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Three years ago, Michael Bazzell was forced into taking his investigation search tools offline. He was threatened with civil litigation as they gave so much support to those looking to make fraud and illegal behaviour visible and he was suspended by his web host. Now, at last, the tools have returned with several updates and are free for everyone. Many new features are coming soon.If you don't have the book this is highly recommended as one of the best guides there is to #OSINTIntelTechniques OSINT Online Search Tool ... See MoreSee Less

IntelTechniques OSINT Online Search Tool

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Search Engines Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Communities Email Addresses Usernames Names Telephone Numbers Maps Documents Pastes Images Videos Domains IP Addresses Business/Government Vehicles Virtual Currencies Breaches Live Audio Streams Live Video Streams

1 month ago ·

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If I had a Hammer… Building Your CI/MI Toolset. My latest IMCI Magazine article for July / August 2022 - page 51 Why CI / MI collection today differs from yesteryear - and how this should impact CI/MI research. Remember it's not the collection approach that's important. It's the results achieved - and how these are used. The aim of collection is to enable decisions and so it's important that any research has this as the primary focus rather than outdated methodologies that are no longer suitable or relevant. buff.ly/3RknsXR #OSINT #HUMINT #socmint @RomGayoso Of course - this is an opinion piece so I'd love feedback, criticism (and even to be disproved). ... See MoreSee Less

IMCI Magazine July / August 2022

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International Market & Competitive Intelligence Magazine is a bi-monthly publication focusing on a variety of intelligence topics.

1 month ago ·

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Why you think you're right -- even if you're wrong! In this great TED talk, Julia Galef talks about why so many people are convinced they are right, even when they are wrong. The reason is that they lack what she calls the "scout mindset". Although she never mentions competitive / marketing intelligence she's talking about the sort of mindset great intelligence people have. They are curious, willing to be challenged, and defined by wanting to understand the world or the business or the industry rather than to continue along existing safe paths, defending them no-matter-what. She uses the example of the 19th century Dreyfus case in France that led to an innocent officer getting court-martialled and sentenced for espionage while the actual spy continued. Although prejudice was a key reason for the miscarriage of justice, it was also challenged by somebody willing to question - and that's key for anybody involved in CI/MI. ... See MoreSee Less

Why you think you're right -- even if you're wrong | Julia Galef

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Perspective is everything, especially when it comes to examining your beliefs. Are you a soldier, prone to defending your viewpoint at all costs — or a scout...

2 months ago ·

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Do you seek power, or influence? Many leaders (national and business) focus on their power and believe that's what is important to get followed - but they fail to create new leaders. A few, focus on influencing others - and so create followers, some of who will also become leaders. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explained the difference: “Power works by division, influence by multiplication. Power, in other words, is a zero-sum game: the more you share, the less you have. Influence is a non-zero-sum game: the more you share, the more you have.”(With thanks @Andrew.Shaw for this). ... See MoreSee Less

2 months ago ·

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The Antilibrary: Why Unread Books Are The Most Important. People who ask "Have you read all those books?" miss the point. Books are knowledge repositories and are opportunities to research and learn more - but only if you still have some to read. buff.ly/3mcTOFw #library #librarian #knowledge ... See MoreSee Less

The Antilibrary: Why Unread Books Are The Most Important -

buff.ly

The antidote to overconfidence is our relationship with knowledge. The antilibrary is the solution according to Nassim Taleb.

2 months ago ·

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Some #Wikipedia articles are regularly accessed and updated. Others are read only occasionally and some hardly at all. But which are the least viewed articles.... #knowledgeThis may seem a trivial question - but working out the least viewed is not easy. It also gives clues to what is really esoteric - and strangely some of the least viewed articles turn out to be insects and more specifically species of moths. In search of the least viewed article on Wikipedia ... See MoreSee Less

In search of the least viewed article on Wikipedia

colinmorris.github.io

Wikipedia sure is popular. The most popular articles in a given week routinely get millions of views. But with 6 million plus articles, Wikipedia has plenty ...

2 months ago ·

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Elon Musk Thinks Social Media Isn’t Rocket Science. Musk has presented himself as a defender of free speech on Twitter. Is he correct, and what exactly does he mean? The New Yorker considers the answer. #Twitter #ElonMusk ... See MoreSee Less

Elon Musk Thinks Social Media Isn’t Rocket Science

www.newyorker.com

Musk has presented himself as a defender of free speech on Twitter. What exactly does he mean?

