Malicious Life Podcast: Unmasking Secrets: The Rise of Open-Source Intelligence

This transcript traces the emergence of OSINT through Eliot Higgins and Bellingcat, highlighting their geolocation and verification methods used to attribute the MH17 shootdown to a Russian Buk launcher—later validated by official investigations—while examining OSINT’s growing role in conflicts, its vulnerabilities to groupthink and disinformation, and operational security risks exemplified by the Strava heatmap exposing military sites. It underscores how ubiquitous smartphones, social media, and tooling have transformed information gathering, and hints at how automation and AI will further amplify OSINT’s power and risks.