Audio OSINT Analysis

Welcome, to the fascinating universe of Audio OSINT- an often underestimated, yet incredibly fertile area for intelligence gathering in the larger OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) ecosystem. In this blog, we turn our attention to this captivating realm, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of what it encompasses and how you can leverage it in your own OSINT-related endeavors.

Open-source intelligence analysis often heavily relies on video analysis. They analyzing video footage to find people, buildings, or other important details to verify and validate information by studying video footage.

By carefully analyzing video footage using OSINT techniques, researchers can gather valuable information and insights that can help them make informed decisions.

Many people do not analyze the audio in video footage. However, this could give OSINT investigators new clues and leads that they may want to confirm as part of their overall analysis. By paying attention to the audio in video footage, investigators may be able to identify important details, such as:

Voices: Investigators may be able to identify specific individuals or groups of people by their voices.

Background noises: Investigators may be able to identify specific locations or events by the sounds in the background.

Music or other audio: Investigators may be able to identify specific songs, commercials, or other audio that can provide additional context or clues.

By analyzing the audio in video footage, OSINT investigators can gain a more complete understanding of the situation and make better informed decisions.

What is Audio OSINT ?

Audio OSINT is the process of finding valuable information from sound recordings and related material. It is a part of OSINT, which uses publicly available data to gain insights. Audio sources for OSINT can include official government press conferences, informal interviews on social media, podcasts, YouTube videos, police radio scanners, and call-in radio shows. These sources can provide valuable insights and help investigators make informed decisions.

Why is Audio OSINT Important?

In our multi-platform, multi-channel world, audio data can provide valuable intelligence. People often speak more openly, offering unique insights into their thoughts, plans, and intentions. Audio data can also be the first source of information for an event or activity, giving early indicators or alerts.

1. Identify Relevant Audio Sources: Monitor radio shows, podcasts, YouTube channels, and any other platform where audio data might be shared.
2. Record and Archive: Save audio recordings into a repository for future reference.
3. Transcribe and Translate: Convert audio recordings into text for easier searching. Use speech-to-text technology or manually transcribe. For foreign languages, translation is also necessary.
4. Analyze and Extract Intelligence: Read and interpret transcribed texts, looking for patterns, common themes, and other relevant data points.
5. Cross-Reference with Other OSINT Sources: Validate findings and build a more comprehensive understanding of the situation by cross-referencing with other forms of OSINT.

What Should Be Goals of Analyze an Audio ?

• Listening for people’s names (full names, nicknames etc.)
• Listening for location names (country, city, street, postal codes etc.)
• Listening for other names (Business, venue, restaurant, borders & conflict area etc.)
• Listening for identifiers related to people (family members, email, phone number, school names etc.)
• Listening for area specific sounds (Traffic light tickers, airport, public transport, specific animal sounds, weather, tv/radio/music in the background, language/dialects)
• Understanding who talks to who (hierarchy) (how many peoples are involed)
• Understanding the narrative
• Understanding the when (time/date)
• Understanding where
• Understanding why

Free Tools You May Use For Audio Analysis

1. Audacity
2. WavePad
3. Boom 3D
4. Fidelizer Audio Enhancer
5. Translate LABS (Spoken Language Identification)
6. Google Translate (Speech to Text Tool)
7. 360 Converter
8. Local Lingual (world map with languages)
9. Omniglot (listen to languages all over the world)
10. Sound Cartography (Library of various maps with sounds from all over the world)

Also Read: Protecting Yourself from Online Disinformation or Fake News Using OSINT

This article aims to create awareness about OSINT and if you like this blog so, share with your friends & feel free to personalize any additional details you’d like to highlight.