OSINT Briefings & Investigations
Expert analysis on OSINT methodologies, emerging threats, and digital intelligence. Published by [0x]INT operatives.
EU 21st Sanctions Package on Russia: Three Scenarios Compliance Teams Should Pre-Stage
Pre-adoption forensic walkthrough of the expected EU 21st sanctions package: shadow-fleet vessel-list expansion, third-country CASP designations (Kazakhstan, UAE, Hong Kong), Sovcomflot-successor tankers, the long-deferred maritime services ban, and AMLA-coordination signals. Three named scenarios, three anonymised case-pattern reconstructions, and the operational reading every EU CASP, credit institution and shadow-fleet exposed insurer should pre-stage in the 30-day implementation window.
Read briefing →How to Recognise a Fake or Low-Quality OSINT Firm: A Competitive Teardown Methodology
A defamation-conscious procurement framework for compliance teams evaluating OSINT vendors in 2026: five public red-flag patterns (AI-OSINT theatre, fabricated footnotes, wrapped public registers, Probiv-ecosystem dependency, 50%-Rule sloppiness), six 30-minute questions any compliance lead can ask, three documented loss cases, and the vicarious-liability bomb under FCPA, UK Bribery Act 2010 s.7, GDPR Article 28, and the EU AML 6 Package applying from 10 July 2026.
Read briefing →From Limassol to Dubai: The 18.4-Billion-Euro Russian Deposit Exodus
Cypriot Russian-resident bank deposits fell from EUR 24.1bn to EUR 5.7bn in 48 months. A forensic reconstruction of the EUR-AED corridor, the UAE free-zone absorption, and the stablecoin bridge — drawing on Cyprus Central Bank aggregates, ICIJ Cyprus Confidential, the FATF MERs, and the EU AMLD6 framework that applies from 10 July 2026.
Read briefing →EU Crypto Sanctions on Russia: The CASP Ban, Decoded
The EU 20th sanctions package bans all CASP transactions with Russian counterparties from 24 May 2026. A forensic walkthrough of scope, residency edge cases, the Garantex aftermath, and the screening playbook EU exchanges and banks need this week.
Read briefing →Russia's Shadow Fleet: How 287 Sanctioned Tankers Keep Urals Crude Flowing
The Eagle S, the Sovcomflot designations, and the insurance fiction: a forensic OSINT walkthrough of flag-of-convenience hopping, STS transfer patterns, and the methodology used to identify shadow-fleet tankers from public data.
Read briefing →The 50% Rule, Examined: How Russian Oligarchs Stay Off OFAC Lists
Forensic walkthrough of OFAC's 50 Percent Rule using public records: the Kerimov, Deripaska, and GVA Capital cases, structural patterns, and an open-source ownership-reconstruction methodology.
Read briefing →Kazakhstan, Turkey, UAE — How Russia Uses Transit Countries for Sanctions Evasion
Mapping the transit country patterns, data sources that expose re-export schemes, and red flags your compliance team should monitor in 2026.
Read briefing →Asset Tracing in Russia — How OSINT Uncovers Hidden Wealth
Practical OSINT techniques for tracing hidden assets: real estate via Rosreestr, vehicles, offshore structures, cryptocurrency, and court record mining.
Read briefing →How to Detect Russian Shell Companies — Red Flags & OSINT Methods
The 8 red flags of Russian shell companies: mass registration addresses, nominee directors, OKVED mismatches, and OSINT detection methodology.
Read briefing →Telegram OSINT Investigation — The Complete Analyst's Playbook
How professional investigators extract intelligence from Telegram: channel attribution, forwarding networks, bot forensics, and OPSEC. From practitioners, not vendors.
Read briefing →What is OSINT? Open Source Intelligence Methods, Tools & Real-World Use Cases
Complete guide to OSINT: what it is, how professional analysts use it, 10 core methods, free tools, and why organizations rely on it for investigations and due diligence.
Read briefing →Cryptocurrency Tracing — How OSINT Follows Money Across Blockchains
How investigators trace crypto transactions: blockchain analysis, wallet clustering, exchange identification, DeFi tracking, and when automated tools aren't enough.
Read briefing →How to Run a Background Check on a Foreign Company — Compliance Checklist
7-step compliance checklist for vetting international counterparties: corporate registry, UBO verification, sanctions screening, litigation, financial analysis, and digital exposure.
Read briefing →EU Sanctions on Russia 2026 — What Compliance Teams Must Know
14 sanctions packages, EU vs OFAC differences, the 5 most common compliance failures, and a practical action plan for European companies.
Read briefing →How to Verify UBO Ownership of a Russian Company
Step-by-step guide to tracing the ultimate beneficial owner through EGRUL, SPARK, nominee indicators, and offshore ownership chains.
Read briefing →Why Traditional KYC Fails on CIS Counterparties
Five specific ways standard KYC processes break down with Russian and Central Asian entities — and what enhanced due diligence looks like.
Read briefing →OSINT vs. Commercial Due Diligence — What's the Difference?
When to use commercial screening, when to commission OSINT investigation, and how the tiered approach delivers complete risk coverage.
Read briefing →How to Check if a Russian Company is Sanctioned
Step-by-step guide to sanctions screening across OFAC, EU, and UK lists. Free tools and professional OSINT methods for compliance.
Read briefing →Free Phone Number Lookup — Identify Carrier, Country, and Line Type
How to analyze any phone number: carrier, country, line type, timezone. Complete guide with free OSINT tools.
Read briefing →How to Trace an IP Address to a Location
IP geolocation, ISP identification, VPN detection, and WHOIS analysis. Free tools and step-by-step instructions.
Read briefing →How OSINT Transforms Corporate Due Diligence
Open-source intelligence has fundamentally changed how companies verify business partners. Learn the methodologies that uncover what traditional checks miss.
Read briefing →Dark Web Threat Landscape 2026: What You Need to Know
From credential marketplaces to initial access brokers — a comprehensive overview of the current dark web threat ecosystem and what it means for your organization.
Read briefing →5 Steps to Reduce Your Digital Footprint
Your digital footprint is larger than you think. A practical guide to minimizing your online exposure and protecting your privacy from OSINT operators.
Read briefing →Dark Web Monitoring for Compliance Teams
Why compliance teams should integrate dark-web monitoring into KYC and EDD workflows: ransomware leak sites, credential dumps, and exposure detection for counterparties.
Read briefing →EGRUL Company Search: A Guide for Compliance Teams
How to extract and verify Russian corporate records from the Federal Tax Service EGRUL registry — for compliance, EDD, and ownership-chain reconstruction.
Read briefing →Free Sanctions Screening Tools: What Works, What Doesn't
A practical review of free sanctions-screening tools (OpenSanctions, OFAC SDN search, EU consolidated list) — what compliance teams can actually rely on without paying for World-Check.
Read briefing →OSINT Tools for Sanctions Compliance
The minimum OSINT toolkit for a sanctions analyst in 2026: registry pulls, sanctions cross-match, vessel and corporate-ownership reconstruction.
Read briefing →How to Verify Russian Company Ownership
The methodology for tracing real beneficial ownership behind Russian corporate counterparties: EGRUL pulls, nominee detection, and offshore cross-reference.
Read briefing →This intelligence briefing hub is maintained by [0x]INT, a specialized Russia OSINT and CIS Intel agency. We provide deep-source corporate due diligence, sanctions screening, and dark web monitoring for complex cross-border investigations.