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Business analysis

A fast-growing Australia tech startup approached Osintitan with a concern: a competitor based in Denmark seemed to be mirroring their product development and marketing strategies — sometimes even launching features before they did. The client wanted to understand how this competitor operated, who they were working with, and whether any of their internal plans were being leaked or predicted through open channels.

Objective:

To conduct an OSINT-based investigation into the competitor's:

Product development lifecycle
Partnerships and supply chain
Hiring and talent acquisition trends
Public sentiment and customer feedback
Marketing campaigns and timelines

Our Approach:

We broke the investigation into several key areas:

1. Digital Footprint Mapping

We began by mapping the competitor’s digital presence — websites, subdomains, archived content, and analytics tools — to identify what technologies they used and when changes occurred. Using historic DNS data and metadata analysis, we were able to track new service rollouts and backend changes weeks before public announcements.

2. Social Media & Employee Activity

By analyzing LinkedIn, Twitter, and GitHub, we gained insight into the company’s hiring patterns and project focus. We noticed an uptick in AI-related hires and open-source contributions, which hinted at a new feature in development. Several employees had publicly discussed upcoming tools in forums and podcasts — unintentionally revealing strategic direction.

3. Public Documents & Government Registries

We dug into trademark filings, procurement records, and public grant disclosures, uncovering a new government partnership and a product registration that hadn’t yet been announced. This gave the client a window into their competitor’s roadmap.

4. Customer Feedback & Market Sentiment

Using review platforms, Reddit, and competitor customer support forums, we monitored pain points in the competitor’s existing offerings. This gave the client strategic opportunities to improve their own product positioning in future updates.

Outcome:

The intelligence gathered allowed the client to:

Confirm that no internal data had been leaked — the competitor was just aggressive in open-source monitoring.
Realign their product timeline to beat the competitor to market on an upcoming feature.
Launch a targeted marketing campaign addressing customer frustrations that the competitor had failed to resolve.
Gain investor confidence with a report detailing their market advantage.

Missing persons

A concerned family member contacted Osintitan after their relative, a 24-year-old university student, had gone missing while traveling through Southeast Asia. The individual had not been in contact for over two weeks, and local authorities were limited in their response due to jurisdictional challenges and lack of concrete leads.

The family was desperate for answers but wanted to ensure any search efforts remained legal, ethical, and respectful.

Objective:

To use OSINT methods to:

Map the missing person's last known digital footprint
Identify potential travel patterns or sightings
Cross-reference social media, public CCTV footage, and online conversations for clues
Provide actionable information to the authorities or family for further investigation

Our Approach:

1. Social Media Analysis

We began by analyzing the missing person's Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok accounts for geotagged posts, check-ins, and recent activity. While the main accounts were inactive, we identified comments from other users referencing recent sightings and tagged photos.

Using image metadata and reverse image search, we confirmed the last photo was taken at a well-known hostel in Vietnam — three days later than the date the family originally believed to be their last contact.

2. Digital Footprint Expansion

We examined secondary accounts and usernames connected through known email handles. This led us to a travel forum where the individual had posted under a pseudonym, seeking advice about bus routes to a remote coastal area.

We also discovered their profile on a public Couchsurfing site — including a message exchange with a local host who had not yet been contacted by anyone.

3. Public & Open Data Cross-Referencing

Using publicly available CCTV camera networks, tourist reviews, and user-submitted travel photos, we scoured local content during the suspected timeframe. In a travel vlog posted by another tourist, a person matching the description of the missing individual appeared briefly in the background at a street market.

Frame-by-frame analysis allowed us to verify the location and timestamp — placing the individual in a new city five days after the last known family communication.

4. Collaborating with Locals

We worked with local OSINT volunteers and open-source communities in the region to spread awareness, gather observations, and discreetly share verified information. One user confirmed seeing the individual at a backpacker café — consistent with their known interests.

Outcome:

Through this investigation, we were able to provide:

A new and confirmed timeline of the missing person’s movements
The names of three individuals they had recently interacted with
An updated location window for local authorities and embassy staff

Within a week of sharing this intelligence with the appropriate parties, the individual was located safe in a small town. They had fallen ill, lost access to their phone, and were unaware of the growing concern back home.

Conclusion:

This case reinforced the critical role OSINT can play in time-sensitive, people-focused investigations. By ethically analyzing digital footprints and publicly shared data, Osintitan helped a family find answers — and most importantly, reunite with a loved one.

We remain committed to using OSINT not just for intelligence, but for impact.