote yourself! Do you have a blog / Twitter account / Company that you’d like to share with the community?

Here are a few of my links:

• Website: https://www.osinttechniques.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/OSINTtechniques
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritu-gill-osint-techniques-3baa14195

I created an Instagram for Investigators course this year. It’s meant for law enforcement and corporate investigators and can be found here: https://www.cybertraining.ca

Anything else you’d like to add about The State of OSINT?

This sounds like a great initiative to get different contributions from those involved in the OSINT community. I will definitely go back and read other people’s perspective on The State of OSINT :) and thanks for inviting me to participate!