2 months ago ·

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Privacy and online safety go hand in hand. And when you’re using the internet, it’s important to have control over how your sensitive, personally identifiable information can be found.Google Search, already has a set of policies that allow people to request the removal of certain content from Search, with a focus on highly personal content that, if public, can cause direct harm to people. Open access to information is a key goal of Search, but so is empowering people with the tools they need to protect themselves and keep their sensitive, personally identifiable information private. You can now request the removal of personally identifiable information that appears in Google Search such as a phone number, email address, or physical address. The policy also allows for the removal of additional information that may pose a risk for identity theft, such as confidential log-in credentials, when it appears in Search results. ... See MoreSee Less

New options for removing your personally identifiable information from Search

blog.google

On Search, we’re updating our policies to allow people to request the removal of additional types of sensitive, personally identifiable information.

2 months ago ·

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In just a few years, TikTok has become one of the world’s most successful social networks. The company claims that its platform is used by over a billion people every month.Bellingcat’s Tech Team has created the Bellingcat TikTok Analysis Tool (built on the basis of a TikTok scraper offered by Github user drawrowfly) that allows researchers to collect a dataset of TikToks associated with specific hashtags over lengthier periods. The tool also allows researchers to analyse what other topics appear together with selected hashtags most frequently.(Note: The tool needs to be installed - full instructions are given for Macs but Bellingcat states that a similar process is used for Windows computers). #OSINT #TikTok ... See MoreSee Less

This New Tool Lets You Analyse TikTok Hashtags - bellingcat

www.bellingcat.com

TikTok has come to play a crucial role for open source researchers. By analysing how hashtags are used, this tool lets you dig even deeper.

2 months ago ·

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How Your Target Generation Acts in the Ecommerce World! Different generations act differently when making online purchases - and in many other areas too, as I highlighted in my chapter in Aftershocks and Opportunities 2: Navigating the Next Horizon (Available from Amazon at buff.ly/3MN4oOB)So when marketing to Baby Boomers, consider their approach. It's not the same as Gen X, Y or Z. E.g. Millennials (Gen Y) are more likely to price compare, read reviews and buy generic brands while Gen X are more likely to show brand loyalty. And baby boomers have more cash to spend.... ... See MoreSee Less

How Your Target Generation Acts in the Ecommerce World!

buff.ly

From Baby Boomers to Gen Z - every generation has embraced ecommerce purchasing. And every generation holds untold opportunities!

3 months ago ·

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How to Answer an Unanswerable Question 1) Acknowledge your own anxiety. 2) Listen for the need underneath the question.3) Ask questions that help the questionner / others feel supported 4) Don’t interpret questions as critique.5) Don't be overly defensive. Sound confident but admit vulnerability too. 6) If things go wrong, have a way to recover. ... See MoreSee Less

How to Answer an Unanswerable Question

hbr.org

You can still give an honest response.

3 months ago ·

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What is #OSINT Open Source Intelligence? ===================================A brief guide on gathering and analyzing publicly available data for #intelligence purposes - explaining what OSINT is, how to gather it, how it's used and potential problems & issues. ... See MoreSee Less

What is OSINT Open Source Intelligence? | CrowdStrike

www.crowdstrike.com

Open source intelligence (OSINT) is the act of gathering and analyzing publicly available data for intelligence purposes. Learn more here!

3 months ago ·

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Military operations in a more transparent world======================================In the past eight years, a revolution has occurred in the world of “#OSINT” – and especially Imagery Intelligence (IMINT), which analyses images gathered by assets from satellites to spies.The resources now available to individual citizens approaches those once reserved for the superpowers.The changes in publicly available (in contrast to government-used) OSINT and IMINT are highlighted by comparing Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in 2014 with the Kremlin’s current build‑up against Kyiv.Eight years ago, limited satellite pictures were briefed to the media, and while sourced from commercial firms, so as not to reveal classified capabilities, they were still mainly provided by official sources such the US State Department, Intelligence Community, and NATO. Further, relatively little hand-held imagery was available and useful, although Russian soldiers did reveal themselves in Ukraine with geotagged selfies. Finally, the public OSINT community was underdeveloped, with instead various journalists often bringing shadowy matters to light.Today, 6.6 billion smartphones are in use, meaning about 84 per cent of the world’s population are potential intelligence collectors.This means plethora of satellite imagery providers generate detailed views of Moscow’s deployment of more than 100,000 troops to Ukraine’s borders. In turn, despite Russia banning soldiers from using smartphones on duty, now TikTok, Youtube and more provide data allowing for the identification of individual units as everyday people share events that capture their interest – and military deployments clearly fit the bill.Finally, the OSINT community itself has learned, sharing techniques and resources, with some organisations having sprung up in response to Russia’s actions in 2014. These researchers, together with private military analysts, have developed assessments of Moscow’s forces that compare well with those from classified intelligence ... See MoreSee Less

Military operations in a more transparent world

www.lowyinstitute.org

Russia’s Ukraine build-up is the latest example of how some information can no longer be kept secret.

