NeedleStack

There’s a (false) assumption that cryptocurrency is inherently anonymous, concealing the identity of those who use it. But in fact, crypto has been used in countless investigations to unmask criminals and bring them to justice. We sit down with Matt Price, former IRS-CI special agent and current head of investigations and intelligence at Binance, to bust the myths of crypto and the dark web, and learn how the best advice to any investigator holds true for crypto: follow the money.

In this episode, host Matt Ashburn, and co-host Jeff Phillips, break down everything you needed to know about the dark web. From how it works and why it was invented to things to consider before conducting your research there – we cover all the questions you were too afraid to ask.

Needlestack hosts answered live questions from our listeners in this special episode. From use cases in different industries to world news to tools to help researchers – Matt and Jeff discussed the role of OSINT in professional research.

This week the team is joined by threat intelligence researcher Adam Huenke to go over the importance of open-source intelligence to CTI research. From social media to the dark web, freely available information can be found to help improve security.

It takes a team of people to provide protection to executives and one of their most important tools for offering the best protection is OSINT. Whether searching Facebook for public protests or getting a tip from Twitter, guest Mick Baccio explains how open-source is a key tool in the field.

Trust and safety is a constantly growing and evolving field. In this episode, we cover the basics of the industry and the role of OSINT in minimizing risk to end users. We also discuss the risks to researchers when their investigations take them off-platform and into the wild of the web.

The latest episode in our OSINT use case tour covers how open-source can be applied to law enforcement. The popular use of social media has made it so that more and more of the clues investigators are looking for can be freely found.

Open-source intelligence (OSINT) has been playing out on the world stage in a big way over the past few weeks. Social media platforms like TikTok have become insightful sources for analysts to track Russian military movements in the Ukraine invasion. Tracking disinformation on various sites shows a war being fought with more than tanks — Russia is using culture and the power of the media. And auxiliary intelligence is a growing resource in governments gaining OSINT.

In our first listeners live episode, Matt and Jeff take questions from our live audience. They cover resources that can be useful in finding the best OSINT tools; advantages to using native-language search engines in international research; free training for OSINT analysts; and managing attribution to access the information you need. Listen on-demand, or sign up for our upcoming live events at authentic8.com/events/needlestack.

Disguising your digital fingerprint is imperative to the results of online research. This episode, the hosts dive into the tools that can help investigators understand and manage their identity online. From websites to browsers, extensions and full-service managed attribution platforms, here are the tools you need to blend in online.