📢 Finally, we have launched our toolkit and resources database. We call it OSINT Atlas. Our volunteer team has worked hard to research and compile the tools needed for hashtag#OSINT and open-source investigations. Whether you are an OSINT analyst, investigative journalist, climate researcher, cybersecurity professional, or simply a curious person looking to understand how these tools work, OSINT Atlas is designed to help. So far, we have collected more than 150 tools, organised into different sections. The database will be continuously updated. We have also made OSINT Atlas easier to navigate. Simply click the [Guide] button to find your way around. OSINT Atlas is available on the Intel Focus website: 🔗 intelfocus.org/osint-atlas/

How is artificial intelligence reshaping the battlefield, and what does it mean for the future of war reporting? In the latest episode of The Intelligence Spotlight, @Liam_Gallas speaks with @NabihBulos, Middle East Bureau Chief of the Los Angeles Times, about AI-assisted targeting, surveillance, drone warfare and the growing challenge of verifying information in modern conflicts. 📅 Full episode out Monday, 26 October.

🚨 Our latest analysis is live: Analysis of a Pakistani Taliban propaganda video. Intel Focus examined a video released by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), showing an ambush on a Frontier Corps patrol in Central Kurram, Pakistan. By comparing people, equipment and terrain, our team assessed that the release combines footage recorded at different times. We also geolocated the ambush site by matching features in the footage to satellite imagery. The analysis sets out what the evidence supports and what remains unconfirmed, including the attack date. Analysis by Bart Visser and Shukria Malek Zada. Read the full analysis: 🔗 intelfocus.org/analysis/paki…

🚨 Our team have analysed a recent propaganda video released by the Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan showing an ambush on Pakistani armed forces in the KPK region. This is our most in-depth analysis to be released on October 15.

🚨 A phone can become a tool of coercive control when someone else can secretly see where you go, who you speak to and what you share. In our latest investigation, Ava Gough examines how stalkerware enables technology-facilitated abuse and how apps marketed for parental control or employee monitoring can facilitate intrusive surveillance. The report brings together survivor accounts, an examination of app marketing, questions about developer accountability. Read the investigation: 🔗 intelfocus.org/reports/the-a…

In November 2025, we spoke with journalist, international analyst and author Daniel Iriarte on The Intelligence Spotlight. He challenged a common assumption about disinformation: its power does not always come from a highly convincing fake. It also comes from an audience already prepared to accept it. Revisit the full conversation on our channels: 🔗 intelfocus.org/podcasts/this…

⚠️ Our statement on the accelerating development of artificial intelligence, its risks, and the need to keep human judgement at the centre of its use. 👉 AI is being developed and deployed at extraordinary speed. Today, Axios reported that several Anthropic researchers have raised serious concerns about where increasingly capable systems could lead. Whatever one thinks of the most catastrophic predictions, one point is difficult to ignore: AI capability is advancing faster than many institutions, laws and societies can adapt. And this is not only a Silicon Valley or democratic governance issue. AI is also being developed and deployed by authoritarian governments, where it can strengthen surveillance, censorship, facial recognition, information control and wider systems of repression. For organisations working in journalism, OSINT and investigations, the question is therefore not simply whether to use AI. It is where the boundaries should be, what data we expose to these systems, what decisions must remain human, and who remains accountable. At Intel Focus, our principle is simple: Human judgement is the product. Everything else is a tool. Our public AI usage policy (intelfocus.org/how-we-use-ai…) explains where we use AI and where we do not. AI may assist with editing, coding, structuring information and processing public data. It does not make our analytical conclusions, authenticate evidence, determine attribution or replace human verification. We also consider the provider behind the technology: where data is stored, how it is retained, whether it is used for training and whether the legal environment could expose sensitive information to state authorities. A powerful AI model is not automatically an appropriate one for investigative work. We use AI, but we believe responsible adoption requires clear limits, transparency and meaningful human oversight. We are also open to assisting organisations, public bodies and private institutions developing responsible approaches to AI adoption, governance and risk. 📧 For further discussion: info@intelfocus.org

A video posted in Afghanistan can move across TikTok, X and Facebook within hours. Chinese state-linked content can reappear in pro-Russian Telegram networks. Iranian influence actors can find new audiences through the same amplification ecosystems. Our latest investigation examines how pro-Taliban, pro-Russia, pro-China and pro-Iran networks produce, recycle and amplify political narratives across borders and platforms, and why verification often struggles to keep pace. Full investigation here: 🔗 intelfocus.org/reports/how-p…

In August 2025, we spoke with investigative journalist, photographer and filmmaker Lynzy Billing on The Intelligence Spotlight. She explained why no single form of evidence is enough; OSINT, personal testimony and reporting on the ground must corroborate one another to build a credible investigation. Revisit the full conversation on our site: 🔗 intelfocus.org/podcasts/lynz…

🚨 Nine attackers. Ninety seconds. More than 100 spent cartridges. On 22 July, armed men travelling in a pickup truck and on a scooter attacked a military checkpoint in Narathiwat, southern Thailand. Five paramilitary rangers were killed and six civilians wounded, including a 10-year-old boy. Intel Focus analysed CCTV footage, satellite imagery and photographs from the aftermath to geolocate the attack and the remote road where a suspected getaway vehicle was later found burning. But the visual evidence was also manipulated. AI-“enhanced” images invented tattoos on the attackers, fuelling unsupported claims about their identities. No group has claimed responsibility, and Thai authorities have not publicly attributed the attack to a specific organisation. Read this full investigation by Sindre Langmoen here: 🔗 intelfocus.org/reports/insur…