3 months ago ·

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A new consortium of countries is focused on keeping the internet free from disinformation and censorship. It's a response to Russia’s attack on the Ukraine, where internet infrastructure is being attacked as part of the ongoing war. Announced on 27 April 2022 in a National Security Council briefing, an administration official said that the U.S. is formally launching the "Declaration for the Future of the Internet" initiative in collaboration with over 50 other countries. “The declaration affirms fundamental principles regarding how countries should comport themselves with respect to the internet and to the digital ecosystem, the digital economy, that commits governments to promoting an open and free global, interoperable, reliable and secure internet for the world,” the spokesperson said. The Declaration for the Future of the Internet is modeled after principles belying other multinational organizations like the United Nations, World Trade Organization and the Group of Seven. Current member countries include Italy, Israel, Bulgaria, Canada, Belgium, Iceland, Luxembourg, Sweden, Spain, Taiwan, Uruguay and more. “The US and partners endorsing this declaration will work together in the weeks, months and years ahead to implement these principles to promote this vision globally, while respecting each other's regulatory autonomy within our own jurisdictions and in accordance with our respective domestic laws, international legal obligations,” the spokesperson added.Promoting human rights online is a priority of the initiative. The spokesperson said that the group has been in the making for about a year, as the U.S. worked in tandem with other “like minded” democratic countries to combat online misinformation.The Declaration for the Future of the Internet is looking to welcome more countries into its membership as operations continue. ... See MoreSee Less

U.S. Enters International Initiative to Oppose Online Disinformation and Censorship

www.nextgov.com

The consortium of countries will work to advance an inclusive global internet to combat digital censorship.

3 months ago ·

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A five-second pause might seem like an eternity to us, but it is barely perceivable to those we are eliciting information from. In fact, it might even give them extra thinking time. It gives them a few extra seconds to consider the answer they have given, and figure out if they have anything they’d like to add. ... See MoreSee Less

The Power of the Pause in Elicitation - Business Analyst Articles, Webinars, Templates, Jobs

www.batimes.com

Understanding stakeholders’ true needs and perspectives can be difficult. There are many elicitation techniques within the BA toolkit, many of which (unsurprisingly) involve talking to people. After all, a key way to get to know somebody’s perspective is to ask them! When speaking to a stakehold...

4 months ago ·

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Problem Definition - The foundation of Effective Problem Solving - Business Analyst Articles, Webinars, Templates, Jobs

www.batimes.com

The problem identification task is about really asking the question, what problem are we solving and we’re looking to try to answer. But before we can identify the particular problem and really understand that we first need to understand how does this gets initiated? How does the problem identific...

4 months ago ·

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Customer Experience: Bad Information Can Be Worse Than No Information! - Business Analyst Articles, Webinars, Templates, Jobs

www.batimes.com

In an increasingly competitive business environment, organizations seek ways to differentiate. Many companies focus on customer experience as a key area where things can be improved. In the past, customers may have put up with poor support and slow service, but when the competitive forces are high a...

4 months ago ·

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6 Steps To Build A Business Analysis Capability - Business Analyst Articles, Webinars, Templates, Jobs

www.batimes.com

As a business, you constantly need to be on the watch for opportunities to grow and develop. There should never be a moment of rest or complete satisfaction since things can turn around quickly and your competitors could take the lead. This is why businesses need to introduce new capabilities that w...

4 months ago ·

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Knowledge Is Not Zero-Sum

www.modernanalyst.com

Knowledge isn’t like other commodities. If I have three dollars and give you one of them, now I have only two dollars. Money is zero-sum in the sense that I must lose some of it for you to gain something in this transaction. In contrast, if I give you some of my knowledge, I still possess all

4 months ago ·

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AWARE's CEO is leading a pre-conference advanced searching workshop as part of the AIIP conference. It's still not to late to book for it. Google is not the only fruit: Advanced Searching for InfoPros.24 March 2022 4:00-6:00pm UTC $125The workshop will cover search strategies to find information for #CompetitiveIntelligence, #DueDiligence, #IndustryResearch & more.More info & Register at www.aiip.org/conference/workshopsBooking closes Tuesday night EDT. ... See MoreSee Less

5 months ago ·

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Russia, Ukraine ‘deepfake’ video, audio are concerns for US intelligence

dnyuz.com

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! As tensions continue to rise in Ukraine and Russia, U.S. intelligence officials

6 months ago ·

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A great comment on the power of Open Source Intelligence was featured on Twitter today - relating to HM Queen Elizabeth's 70th Jubilee year photograph. So for those who don't understand what was done, "you'd better watch out. You better not cry. Better not pout. I'm telling you why. She's making a list. And checking it twice..." (And check the comments too :) )"A quick thread on in the importance of being careful what data you share - even if you're the Queen. Today, Her Maj tweeted this lovely picture, gor bless er, etc. You might think that the contents of the red box would be official business. And you'd be right... 1/6twitter.com/amateuradam/status/1490394034900197388 ... See MoreSee Less

