Open Source Intelligence Techniques for Monitoring the Alt-Right Online

Presented at THOTCON 0xA (2019), May 4, 2019, 2 p.m. (50 minutes)

Following the resurgence of far-right violence since the rise of Trump have been organizations monitoring the alt-right using open source intelligence techniques (OSINT). Many figures central to far-right organizing have been unmasked and their ability to organize has been disrupted by hackers, journalists, and activists digging into their backgrounds. Various far-right groups have been completely disrupted with key members being fired, shunned by their communities and a number of high-profile arrests were made. The presenters worked extensively with Unicorn Riot, an alternative media collective, on their "Discord Leaks" platform, which has analyzed and released over a million leaked chat messages from alt-right groups. They will share several real-life examples of using OSINT techniques combined with this leaked data to identify anonymous racist activists. Previously unreleased chat logs will be made public during this talk to enable direct audience participation in the OSINT process.


Presenters:

  • RiotDoge
    Freddy Martinez is a security researcher and investigative reporter. Christopher Schiano is a reporter with Unicorn Riot.
  • B_meson
    Freddy Martinez is a security researcher and investigative reporter. Christopher Schiano is a reporter with Unicorn Riot.

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