🚨 New episode out: how to think like an intelligence analyst In the latest episode of The Intelligence Spotlight, John Hall joins Qais Alamdar to unpack the blurred boundaries between #OSINT, investigative journalism and intelligence. A former British Army officer with operational experience in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, John now works across intelligence, security and commercial satellite imagery, and is also the founder of The HIVE Intelligence Network. In this conversation, he discusses how modern conflicts are analysed, why satellite imagery carries growing evidential weight, how AI is challenging trust in visual information, and why intelligence should always answer one crucial question: “So what?” Access this episode on our website: 🔗 intelfocus.org/podcasts/how-…

🚨 Abdul Zahir Qadeer, a former Afghan general and First Deputy Speaker of the Wolesi Jirga, has been extradited from Kenya to the United States. US prosecutors allege that he negotiated the supply of hundreds of kilograms of heroin and methamphetamine, alongside military-grade weapons, during an undercover DEA operation. Intel Focus reviewed the unsealed criminal complaint and examined two decades of public reporting around Qadeer’s political, military and regional networks in Nangarhar. The case raises wider questions about how influence built during Afghanistan’s post-2001 order may persist across borders and beyond formal office. The charges remain allegations. Qadeer is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. Read the full report by Shukria Malek Zada: 🔗 intelfocus.org/reports/forme…

🚨 How to think like an intelligence analyst In our upcoming episode of the Intelligence Spotlight, John Hall joins Qais Alamdar to examine the increasingly blurred boundaries between #OSINT, investigative journalism and intelligence analysis. John is a former British Army officer with operational experience in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, now working across intelligence, security and commercial satellite imagery. Full episode drops Monday, August 10. More: intelfocus.org

🗣️ NEW EPISODE IS OUT NOW! 👉 What happens when journalism, national security and technology begin to collide? In the latest episode of The Intelligence Spotlight, we speak with Olivia Pirie-Griffiths about press freedom, open-source investigation, information integrity and the growing pressure on journalism in the age of algorithms and AI. We discuss why journalism is not only a media issue, but a democratic and national-security issue; why information integrity goes far beyond fact-checking; and how governments can respond to disinformation without weakening the public’s right to know. Watch and listen to this episode here: 👇 Watch this episode on YouTube: youtu.be/iwSOWvOn0Cg Listen to this episode on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/6Z8…

In the upcoming episode of The Intelligence Spotlight, Olivia Pirie-Griffiths joins us to discuss press freedom, open-source investigation, the attention economy, AI, and why protecting democracy must not come at the cost of the public’s right to know. Look out for the full episode release next Monday, July 6.

🚨 Gold mining in northern Afghanistan is reshaping rivers, damaging farmland, draining wells and fuelling unrest. Drawing on satellite imagery, local testimony and open-source reporting, this investigation examines the mining networks operating across Badakhshan and Takhar, the extraction methods linked to environmental harm, and the communities bearing the cost. From Samti to the Panj and Amu Darya rivers, the issue is no longer only who controls Afghanistan’s gold, but who will pay for what the mining leaves behind. Read the full report by Ava Gough here: 🔗 intelfocus.org/reports/river…

🚨 Our latest Intel Focus report looks at how legacy telecom infrastructure, particularly SS7, can be exploited to track mobile phones through systems such as Altamides, linked to the Indonesia-based company First Wap. Co-authored by Denice V. and Anni Lindén, the report examines how location-tracking tools, reseller networks, leaked documents, and telecom access points expose a wider surveillance ecosystem operating across borders, often with limited public scrutiny. This report is accessible on our website: 🔗intelfocus.org/reports/old-p…

👉 AI-generated law enforcement videos are becoming more convincing, more emotional, and more politically charged. Our latest explainer piece looks at how misleading videos claiming to show federal agents, protesters, raids, or local business investigations spread online after real incidents, mixing authentic footage with AI-generated, altered, or contextless material. Read more here: 🔗 intelfocus.org/reports/expla…

🟢 Clean energy is often marketed through images of progress, innovation and climate responsibility. Yet behind this green branding, the extraction and processing of critical minerals can leave behind polluted water, toxic waste, damaged land and communities carrying costs that rarely appear in corporate sustainability narratives. In our latest report, Mariana Balona examines how selective disclosure helps sustain the clean-energy transition while exporting harm elsewhere. Read the full report: 🔗 intelfocus.org/reports/green…

🚨Our latest episode of The Intelligence Spotlight is now live. In this conversation, we are joined by Dr Berit Ebert, political scientist and faculty member at Bard College Berlin, where she also serves as Director of Public Programs and Strategic Initiatives. We discuss the 🇪🇺 European Union’s core values, the pressures facing democracy across Europe, the rule of law, migration, political polarisation, information warfare, and the limits of EU foreign policy in times of crisis. A timely and thoughtful conversation on whether the EU can still defend its foundational principles in practice. Full episode here: 🔗 intelfocus.org/podcasts/thes…