Adam Kay on Twitter

twitter.com

“A quick thread on in the importance of being careful what data you share - even if you're the Queen. Today, Her Maj tweeted this lovely picture, gor bless er, etc. You might think that the contents of the red box would be official business. And you'd be right. 1/6”

6 months ago ·

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Another great Dilbert cartoon. And especially relevant as Autonomy head, Mike Lynch, was found to have defrauded HP and so can be extradited to the US. The problem is that HP ignored the data - their due diligence, according to US court records amounted to 6 hours and their finance director just glanced over the report commissioned to look at their finances. So I agree, for the first time ever, with the boss. People who ignore data do deserve mocking! ... See MoreSee Less

6 months ago ·

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Hi all So today is the first day of 2022, and goodbye to 2021 that is now “so last year”! When 2021 started there was optimism and belief that the Covid pandemic was over and that 2020 was just a bad dream. Sadly, that’s not the case BUT there is room for optimism. There are now vaccines – that work. Unfortunately, not all who could have been vaccinated have been. Some believe false information – suggesting that there is a major role for those involved in any information profession (marketing research, marketing intelligence, competitive intelligence, information literacy) to show how to evaluate information and separate fake news, rumour, lies and false propaganda from objective truths. There are a range of reasons for anti-vaccine beliefs – for example a lack of science and general knowledge (a recent survey apparently showed that a large proportion of Americans are against the teaching of Arabic numerals) while others following a libertarian bent, think that vaccines are plot to force people into doing what governments really want to do – take additional power and to control the population. Sometimes these combine to give succour to conspiracy theorists who believe in secret cabals trying to take over the world. Worryingly, many have not been vaccinated as the vaccines have not been evenly distributed across the world – the vaccination rate in Africa is below 10% while in other parts of the world it’s well above 70%. This is a global problem as it means variants that can evade vaccines are more likely to occur, impacting all of us. (The current fast-moving variant – Omicron – first appeared in Africa. Fortunately, this seems milder than some earlier variants such as Delta). But how was 2021 for AWARE. We started the year despondent. No travel – and we’d been giving training workshops across the world with our last workshop in December 2019 in Shanghai. Not only that but nobody was doing research either – as everybody was working from home and businesses were on war footings, doing what was needed to keep going rather than expand. However, with the roll out of vaccines, businesses became more optimistic and we’ve led several workshops online – via Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. (I do prefer Zoom). We developed a brand-new training concept that also can be used for team building or testing knowhow: a competitive / marketing intelligence escape room where you need to solve puzzles to move from room to room and escape to get a certificate. (We’ve a demo at www.CIEscapeRoom.com – contact us if you’d like us to build a custom Escape Room exercise for you / your company). Significantly we also found research was picking up – and we’ve carried out a number of research projects looking a fintech, pharma, telecoms, IT and other sectors. Some of these have been particularly interesting and/or involved Open Source research – which are the types of research I love as I strengthen my own knowhow about industry and business. We also attended our first in person conference / trade show since 2019 as these are now restarting and held some great interviews with our target companies. In addition, the chapter we’d written for a book on the world post-pandemic finally was printed – in September 2021. We’d written the chapter in early 2020 attempting to look at how the world would be once the pandemic had run its course focusing on generational differences: Gen Z vs. Baby boomers for example. What’s satisfying is to see how some of what we wrote was coming true even just a year after while the pandemic continued to rage (for example the differences in attitudes of Gen Z to previous generations – their approach to work, as one example, is much more laissez-faire where work-life balance is more important). You can purchase the book from Amazon at (or directly from Fast Future, the publishers – ask us for a discount code). (Search for Aftershocks and Opportunities 2: Navigating the Next Horizon). Plus we wrote several articles (with more to come) for a new Competitive / Marketing Intelligence magazine – the International Market & Competitive Intelligence Magazine and held a joint podcast / interview with Professor Rob Dover of Hull University on counter-intelligence.So, what about 2022? I think that the pandemic will still be with us for at least a further 6 months BUT that we’ll learn to live with it. In developed countries, most people will have been vaccinated (except for a few reluctant idiots as mentioned above and hopefully Covid “passports” and restrictions on those not vaccinated will encourage most to “give in”). This means that trade shows will restart and by mid-2022 so will conferences although many will still be virtual or hybrid. This makes economic sense too – why spend on hotels and travel when much can be done online. The exception will be when the physical networking becomes important. Nevertheless, I’d not expect conferences to revert away from hybrid formats for some time – attendees will be able to choose how to attend. However, I strongly think physical conferences will restart by 2023. The benefits will be that those who want to attend in person can, and those who just want the educational sessions or for international conferences can attend virtually. In principle this could increase attendance and so help grow the event business – whether for conferences, trade shows and in-person training. (As a trainer, I much prefer the in-person experience as I can see when people want more explanation on a concept and I miss the interactivity that is missing in most virtual training sessions. I also think there is a value in having an all-day session or multi-day in-depth session that’s not workable for people being glued to a screen for 7 hours or more. Hence online training needs to be broken into chunks. BUT there are advantages to this too so I think some training will remain virtual). Similarly, research work will grow – how has the world changed? Companies will need to know what has changed and in certain areas there have been significant developments that could impact their future. These include AI and blockchain technologies – and healthcare and mental health are now on corporate agendas in ways that was not the case at the start of 2020. The importance of work-life balance is now much clearer and in many businesses, employees will have the option to work from home some of the week if they want, although they will be expected to be in the office some of the time. This can reduce the cost of office space as there will be less need for all to have a permanent office and desk. Communication tools such as Zoom and mobile phones are now ubiquitous and even dinosaur employers know that you can work from anywhere. (A drawback is that you can also be monitored from anywhere so this may be a concern for some – and establishing sensible work times to preserve work-life balance will be important). On a personal level, life goes on. Susy is recovering from Covid – fortunately we were double vaccinated at that point, but it hit her hard and she’s still suffering the after-effects (tiredness, brain fog….). She wasn’t in hospital but and we are fairly sure that without the vaccine she would have been. Ariel is now in his 3rd year mathematics post-doc and I still haven’t a clue what his research topics are. (He’s now in Ben Gurion University near Beersheva after two years at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem – although he and Amalya both live in Jerusalem. Nehama is also at university and lives in the Tel Aviv suburb of Givat Shmuel). We’ve not seen the children for well over two years now – since Ariel took up his post-doc place in Jerusalem. He’s now been married for 3 years! We’d planned to travel Easter / Passover 2020… but that went. As did the same time 2021 and August 2021 too. We hope that 2022 will allow us to visit them. In conclusion I’m an optimist. I said that the pandemic will be with us till mid-2022. Travel will restart, people will go on overseas vacations again by August (without the routine of PCR tests and similar – for those vaccinated). By the end of the year, recovery will be in progress and 2023 will be a good year for many although probably not for all. (The manufacturers of masks, handwash and protective aprons will miss the good times of 2020-2021). Finally, wishing all who have read this far a really happy, healthy and prosperous 2022. RegardsArthur Weiss ... See MoreSee Less

