Health OSINT

We were catching up on the goings on with some social media platforms and came across a post about a bad cold going around. It then dawned on us that we’ve never touched on Health OSINT (Open Source Intelligence).

Back at the start of the pandemic we learned about the contact tracing process, communications during a health crisis, HIPAA exceptions, RUMINT (Rumor Intelligence), and infection prevention control.

While there wasn’t anything specific to OSINT in this training, there is a lot of opportunity in the Health industry to use OSINT and SOCMINT (Social Media Intelligence).

Going back to our stumbling upon a social media post of the spread a of a cold, a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases, an epidemiologist, a public health official, or hospital/private practice, can look to see how far and fast something is spreading, all while respecting privacy. This could be done by searching for specific hashtags on social media, or joining specific town groups/forums to see what people are self-disclosing.

This information could help private practices anticipate an increase in patients seeking treatment for something and therefore can plan ahead.

Epidemiologists, infectious disease experts, and other public health officials, could start monitoring places around the globe for people self-reporting symptoms on social media to see if there’s an outbreak of something known or novel. These professionals can then see where something spreads, how fast, and understand, potentially, the cycle of the disease. This all helps supplement traditional methods of researching infectious diseases. This also sets up an information sharing network between public health officials so they are prepared to help the town/city/province they serve. This isn’t just specific to diseases either, as OSINT tools and techniques can assist in understanding drugs and overdoses impacting communities.

One thing public health officials have to do is communicate important information to the public about health related matters. In this function, OSINT can help in with communications by aiding officials in learning about different cultures and subcultures to craft effective messaging. OSINT can also help discover the sources of misinformation and disinformation when it comes to Rumor Intelligence. This can help Public Health officials create messaging that counters potentially life threatening disinformation to protect the public.

If you’re a public health official, epidemiologist, or infectious disease expert, we’d love to learn how you’re using OSINT. Fill out the contact form to start the conversation.

And before you go, if you’re interested in Information Security or OSINT, use the following link to sign up for our newsletter to get tips, tricks, tools, and news in your inbox https://bsquaredintel.com/newsletter-signup/

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