Glosario de ciberseguridad
What is OSINT (Open Source Intelligence)?
OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) is the discipline of collecting, correlating and analysing information obtained exclusively from public sources — websites, social media, official registries, leaks and forums — to produce useful intelligence about a person, company or infrastructure.
Common OSINT sources
- Corporate websites, job listings and press releases.
- Social networks and professional profiles (LinkedIn, GitHub, X).
- Company registries, WHOIS and DNS records.
- Specialised search engines like Shodan or Censys for exposed services.
- Breach repositories and compromised-credential databases.
Defensive vs offensive OSINT
In offensive security (pentesting, red teaming), OSINT is the first phase: the attacker maps the target without raising any alarm. On the defensive side, threat intel teams use OSINT to monitor the company's digital footprint, spot spoofed domains, leaked credentials or accidentally exposed systems.
How to shrink your OSINT footprint
- Inventory and minimise internet-exposed services.
- Replace VPNs with open ports with ZTNA: resources stop being discoverable.
- Monitor credential leaks and enforce single encryption key auth.
- Control the technical information employees publish.