In plain view: open source intelligence

Researchers can gather a surprising amount of information on targets – people or companies – by harvesting data that is already publicly available. And sometimes they even surprise themselves. From newspaper archives to court records, and even simple Google searches, there's a vast array of data freely available that can be cross-referenced and filtered to provide insightful intelligence. The challenge is to find and manage the data, although a number of automation tools are now available. Danny Bradbury explores the not-so-shady world of open source intelligence.