Investigator OPSEC Checklist

Core idea

When investigating, you leave digital footprints too. These measures separate you personally from the investigation and stop a target from spotting you.

Components

• Use a VPN at all times. Treat it as essential against attempts to reveal your IP, such as malicious links.
• Be wary of Tor; use it only rarely.
• Never view a target’s social media with your personal profile. Platform algorithms (for example Facebook) can surface you to the target as a suggested connection.
• Use puppet accounts that look like ordinary people, with no link back to you, for social-media research.
• Stay pseudonymous publicly, but reveal your identity when working under contract with clients, lawyers, or law enforcement.

When to use

Before and during any OSINT work that touches social platforms or a target’s online presence.

Related

Evidence Preservation Checklist, The Risk of Public Attribution