The Tao of Open Source Intelligence

One of the best books covering on-line research.

This book is a good foundational introduction on how to conduct OSINT data collection. It discusses some things you wouldn't normally think about like going beyond Google/Bing and using plugins, or geographically filtered searches etc. How to use meta search engines and other techniques that most internet search pundits don't think about.However, this book is very dated. When you consider the speed at which the internet and technology in general moves, this book would need a new edition every 6 months to remain current. Many of the links and services are defunct. So don't go into this book expecting a step by step guide to performing OSINT data collection. You'll need a much newer book for that. But if you want to understand the fundamentals of OSINT collection, this is a must have book.Think of it as learning from First Principals as opposed to Learning How To.

Although I appreciated the tentative philosopical approach to the problem the book remains too vagues and with few practical examples of possible applications. As a matter of fact I bought another book by another author that is much better organised and with plenty of examples.

It s a great beginning and useful listing of tools. A great beginner guide and a must for next gen investigation