OSINT Explorer: A Tool Recommender Framework for OSINT Sources

Abstract

The Internet has had a profound impact on our daily lives since its inception. It has become a determining element in how we interact and do business, particularly in terms of our ability to access information, jobs, our ability to stay connected, our company’s chances of survival, our ability to thrive in the workplace, and education, etc. There are several everyday problems for which the Internet provides resources, such as software and hardware solutions that we may rely on in times of crisis. The abundance of software and computational services offered by the Internet has introduced new challenges for what was previously unknown, i.e., within the plethora of resources available, users cannot work out which tool to use to solve the problem. The collection and review of freely accessible material, often from online sources that are freely accessible to the general public, is referred to as open-source intelligence (OSINT). With the plethora of OSINT tools available, it has become difficult for users to choose the best tool for the given problem. This article presents a framework for identifying OSINT tools that are most appropriate for solving given problems. The proposed framework is user-friendly and provides tools based on MIME types or advanced search features. The framework has been evaluated by subject experts and has shown to be an invaluable resource for end-user tool recommendations.