OSINT Cards

The Signal & Shadow OSINT Reference Card library — practical tradecraft built to professional standard.

All Posts

Armed group identification: attribution and tracking

OSINT Cards

Oct 14, 2026

Armed group identification: attribution and tracking

Geolocate armed group activity, map commander networks and trace supply chains to produce exhibit-ready attribution

Derek Bowler

Director network mapping across registries and jurisdictions

OSINT Cards

Oct 7, 2026

Director network mapping across registries and jurisdictions

Cross-reference directors across OpenCorporates, ICIJ Offshore Leaks and OCCRP Aleph to expose shared control and nominee fronts

Derek Bowler

Sock puppet accounts: build, warm and retire a persona

OPSEC

Sep 30, 2026

Sock puppet accounts: build, warm and retire a persona

Build a research persona with a dedicated VM, 30-day warming and SHA-256 session logging to reach observation-ready status

Derek Bowler

Red flags in public contracts: OpenTender to OpenCorporates

OSINT Cards

Sep 23, 2026

Red flags in public contracts: OpenTender to OpenCorporates

Run five workflow steps from authority ID to benchmark comparison, with full chain of custody

Derek Bowler

AI-generated image and video detection for OSINT investigators

OSINT Cards

Sep 16, 2026

AI-generated image and video detection for OSINT investigators

Run Hive Moderation, Optic and ExifTool in sequence, document false-positive checks and meet chain-of-custody requirements for legal or editorial submission

Derek Bowler

Investigating mobile location data and broker chains

Geospatial & Satellite

Sep 9, 2026

Investigating mobile location data and broker chains

Map the warrantless data chain from carrier to government client using SAM.gov contracts, PACER filings and cell-site records

Derek Bowler

Illegal deforestation detection and supply chain tracing

Environmental & Climate Investigation

Sep 2, 2026

Illegal deforestation detection and supply chain tracing

Cross-reference GFW loss alerts against IBAMA fines and Trase data to attribute illegal clearing to named landowners and exporters

Derek Bowler

Social media evidence preservation for investigators

SOCMINT

Aug 26, 2026

Social media evidence preservation for investigators

Capture, hash and archive platform content with Hunchly and Wayback Machine before takedown removes it from the record

Derek Bowler

Geolocate, fingerprint and attribute IP infrastructure

OSINT Cards

Aug 18, 2026

Geolocate, fingerprint and attribute IP infrastructure

Map an IP to its ASN, fingerprint open ports via Shodan and Censys, pivot on passive DNS and document every lookup step in the case file

Derek Bowler

Dark Web

Aug 11, 2026

Tor network fundamentals for dark web investigators

Access .onion services, document sessions to chain-of-custody standard and identify deanonymisation vectors

Derek Bowler

Civil and criminal judgment research for investigators

Legal & Court Records

Jul 28, 2026

Civil and criminal judgment research for investigators

Extract judicial findings, asset disclosures and named associates from court dockets across an eight-step PACER workflow

Derek Bowler

Identifying satellite operators and owners

OSINT Cards

Jul 21, 2026

Identifying satellite operators and owners

Map the ITU filing, Space-Track record and corporate registry to name who controls a satellite and document the regulatory chain

Derek Bowler

Cross-platform username tracing to identity attribution

OSINT Cards

Jul 14, 2026

Cross-platform username tracing to identity attribution

Enumerate handles across 400+ platforms with Sherlock, cross-reference breach data and build a convergence dossier

Derek Bowler

Secure source communications: Signal, SecureDrop, Tails

OSINT Cards

Jul 7, 2026

Secure source communications: Signal, SecureDrop, Tails

Run MVT device checks, route documents through SecureDrop and document every source contact to chain-of-custody standard

Derek Bowler

Property and land registry investigation

Financial Intelligence

Jul 1, 2026

Property and land registry investigation

Identify beneficial owners behind corporate property titles using HM Land Registry, Companies House and the Register of Overseas Entities

Derek Bowler

Aircraft registration and ownership databases

OSINT Cards

Jul 1, 2026

Aircraft registration and ownership databases

Query civil aviation registries, trace ownership chains through corporate structures, and corroborate flight history against ADS-B data

Derek Bowler

OSINT Cards

Jul 1, 2026

AIS and MMSI vessel tracking

Query MMSI across MarineTraffic and VesselFinder, confirm ownership via Equasis, and document AIS gaps to evidentiary standard

Derek Bowler

Aviation OSINT: flight tracking to evidentiary standard

OSINT Cards

Jul 1, 2026

Aviation OSINT: flight tracking to evidentiary standard

Run tail number queries across Flightradar24, ADS-B Exchange, and Icarus Flights, then trace registered operators to beneficial owners

Derek Bowler

OSINT Cards

Jul 1, 2026

Beneficial owner tracing in maritime structures

The documentary sources, cross-referencing steps, and chain-of-custody standards for building a vessel ownership chain to evidentiary standard

Derek Bowler

Company registry research across jurisdictions

OSINT Cards

Jul 1, 2026

Company registry research across jurisdictions

Retrieve statutory filings, trace officer networks and map corporate structures using Companies House, OpenCorporates and Orbis

Derek Bowler

Conflict zone mapping: satellite imagery and ACLED

OSINT Cards

Jul 1, 2026

Conflict zone mapping: satellite imagery and ACLED

Acquire Sentinel-1 SAR and Copernicus imagery, cross-reference ACLED event records and verify geolocated media to build annotated conflict maps

Derek Bowler

Court record research across jurisdictions

Legal & Court Records

Jul 1, 2026

Court record research across jurisdictions

Map a party's litigation history, asset disclosures and corporate relationships using PACER, CourtListener and HMCTS

Derek Bowler

Dark Web

Jul 1, 2026

Dark web access for OSINT investigators

Set up Tor Browser, Tails and Whonix for isolated dark web sessions that hold up to chain-of-custody review

Derek Bowler

Environmental sound analysis for location verification

Acoustic & Technical Analysis

Jul 1, 2026

Environmental sound analysis for location verification

Apply Audacity, Merlin Bird ID and xeno-canto to extract locational intelligence from ambient audio in recordings to evidentiary standard

Derek Bowler

Financial record tracing across jurisdictions

Financial Intelligence

Jul 1, 2026

Financial record tracing across jurisdictions

Map payment relationships, asset transfers and corporate funding structures using OpenCorporates, EDGAR, ICIJ and Sayari Graph

Derek Bowler