A peek behind the curtain: How are sock puppet accounts used in OSINT?

An overview of sock puppet accounts in OSINT, explaining how investigators build and sustain realistic fictitious personas, the OPSEC tools and practices used (e.g., VPNs, Tor, proxies, burner phones, password managers), how these accounts enable access to closed communities, methods for identifying potential sock puppets through behavior and profile analysis, and the ethical and legal considerations needed to minimize risk and ensure responsible use.