OSINT Top Ten: Number 7 - Sentiment and Financials

At Number Seven of the Open Source Intelligence Top Ten (aka OSINT Top Ten) are Sentiment and Financials. When we say sentiment, we are talking about the general prevailing public attitude towards an organization, and for financials, we are talking about information on an organization's investment and funding.

Monitoring and managing how your organization is presented online and perceived in public digital spaces is an integral part of threat management. Online news feeds, rumor sites, reviews, forums, financial listings, and government records are all publicly available and can have technical, strategic, operational, and economic effects on your organization. 

Nowadays, it is common for everyone to monitor for the latest vulnerabilities, exploits, and threats, especially those associated with technology present within your organization. Most organizations don't know that online sentiment and financial information can lead directly or even facilitate attacks through revelatory configuration information and data leaks. Particular attention should be placed on negative news and layoff rumors to effectively apply the appropriate controls, especially those assets and personnel associated with affected departments.

An organization needs to actively monitor announcements (e.g., press releases, product releases, leadership changes, etc.), company documents, financial statements, financial filings, stock chatter, and reviews.  Mismanagement of the information that an organization provides internally and externally can cascade into operational, financial, and technical risk such as increased attacks, exposures, and data exfiltration. Some key things to consider monitoring would be documentation and descriptions of past breaches, the organization's current cyber posture, or even the existence of a published security policy. 

Operational and Financial risk postures can also be affected by the sentiment and financial information about an organization. The reality is that no matter what kind of organization you may be (for-profit, nonprofit, or government), public, or private, more information is being shared, disseminated, added, and stored online every day. Formal news (funding announcements), Good news (general info, positive articles, press releases, etc.), or Bad news (negative critiques, layoff rumors, and lawsuits) can all have profound effects on your everyday operations ranging from your personnel, the technology employed, vendor/partner relationships, and associated costs. For example, lawsuits associated with technology in your infrastructure can affect your business and operations' long-term viability.

Next on the OSINT Top Ten is “Online Text Sharing Repositories.”

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