AWARE – Competitive Intelligence for Business Growth

www.marketing-intelligence.co.uk

Competitive Intelligence for Business Growth

7 months ago ·

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Wishing all a really great festive season, and a healthy, happy and prosperous 2022. ... See MoreSee Less

8 months ago ·

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Bonhoeffer‘s Theory of Stupidity buff.ly/3eb92GP says that stupid people are more dangerous than evil ones. You can fight against evil people but often they are supported by stupid people who do nothing or support evil through failing to understand the dangers because they are stupid. It's much harder to change such stupid people's views - because they've been persuaded by the evil people. This is a great video on Bonhoeffer and his idea. The theory explains so much of our world in 2021 - whether climate change deniers, anti-vax covidiots, investment bubbles (BTC anyone) and much more. It also explains why business managers jump onto the latest strategic approaches without fully understanding them - as like sheep, they want to follow the flock so do the same thing even when it's not really applicable. (Why are so many business strategies bad. Nobody sets out to create a bad strategy - yet in hindsight many are. The theory of stupidity is a partial explanation - although Richard Rumelt's book Good Strategy, Bad Strategy (buff.ly/3efeHM4) goes much further in explaining this). #stupidity #strategy ... See MoreSee Less

Bonhoeffer‘s Theory of Stupidity

buff.ly

Dietrich Bonhoeffer argued that stupid people are more dangerous than evil ones. This is because while we can protest against or fight evil people, against s...

8 months ago ·

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Just rewatched the Reflections - Live Stream with me, Prof Robert Dover and Rom Gayoso, Ph.D. on #counterintelligence. Towards the end we talk about system vs. anti-System politics. It's a factor that really needs to be watched by corporates as when the anti-system politicians gain influence, they tend to go against corporate interests. #competitiveintelligence #Intelligence www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi4zLBcpVBU ... See MoreSee Less

Reflections: Intelligence, Counter-Intelligence, and whatnot. Full show.

www.youtube.com

In this episode of Reflections, we welcome Prof. Rob Dover from the University of Hull (UK), and Arthur Weiss from AWARE to discuss a variety of topics assoc...

