Course
OSINT At Home
Benjamin Strick, Centre for Information Resilience
Short free videos that show real geolocation and verification techniques on real material. A good first week, not a curriculum.
OSINT At Home is a YouTube series Benjamin Strick made because people kept asking him for free training. The videos are practical and specific: geolocating from mountain ridgelines, working in Google Earth Pro, verifying footage. Watch them to see what the work looks like before you commit to anything longer.
The series has not been extended since about 2022. The techniques still hold; some tool interfaces shown have changed since recording.
Worth it if
- You want to see real geolocation done end to end before reading about it
- You work in a newsroom, NGO, or research team and need the visual-verification basics fast
- You learn from watching someone think aloud
Skip it if
- You need people-search, breach data, or infrastructure techniques; this is almost entirely visual work
- You want exercises and feedback rather than demonstrations
What is inside
- 01
Geolocation fundamentals
Reading a photo for landmarks, shadows, signage, and terrain, then confirming against maps and satellite imagery.
- 02
Google Earth Pro in depth
Historical imagery, measurement, terrain, and the handful of tools the author actually uses, including an episode on his top five.
- 03
Mountains and terrain matching
Using ridgelines and elevation profiles to place a photo when there are no buildings to go on.
- 04
Verification habits
What to check before you believe footage, and how to document the check so someone else can repeat it.
What you will be able to do
- Geolocate a photo with visible terrain using satellite imagery and elevation data
- Use Google Earth Pro historical imagery to date a change on the ground
- Describe a verification process another person could follow
How current it is
Recorded between about 2020 and 2022 and not extended since. Geolocation method ages slowly, so the reasoning is still current. Expect interface differences in Google Earth and in any web tool shown, and expect a few linked tools to have moved.
- Updated
- Videos from roughly 2020 to 2022
- Maintained
- Archived
How to get the most from it
- 01
Pause and try it yourself
When a video sets up a problem, stop before the solution and attempt it. The series is short enough to do this for every episode.
- 02
Follow each video with one exercise
The free Gralhix exercises cover the same ground with published solutions. One video, one exercise, repeat.
- 03
Note the method, not the menu
Write down the reasoning steps. Menus change; the order in which you check landmarks, shadows, and terrain does not.
Strengths
- Real material from a practitioner who still does this work
- Short, specific, and free
- Visual techniques transfer well to video even when tools change
Limitations
- No exercises, assessment, or community
- Covers visual verification only
- Not updated since about 2022
Pair it with
- ReadCourseFreeAll levels
Gralhix OSINT Exercises
Free exercises that let you practise exactly what the videos show, with walkthroughs.
- ReadCoursePaidIntermediate
Bellingcat Workshops
The paid, live version of this material, taught by people from the same field.
- ReadEbookFreeAll levels
Verification Handbook
The written companion for verification habits in newsrooms.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Where exactly is the playlist?
On Benjamin Strick's YouTube channel under playlists. The series was announced in early 2022 with a shortened link that has since moved, so start from the channel's playlist page.
Is this enough to call myself trained?
No, and the author would say the same. It is an introduction to visual verification. Pair it with exercises and a broader program before you take on real cases.
Learned the method? Practise it on real data
The resources above teach the craft. When you want to run real lookups across breach, people, domain, and crypto sources without opening a dozen vendor accounts, that is what SearchIn is for.
- Free account, no card
- Credits never expire
- Refund unused balance in 7 days