Echo Analytics Group and Military Order of the Purple Heart to Provide Veterans Open-Source Intelligence Training

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

ECHO ANALYTICS GROUP AND MILITARY ORDER OF THE PURPLE HEART TO PROVIDE VETERANS OPEN-SOURCE INTELLIGENCE (OSINT) TRAINING

TAMPA, FL (December 5, 2022) – The Military Order of the Purple Heart (The MOPH Fund) is excited to announce a partnership with Echo Analytics Group to provide veterans with training and certification for the development of critical open-source intelligence (OSINT) research and analysis skills through their Echo Academy. The goal is to provide veterans new professional skill sets for life after the military. The instructors at Echo Academy have more than 100 years of combined experience and can tailor courses at all levels, including creating interactive learning environments for certified professional education credits from the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA).

“EAG is a company founded by veterans and our team has a strong sense of service. We are thrilled about this partnership,” said Echo Analytics Group CEO Buddy Jericho. “Working with the MOPH to deliver OSINT courses will help our veteran colleagues obtain skills required to differentiate themselves in a growing yet highly competitive cyber security job market.”

“The primary mission of the Military Order of the Purple Heart is to execute programs that positively impact our nation’s veterans and their families,” said Military Order of the Purple Heart National Commander Christopher Vedvick. “Employment training and subsequent career placement are a big part of a veteran’s long road to recovery after their service. Echo Analytics Group and its Echo Academy have a proven track record of excellence. Through our partnership with them, EAG will be able to provide our members with invaluable training and access to cutting-edge data and analytics for future employment in the ever-growing field of OSINT. We are excited to have Echo Analytics Group as a partner in our efforts to provide world-class training and support to our nation’s heroes.”

About the MOPH Fund

It is the mission of the MOPH Fund to provide essential assistance to America’s Veterans and their Families by directly supporting the programs and services of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. To learn more, visit MOPHFund.org.

About Echo Analytics Group

Echo Analytics Group (EAG) is a veteran owned and operated open-source intelligence (OSINT) firm based in Tampa, Florida. EAG brings military grade intelligence to the private sector, combining publicly source information with human intelligence to empower businesses and people to make informed decisions based on facts. With the overwhelming amount of content created daily, EAG provides best-in-class OSINT resources from tools, case management systems, investigations, education and even analysts to make real-time decisions. To learn more, visit: echoanalyticsgroup.com.

 

Echo Analytics Group Partners with All Things Possible for Fifth Skull Games Initiative

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

ECHO ANALYTICS GROUP PARTNERS WITH ALL THINGS POSSIBLE FOR FOURTH SKULL GAMES INITIATIVE

Counter Human Trafficking Event Coincides with Open-Intelligence Conference in Tampa

TAMPA, FL (October 13, 2022) –Echo Analytics Group (EAG) is partnering with All Things Possible (ATP) to host the fifth Skull Games event this Saturday-Sunday, October 15-16. The event coincides with Tampa hosting the eighth annual OSMOSIS (The Open-Source Intelligence Skills-Building) Conference for the first time, with industry experts attending from all over the world.

The Skull Games program crowdsources the collection of open-source intelligence (OSINT) to enable law enforcement with leads on trafficked victims and persons of interest. The two-day event brings together vetted volunteers who have experience in open-source intelligence (OSINT) to aid in the identification of victims and persons of interest to help combat sex trafficking. The volunteers work together at the EAG Operations Center and online across the country to partner and provide information and support to law enforcement. At the conclusion of the weekend, EAG and ATP send detailed reports to law enforcement with a path of discovery for them to obtain warrant or probable cause to find victims or criminals. To date, Skull Games has identified 45 girls and 20 persons of interests.

Jeff Tiegs, who served as a U.S. Army Ranger and Delta Force Operator, is the Chief Operating Officer of All Things Possible Ministries. Tiegs uses his expertise and experience to counter human trafficking with the help of Echo Analytics Group and their research platform, TORCH.

“The ability to recruit and groom victims is at an all-time high,” said Tiegs. “Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are riddled with predators. They are all over Minecraft and Roblox. They use mediums where you can share photos and videos. They are on Whisper and Scout, and they are on all the dating sites.”

“We are thrilled to combine Skull Games with OSMOSISCon, and work with ATP to help save lives and put an end to human trafficking,” said Buddy Jericho, CEO of Echo Analytics Group. “The work that Jeff and the team at All Things Possible is critical to helping law enforcement across the country.”

OSMOSIS is an annual Open-Source Intelligence Skills-Building Conference featuring experts in the field of open-source intelligence. These experts will present and demonstrate some of the most in-depth insider techniques and training. Jericho will also be speaking at the conference raising awareness on how OSINT is used to counter sex trafficking, and the success of Skull Games.

Media interested in Skull Games should contact Jeffrey Kamis at 813.784.3642 for more information and interview opportunities this week and weekend. In addition, media are invited to an Open House at Echo Analytics Group this Sunday, October 16 from 3-6 pm. Please RSVP HERE.

About All Things Possible

The mission of All Things Possible is to identify, interrupt and restore those affected by trauma. This is done through law enforcement support and enablement. For more information, visit https://victormarx.com/.

About Echo Analytics Group

Echo Analytics Group (EAG) is a veteran owned and operated intelligence firm based in Tampa, Florida. EAG brings military grade intelligence to the private sector, combining publicly available information with advanced research methodologies to empower businesses and people to make informed decisions. With the overwhelming amount of content created daily, EAG provides best-in-class research resources from tools, case management systems, investigations, education and even analysts to make real-time decisions. To learn more, visit: echoanalyticsgroup.com.

