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OSINT & intelligence glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms that matter in lawful intelligence work — and how Next Sight applies each of them in practice. Link to any entry directly via its anchor.
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- OSINT (open-source intelligence)
- The disciplined collection and analysis of publicly available information — websites, public registries, filings, news, and technical data — to answer an intelligence requirement. Lawful OSINT relies only on legitimately accessible sources, never on hacking or private-account access, and documents provenance so findings can be verified and defended.
- How Next Sight applies this: OSINT intelligence services
- HUMINT (human intelligence)
- Information collected through direct human interaction: structured interviews, participant observation, and trusted source networks. In professional practice HUMINT is lawful and voluntary, handled discreetly, and corroborated against open sources and records before it becomes an assessment — it rarely stands alone.
- How Next Sight applies this: HUMINT intelligence services
- OPSEC (operational security)
- The discipline of protecting an investigator's identity, devices, communications, and casework from adversary observation: anonymity and pseudonymity, secure communications, browser and device hygiene, and digital footprint management. Poor OPSEC exposes the investigator and can compromise the admissibility of evidence.
- How Next Sight applies this: OPSEC training
- Chain of custody
- The documented record of provenance, time, source, and handler for every artifact across collection, analysis, and reporting. A maintained chain of custody is what makes digital findings defensible before internal review, regulators, and courts — without it, open-source evidence is difficult to admit.
- How Next Sight applies this: compliance approach
- Deep web vs dark web
- The deep web is everything search engines do not index: databases, paywalled and private content. The dark web is the deliberately hidden subset reachable only through overlay networks such as Tor, I2P, Freenet, and Lokinet. Investigating either lawfully requires controlled attribution, documented collection, and verification.
- How Next Sight applies this: dark web investigation training
- SOCMINT (social media intelligence)
- Intelligence derived from social platforms: profiles, connections, reach, and amplification patterns, collected lawfully and analysed for investigative or protective purposes. Social network analysis turns individual posts into a picture of relationships and coordination.
- How Next Sight applies this: OSINT training
- Entity resolution
- Normalising people, organisations, infrastructure, and locations that appear differently across many sources into single, linked entities — so analysts work from a coherent picture instead of raw search results. A core step between collection and analysis in any multi-source investigation.
- How Next Sight applies this: Nexus, the AI OSINT platform
- Disinformation & influence operations
- Deliberately false or manipulated content spread to deceive, including coordinated campaigns by state and non-state actors using bots, fake personas, and deepfakes. Investigating it combines open-source collection, network visualisation of the accounts behind a campaign, and source-credibility assessment.
- How Next Sight applies this: disinformation investigation training
- Cryptocurrency tracing
- Following the flow of cryptocurrency transactions across wallets, exchanges, and services to connect illicit activity with identifiable actors. A core dark-web investigation skill, since hidden markets and services settle almost exclusively in cryptocurrency.
- How Next Sight applies this: dark web investigation training
- Protective intelligence
- Identifying and assessing threats to people, assets, and operations early enough to act: continuous monitoring of open sources, structured risk assessment, and reporting calibrated to the protected interest. The intelligence-led complement to physical and cyber security controls.
- How Next Sight applies this: corporate security use case
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