#open-source-intelligence

#open-source-intelligence

The RFI is not a solicitation for bids. Rather it represents an attempt to conduct market research into the spectrum of data - personal, financial, location, health, and so on - that ICE investigators can source from technology and advertising companies. "[T]the Government is seeking to understand the current state of Ad Tech compliant and location data services available to federal investigative and operational entities, considering regulatory constraints and privacy expectations of support investigations activities," the RFI explains.

The missives are undersigned by firms like the Babel Street and the ANDECO Institute, which sell risk and threat intelligence services derived from commercially or publicly available information that's not necessarily gathered through more covert means available to spy agencies. Graphika, which performs social media network analysis to identify disinformation campaigns, is also a signatory. The measures, housed in Title 6 of the House Intelligence Committee's version of the fiscal year 2026 Intelligence Authorization Act, are also supported by the OSINT Foundation, a professional association of open-source practitioners in the U.S. intelligence community.

A well-known Ukrainian drone analyst has published footage that appears to be camera tests filmed in Shenzhen, China, saying these clips were retrieved from a downed Russian Gerbera drone. Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, an oft-cited drone specialist who runs a popular Telegram channel about uncrewed systems in the Ukraine war, uploaded the videos on Sunday. Business Insider could not verify that the footage was taken from a Gerbera, a Russian-produced long-range drone designed to mimic the Iranian Shahed loitering munition.