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Abstract

With the proliferation of social media and digital information tools, more and more internet users can participate in intelligence collection through open-source investigations – an area previously reserved for government agencies with access to classified information. The availability and easy access to open-source information, however, has raised some policy and ethical issues over time. Arguments were expressed in the literature, according to which, some of the most popular open-source investigation platforms collect and use information sometimes at the expense of the safety of users who posted the information online, unaware of how it was going to be utilized. Therefore, this study seeks to explore the elements of open-source investigations by one of the most popular open-source investigation platforms – Bellingcat. Specifically, the following variables are considered in the compiled dataset: year of the investigation, issue it focuses on, whether any pictures/videos are mentioned, and which is the primary source of information for the investigation. The results from our analysis are discussed and policy implications are provided. This study’s findings help to better understand the context of open-source investigations and their impact on intelligence agencies and the safety of users.

Note on the Author(s)

Lora Pitman, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Intelligence and Security Studies at Coastal Carolina University. She has published more than 20 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and reports with a focus on international security and cybersecurity. Her publications appear in the Journal of Cyber Policy, International Journal of Intelligence & Cybercrime, the International Journal of Cyber Criminology, the Journal of White Collar and Corporate Crime, Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice, the International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, the Journal of Criminal Justice Studies, NATO Science for Peace and Security series, and the Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies. She is also a co-editor of the NATO-issued volume Advances in Defence Analysis, Concept Development and Experimentation: Innovation for the Future. She also worked on different projects in the area of cybersecurity, sponsored by NATO, the U.S. Department of State, the Tactics Institute for Security & Counter Terrorism, the Cyber Threats Research Centre, and others.

Logan Walsh is an undergraduate student in the Department of Intelligence and Security Studies at Coastal Carolina University.

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