Fusion of OSINT and non-OSINT data

Open Source Investigations do not exist in a vacuum. Whether they are law enforcement or intelligence agency driven, private industry or business driven or the work of a private investigator, it is more than likely that the investigations began with some data that is available openly and some that is not. Thus, from the outset the investigation has some open and some closed source information attached to it. As time goes on in the investigation, the police may elicit information from both open and closed source in order to establish the details surrounding the crime and to build their case. This chapter introduces some of the available data sources for developing open source intelligence and for closed source intelligence. It then puts these data sources into context by highlighting some examples and possibilities as to how these different data types and sources may be fused together in order to enhance the intelligence picture. Lastly, it explores the extent to which these potential synergies have already been adopted by LEAs and other companies as well as future possibilities for fusion.