Open-source investigations into power, conflict and disinformation.
Intel Focus is a UK-based, open-source investigative not-for-profit company. We use open-source intelligence, investigative journalism and media literacy to expose disinformation, explain complex issues and strengthen public understanding. We work independently and in the public interest, and offer research, training and consultancy to public and private organisations.
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The apps that watch you: how stalkerware enables tech-facilitated abuse
Apps sold as parental control let abusers read a partner’s messages, track their location and stay hidden. Intel Focus examines…
How propaganda travels across borders and online platforms
A comparison of how pro-Taliban, pro-Russia, pro-China and pro-Iran networks produce and amplify propaganda, and how organic and coordinated amplification…
Insurgent attacks in southern Thailand: geolocation and analysis
Nine attackers, ninety seconds and two CCTV cameras. Intel Focus geolocates the checkpoint ambush that killed five Thai rangers in…
Former Afghan parliamentarian extradited to the US
A former Afghan general, member of parliament and First Deputy Speaker of the House has been extradited from Kenya to…
Rivers, land and livelihood: the cost of Afghanistan’s gold mining
Gold mining in Afghanistan’s northern provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar is rewriting rivers and borders. Locals, researchers and former officials…
How old phone networks became tools for modern surveillance
The rapid expansion of the digital landscape since the early 2000s has brought growing threats to our freedom and privacy…
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From scattered signals
to verified evidence.
Direction
Define the question. Scope the investigation, map what is known and set the collection plan.
Collection
Footage, imagery, flight data, records and social posts: raw open-source material, gathered from every available source.
Verification
Every item cross-checked, reverse-searched, geolocated and chronolocated. Nothing taken at face value.
Analysis
Verified material linked into actors, timelines and networks, with fact kept separate from inference.
Dissemination
Findings published with every claim tied to evidence that anyone can independently check.
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How to think like an intelligence analyst | John Hall
The rapid growth of open-source investigation has blurred the boundaries between journalism, intelligence and publicly available information. For John Hall, a former British Army officer now working in…
The Intelligence Spotlight
A front-row seat to the world of OSINT, geopolitics and digital investigations. Each episode features in-depth conversations with leading investigators, journalists, academics and experts as they unpack their latest work, explore open-source tools and break down complex topics.
We believe accountability starts with evidence anyone can verify.
Intel Focus is an open-source investigative not-for-profit company, working where investigative journalism meets digital verification. We use geolocation, chronolocation and source analysis to examine power, conflict and disinformation.
Every investigation is built from material that can be independently checked. No anonymous claim is taken at face value, and no conclusion goes further than the evidence supports.