OSINTverse
Sign in

Course

OSINT Fundamentals

Heath Adams, TCM Security Academy

Open the courseAll courses

A nine-hour beginner course that walks the whole desk from note-keeping to report writing, sold through a cheap subscription. The most affordable structured course, with a hands-on exam available on top.

TCM Security's OSINT Fundamentals is the course people mean when they say they learned OSINT for the price of a streaming subscription. It covers sock puppets, search engines, images, email, passwords, usernames, people, social platforms, websites, business OSINT, wireless, building a lab, basic automation, and report writing, with a course challenge and case studies.

PaidBeginner
FoundationsPeople searchSocial mediaBreach dataDomains & infrastructureOpSec

Worth it if

  • You want one structured beginner course and will not pay four figures
  • You already subscribe to the academy for other security content
  • You want the option of a hands-on exam that tests a written report, not multiple choice
  • You learn from a case study and a challenge, not only lectures

Skip it if

  • You have already done the free programs; this repeats much of them in a tidier package
  • You want a certification hiring managers search for; this one is respected in a niche, not widely recognised
  • You need advanced tradecraft; it is fundamentals by name and by content

What is inside

  1. 01

    Setup and OpSec

    Note keeping, sock puppets, and building an OSINT lab in two parts.

  2. 02

    Search and images

    Search engine operators, reverse image search, EXIF, geolocation, and two Where in the World exercises.

  3. 03

    Identifiers

    Email, breached passwords, usernames, and people OSINT including voter records, phone numbers, and resumes.

  4. 04

    Social media

    Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, LinkedIn, and TikTok.

  5. 05

    Websites, business, and wireless

    Three website modules, business OSINT, and wireless network OSINT.

  6. 06

    Automation, challenge, and reporting

    Working with tools, automation foundations, a course challenge with walkthrough, case studies, and OSINT report writing.

What you will be able to do

  • Build a separate investigation environment and research accounts
  • Pivot from an email to breached passwords, usernames, and social profiles
  • Investigate a website and a business from public records
  • Write a basic OSINT report with sources and findings separated

How current it is

The academy moved off its old hosting platform and is actively maintained, with the certification renamed in late 2024 and the exam unchanged. The course itself does not show an update date. Platform-specific social media modules are the part most likely to have drifted.

Updated
Academy platform current in 2026; course update date not stated
Maintained
Actively maintained

How to get the most from it

  1. 01

    Do the lab-building section first

    Everything after it assumes you have a clean environment. Skipping it is the most common mistake.

  2. 02

    Treat the course challenge as an exam rehearsal

    Write a full report for it even though the course does not demand one. If you plan to sit the practical exam, this is the practice.

  3. 03

    Cancel or pause the subscription when you are done

    Nine hours does not need a year. Note what else in the catalogue you would use before you keep paying.

Strengths

  • Covers the whole beginner desk in one sequence
  • Cheap for what it covers
  • An optional practical exam that grades a real report

Limitations

  • Subscription model rather than a one-time purchase
  • The exam is harder than the course suggests; failed attempts are common in community reports
  • Certificate recognition is limited outside the community that knows it

Pair it with

FAQ

Questions, answered

What is the PORP exam?

The Practical OSINT Research Professional certification, formerly called Practical Junior OSINT Researcher. You get three days to research a target and submit a written report, graded against a pass mark, with one free retake. Community reports say it is harder than the course alone prepares you for.

Is there a free version?

An older, shorter version of this material was published free on YouTube. The academy course is longer and includes the labs, challenge, and case studies.

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.

Create free accountBack to the learning path
  • Free account, no card
  • Credits never expire
  • Refund unused balance in 7 days