8 months ago ·

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Alexa has been the go-to site for monitoring website visits - and has been around since the early days of the web i.e. 1996s. Sadly #Alexa, now owned #Amazon, is closing in May 2022. Alexa is a good competitor analysis tool for online research on your competitor website popularity. Fortunately there are alternatives to Alexa including #similarweb (that supported the linked article). Not all are included - Connexity (formerly Hitwise) is missed but this is a slightly different tool, aimed at researching shopping visits, etc. Is #similarweb more accurate than Alexa? (SimilarWeb thinks it is - but what are some other options?) buff.ly/3eehYLO #OSINT #competitiveintelligence ... See MoreSee Less

8 months ago ·

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Social Media around the World - it's not just #Facebook. Don't ignore other platforms - there are regional, political and generational differences. For example, #Tiktok is used by Gen Z who view FaceBook as a platform for oldies. In Russia, #vkontakte is dominant. Right-wingers prefer #Gab. Then there are newer platforms such as #GETTR that position themselves on free speech. If you are looking at individuals - for whatever purpose e.g. due diligence, pre-employment checks, competitive intelligence on what people are saying, or to identify contacts (and lots more reasons) then consider what social media platforms may be used, could be used or are likely to be used by your target and check these also. And companies will also advertise on a range of platforms - but the ads may be different as they target the different types of consumer, so you may uncover differences in their marketing too. buff.ly/3Fld2kk #OSINT #competitiveintelligence ... See MoreSee Less

Social Media around the World

buff.ly

When most people speak of social media, the have the ‘Big 3’ in mind: Facebook, Instagram & Twitter. But social media is so much more than just these three platforms, especially whe...

8 months ago ·

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Is it just me that finds this news item really worrying? The article seems to suggest that our current low interest rates / approaching negative interest rates will be the new norm? When I see articles such as this, the word "hubris" immediately comes to mind, as does pride before fall. As it ignores the impact of rising fuel costs and other costs leading to inflationary pressures on economies. That's generally a sign that interest rates are likely to rise - so when somebody says "they'll stay low" - to me that's a sign to clear debts in case they don't (or more a case of be prepared for them to rise). Or have I missed something? ... See MoreSee Less

Entirely possible that we'll see low interest rates forever, asset manager says

www.cnbc.com

Julian Howard expected that the Federal Reserve would probably only start raising interest rates in the second half of 2022.

9 months ago ·

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Competition in the UK credit card market heats up - and MasterCard is now the dominant player. Visa charges explain why everybody is switching - but long term when a company such as Amazon blocks one credit card company everybody loses as consumer choice is restricted. Debit cards are still OK - and interestingly Amex is too. Will this force Visa to modify prices - and if so, how will they recoup? ... See MoreSee Less

Amazon to stop accepting payments using UK-issued Visa credit cards

news.sky.com

The online retailer admits its decision, due to take effect in January, is "inconvenient" for shoppers but insists it is in their best interests while Visa - whose shares fell 5% on the announcement - accuses the company of restricting choice.

9 months ago ·

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Although this is an advertorial, it makes an important point. Social Engineering is one of the best ways to gather intelligence and counter-intelligence is always needed to protect companies from attacks. This article gives ideas on how to protect your organisation - and how social engineering techniques can be used to attack you. Social Engineering Teaming Service: Protect Your Organization from On-Site Infiltration #OSINT #HUMINT #competitiveintelligence #SocialEngineering ... See MoreSee Less

Social Engineering Teaming Service: Protect Your Organization from On-Site Infiltration

securityboulevard.com

After spending the better part of the last two years working remotely, employees are beginning to filter back into their office buildings. Their return is greeted by familiar faces, fresh...

9 months ago ·

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Each week I trawl articles for material of relevance to #competitiveintelligence, #OSINT, #strategy and more. Why not subscribe to see what appears. ... See MoreSee Less

AWARE Weekly Update

paper.li

News on business & marketing strategy, competitive intelligence research & analysis, disruptive innovation, entrepreneurship, web & social media search, OSINT and related business areas. by Arthur Weiss

9 months ago ·

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Every picture tells a story - and so do photos. Clearview AI has now scraped the web for photos from websites and social media and used facial recognition to let police and others get an image of who we are and what we are doing - and so identify suspects, etc. Clearview sees this as a starting point - and that AI will make such surveillance actions even more powerful BUT it may also make them more dangerous to bad actors and the risk of error is also there. (Just think of the 6 Jan 2021 attacks on congress - lots of photos and so this can be used to identify those who stormed congress and link them to ther actions too). #OSINT #socmint #SIGINT ... See MoreSee Less

Clearview AI Has New Tools to Identify You in Photos

www.wired.com

In an interview with WIRED, CEO Hoan Ton-That said the company has scraped 10 billion photos from the web—and developed new ways to aid police surveillance.

