Their Photos Were Posted Online. Then They Were Bombed

When it comes to launching attacks using open source intelligence, it's not likely that they'll do so based on data gleaned from social media. Ukrainian officials said the photos of the base were useful, but it's not clear if they combined them with the information already available. Questions about the use of open source intelligence were not answered by the Ministry of Defence. It shared a photo online that claimed that a Russian tourist posed for a photo in front of Russian air defense systems.

The assistant professor at the Army Cyber Institute at West Point believes that militaries like to have fidelity if they are going to do a strike. Smith says OSINT can show you where activity may be so that you can point more exquisite intelligence assets to focus on that area.

There are other instances of military action based on online information. The Centre for Information Resilience published a report in June that said a pro-Russian group used footage from a Ukrainian news channel to locate a factory. Three people were killed when the building was hit. People in Ukranian have been criticized for sharing their locations on social media.

Military forces can use anything that is posted online. Smith says, "As a commander on the ground, you have to be aware that so much data is being produced about your soldiers at any given time." The signals that are emitted from cell phones can send signals to your opponent about your location, potential training cycles, and so on. Any kind of photo posted by anyone in your ranks can be used to identify where you are and what assets you have. The names and heart rates of soldiers on military bases were exposed in the past.

According to a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, OSINT has been used by the military for a long time. The big change is the data fusion capability of open source intelligence, so to combine different sources into one product that really brings a picture of the reality. The speed at which open source data is analyzed has gone up.

McDonald says that there may be privacy questions regarding the use of open source data in the military. McDonald says that if citizens send in information they have taken, this could make them military targets, further blurring the line between civilians and soldiers.

OSINT is being used on the ground for military purposes while also being used to clean up after battles. A research officer at the HALO Trust is using open source data to help clear mines and understand what weapons are being used. The majority of this comes from social media. Mathewson says that the analysis helps them plan their operations, tailor their demining training, and know what to educate people about.

Mathewson says that the headquarters of the HALO Trust was relocated to the Kyiv region in April. A group of tractor and combine harvester accidents were caused by antitank mines. Videos of burning tractor or photographs of large craters are some of the things that can be seen. The group was able to deploy its teams to the area due to the social posts and open source data.