9 months ago ·

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How Competitive Intelligence Helps Understand How Decision Makers Think

www.octopusintelligence.com

We Are Octopus. We Create Certainty, Insight & Competitive Advantage So You Can Dominate Markets & Beat Your Competitors

9 months ago ·

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Arik Johnson's latest interview speaking to Rostyk Hurskey of the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF) suggests that "CI needs to evolve faster than it is currently evolving.” So true.... A lot of established CI practitioners base their research on techniques developed over the years - but prior to today's online world and social media world. Sadly, many have not updated them fully - and so miss intelligence because CI hasn't evolved fast enough. #CompetitiveIntelligence #OSINR #SOCMINT ... See MoreSee Less

Arik Johnson on LinkedIn: “I think CI needs to evolve faster than it is currently evolving.”

www.linkedin.com

“I think CI needs to evolve faster than it is currently evolving.” says Rostyk Hursky, Director of Impact and Strategy at Saskatchewan Health Research ...

9 months ago ·

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How To Triage Leaked Credentials | Recorded Future Spotting leaks - especially due to poor security is crucial for ensuring the integrity of your information. This article suggests a process to stop some leaks. ... See MoreSee Less

How To Triage Leaked Credentials | Recorded Future

www.recordedfuture.com

Leaked and stolen credentials pose a critical risk to organizations everywhere. In fact, 61% of breaches involve compromised credentials.

9 months ago ·

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This Company Had a Marketing Mystery Only Private Eyes Could Solve: An interesting research story - spotting industrial espionage from an ex-employee with access to confidential information. The company engaged a private detective to identify a leak of trade secrets to a competitor. The article suggests that competitive intelligence involves customer surveys, using PR companies, demographic data analysis - while their approach using PI techniques was better. Although it worked I wonder if it's the whole story. The article states "…month after month, its customers were fleeing to the competition..." and that the client "was convinced that standard market forces weren't at play". Yet the company apparently "had a stronger brand and social presence, cooler spokespeople, cheaper prices" and was greener. What the article doesn't state is any attempt at validating this. Was it true? How often do customers switch to an inferior, more expensive competitor? There was no mention of win-loss analysis - speaking to lost customers to find out why they switched. In this case, there may have been espionage. However many other questions are raised relating to poor CI practice! Why didn't they speak to customers to find out why they had switched, as one example. Why was no checks made on whether their assumptions were correct. Why were there no exit interviews or security protocols within the company. The company may have caught a leaker - but its approach, if the story is true, suggests poor information management and no CI process - so it's ripe for attack anyway. buff.ly/3bZ7sqJ #CounterIntelligence #CompetitiveIntelligence #Espionage ... See MoreSee Less

This Company Had a Marketing Mystery Only Private Eyes Could Solve

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Even companies that make all the right moves can succumb to an all-too-common culprit: employee theft.

9 months ago ·

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Human Beings have been telling stories since we lived in caves. It's the tool that all great communicators use. Even if it involves dry facts and numbers, turning these into a story can make them meaningful and memorable. #storyteller #influencermarketing ... See MoreSee Less

10 months ago ·

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Ensuring that your company is protected and not vulnerable to cyberattack is now a necessity. However for some sectors, it's particularly important as they hold massive amounts of data on individuals - making them key targets for cybercrime. We can see this in the increase in the number of healthcare data breaches (Up 25% in 2020 vs, 2019 - and around 2x a day). Cybercrime in heathcare include ransomware, online fraud and identity theft - with entry obtained via phishing, hacking of legacy systems, poor passwords and entry via supplier systems. An illustration of the value of healthcare records is that credit card details now sell for under US$ while passwords and access to a Gmail account can be over US$100 as this gives access to the full identity of the target - many people use their Gmail account password for other systems. However medical records can be even more valuable as they can allow a thief to have a full personal profile - with date of birth, prescription records, payment cards and other identity detail. ... See MoreSee Less

Cybersecurity in Healthcare: How to Prevent Cybercrime | Brighterion AI | A Mastercard Company

brighterion.com

Cybersecurity is a growing area of risk in healthcare, and organizations are grappling with their vulnerabilities, including identify theft that leads to healthcare fraud. Brighterion's highly scalable artificial intelligence solutions detect healthcare fraud, waste and abuse.

10 months ago ·

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My weekly update of news I've found interesting, inciteful or important for marketing & competitive intelligence professionals. Subscribe and you'll get this every week. ... See MoreSee Less

AWARE Weekly Update

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News on business & marketing strategy, competitive intelligence research & analysis, disruptive innovation, entrepreneurship, web & social media search, OSINT and related business areas. by Arthur Weiss

10 months ago ·

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Sometimes things aren't perfect - yet the show needs to continue. A lesson for all presenters on coping and continuing. Use humour, and improvise and the audience will be thrilled. Congrats to a real #professional presenter. It's not just knowing your material like the back of your hand. It's being able to show you know much more and that you are ready for whatever twists are thrown at you. (And yes, I've also had the occasional "help - what do I do" and have managed to continue. It may be a workshop on finding information for my clients - or a lecture at a conference. It's still a performance and you still need to be ready for whatever bad luck is thrown at you). www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBbRTRBY4D4#presentation #teaching #performance ... See MoreSee Less

Brazilian pianist, Eliane Rodrigues, LITERALLY taking the performance below the stage!

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That time when you have to play a recital at De Doelen in Rotterdam and something is not right with the piano. Who says classical musicians don't have a sens...

10 months ago ·

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Aftershocks and Opportunities 2: Navigating the Next Horizon has now been published. (lnkd.in/egi-7FCZ).I made a brief video summarising my chapter and there's more detail on this link. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6850811038754066432/. Although Covid-19 is still with us - and is likely to remain for the foreseeable future, despite most people having been double vaccinated, life must carry on. We need to learn to treat it a bit like we treat flu - potentially life threatening, but not life stopping or curtailing for most. But in the same way that different ages view flu differently I believe that different age cohorts will react to the "new normal" in different ways.To learn more - click on the link above to purchase your own copy of the book - and read my chapter and those of the others named so you can navigate the opportunities and threats emerging as a result of the pandemic. ... See MoreSee Less

10 months ago ·

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In our age of hacking and cyber-terrorism, your company's data is a target. And it doesn't take much for a hacker to break into a network and wreak havoc. What do you need to know about password security?(And this is just one step in protecting companies. There are many more - for example, ensuring employees don't fall for targeted phishing attempts, or phone calls asking for seemingly innocuous information that, when combined with other information can give clues to strategy and much more. Ask me - and I'll explain). ... See MoreSee Less

Password Security in 2021 — A Complete Guide | Hacker Noon

hackernoon.com

A comprehensive guide to password security for all IT managers (and everyone else!). Learn why it is important, the risks of insecure passwords and how you can

10 months ago ·

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I use OSINT techniques to gather competitive & marketing intelligence for customers. However there's also a dark-side as it's possible to use the same approaches for nefarious purposes. Targeted phishing attacks and "whaling" depend on the use of OSINT to get information on the victim so that they fall for the attack. So understanding OSINT is important for the counter-intelligence community too. How good are your OSINT skills? ... See MoreSee Less

The upside and downside of open-source intelligence – OSINT

www.scmagazine.com

There are advantages to OSINT for defenders, but bad actors also use it to hack into organizations.

10 months ago ·

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You see a sign "Parking for Green Vehicles"Does that mean the paint colour or environmentally friendly? Ambiguity causes problems in business. It's important that communcation is clear / understandable and unambiguous to be effective. ... See MoreSee Less

What Does It Take to Message Effectively?

www.modernanalyst.com

Is your requirements approach friendly to vocabulary, policies and messages? I mean directly. Wouldn’t it be of great help to your organization in achieving its goals if they were? In our experience, policy sources almost always need interpretation and disambiguation to achieve an effective pr

10 months ago ·

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The importance of understanding value - Business Analyst Articles, Webinars, Templates, Jobs

www.batimes.com

Every company has many competing ideas on projects which need to be fulfilled in order to run successfully. Departments will usually get a budget and at times try to deliver as many items as possible, in order to say they have been completed. But are the correct items/functions/projects being delive...

10 months ago ·

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Why Visionary Leadership Fails

hbr.org

Top executives need to make sure middle managers are aligned with them.

10 months ago ·

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Social Intrapreneurship: Unleashing Social Innovation From Within

sloanreview.mit.edu

The next wave of social innovation is coming from employee-led initiatives.

10 months ago ·

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Novel AI Approaches For Marketing & Advertising

www.topbots.com

To help you stay aware of the state-of-the-art AI applications in marketing, we have prepared an update of our AI marketing research series with 15 recent research papers in attribution, optimization, personalization, and content generation.

10 months ago ·

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RT @dutch_osintguy: Reminder: ABC #OSINT A = Assume Nothing B = Believe Nothing / No one C = Challenge / Check everything #disinformatio…yesterday
This is why #FakeNews from whatever source is pernicious. If these children had been killed by #Israeli attacks, it… https://t.co/BER0c5o5zO2 days ago
The latest AWARE Weekly Update! https://t.co/vpdgGlzZhT Thanks to @EliotHiggins @IainLJBrown #strategy #business4 days ago
Futures Television - forthcoming programmes.... Including @AlexanderFink77 on the impact of the war in #Ukraine o… https://t.co/jq0Vl227in7 days ago
one person followed me // automatically checked by https://t.co/xWvLJmRgUl9 days ago
The latest AWARE Weekly Update! https://t.co/uiJKQ3vKcF Thanks to @RDSWEB #strategy #business11 days ago
one person followed me // automatically checked by https://t.co/xWvLJmRgUl17 days ago
The latest AWARE Weekly Update! https://t.co/Y7VF53juem Thanks to @AJBlackston @spyblog #strategy #business18 days ago
RT @BabetteBen: So who did not see this coming??? https://t.co/X3W0DcLnqj21 days ago