 

Echo Analytics Group Partners with All Things Possible for Fourth Skull Games Initiative

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

ECHO ANALYTICS GROUP PARTNERS WITH ALL THINGS POSSIBLE FOR FOURTH SKULL GAMES INITIATIVE

Counter Human Trafficking Event Takes Place August 6-7

TAMPA, FL (August 2, 2022) –Echo Analytics Group (EAG) is partnering with All Things Possible (ATP) to host the fourth Skull Games event on August 6-7. The Skull Games program crowdsources the collection of open-source intelligence (OSINT) to enable law enforcement with leads on trafficked victims and persons of interest.

The two-day event brings together vetted volunteers who have experience in open-source intelligence (OSINT) to aid in the identification of victims and persons of interest to help combat sex trafficking. The volunteers work together at the EAG Operations Center and online across the country to partner and provide information and support to law enforcement. At the conclusion of the weekend, EAG and ATP send detailed reports to law enforcement with a path of discovery for them to obtain warrant or probable cause to find victims or criminals. The previous three Skull Games identified approximately 45 victims and 20 persons of interest in eight states.

Jeff Tiegs, who served as a U.S. Army Ranger and Delta Force Operator, is the Chief Operating Officer of All Things Possible Ministries. Tiegs uses his expertise and experience to counter human trafficking with the help of Echo Analytics Group and their research platform, TORCH.

“The ability to recruit and groom victims is at an all-time high,” said Tiegs. “Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are riddled with predators. They are all over Minecraft and Roblox. They use mediums where you can share photos and videos. They are on Whisper and Scout, and they are on all the dating sites.”

“The work that Jeff and the team at All Things Possible is critical to helping law enforcement across the country,” said Buddy Jericho, CEO of Echo Analytics Group. “Through our work together, we can help save lives and put an end to human trafficking.”

Media interested in Skull Games should contact Jeffrey Kamis at 813.784.3642 for more information and interview opportunities.

About All Things Possible

The mission of All Things Possible is to identify, interrupt and restore those affected by trauma. This is done through law enforcement support and enablement. For more information, visit https://victormarx.com/.

About Echo Analytics Group

Echo Analytics Group (EAG) is a veteran owned and operated intelligence firm based in Tampa, Florida. EAG brings military grade intelligence to the private sector, combining publicly available information with advanced research methodologies to empower businesses and people to make informed decisions. With the overwhelming amount of content created daily, EAG provides best-in-class research resources from tools, case management systems, investigations, education and even analysts to make real-time decisions. To learn more, visit: echoanalyticsgroup.com/torch/.

 

 

Echo Analytics Group Announces Launch of TORCH

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

 ECHO ANALYTICS GROUP  ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF TORCH 

All Your Research Needs. One Single Platform 

 

TAMPA, FL (June 2, 2022) – Tampa based Echo Analytics Group (EAG) announced yesterday the launch of its new TORCH platform, designed to empower research professionals to organize, collaborate and enhance their research abilities.   This unique platform houses access to more than 800 data sets and analytics tools, as well as a case management system that makes organizing research simple. The new platform allows analysts and researchers the ability to not only conduct better fact-finding, but also gives them the tools and resources to combat the relentless amount of disinformation and misinformation impacting the ever-changing landscape in the world. 

Through open-source intelligence (OSINT), TORCH provides a streamlined research solution bringing together all the offerings EAG once provided as individual services. The TORCH Toolkit includes a dynamic and customizable library of tools to access publicly available data. TORCH includes a Case Manager feature that allows users to organize, collaborate and share their findings with other users, all in one location.   Also available in the TORCH platform is the TORCH Academy, a library of on-demand courses developed to enhance professional development.  

“One of the biggest challenges for me during my military career was deploying to Fallujah and having to quickly learn about an emerging adversary.  For a short time, I felt unprepared, and we had a lot of information but separating the facts from the noise was extremely difficult, it was not a good feeling.” said Buddy Jericho, CEO of Echo Analytics Group. “For that reason, I set out to build a company to help people who today are facing similar challenges in both the corporate world, law enforcement and private domain. The only difference now is that everything is online.  This launch milestone gets our team one step closer to achieving the mission of making advanced research training and technology available and affordable to the people who need it most.” 

The TORCH platform is now available at an introductory rate of $49.99 per month. 

“Our team at EAG has trained thousands of professionals in the military, law enforcement, private security, and even human resource departments on methods of doing advanced research.  We have also provided research services to these industries.  Our team created TORCH after gathering extensive feedback from analysts and researchers faced with the ongoing challenge of keeping up with the growing amount of information online,” said Jericho. “The obstacle is sifting through all the data, encroaching on crucial time to analyze and apply critical thinking. The TORCH platform helps analysts make the research process more efficient, helping businesses and brands make more informed decisions when timing is crucial.” 

About Echo Analytics Group 

Echo Analytics Group (EAG) is a veteran owned and operated intelligence firm based in Tampa, Florida. EAG brings military grade intelligence to the private sector, combining publicly available information with advanced research methodologies to empower businesses and people to make informed decisions. With the overwhelming amount of content created daily, EAG provides best-in-class research resources from tools, case management systems, investigations, education and even analysts to make real-time decisions. To learn more, visit: echoanalyticsgroup.com/torch/. 

 

The Growing Demand for Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT)

In the last 17 months, open-source intelligence (OSINT) has become a more widely recognized intelligence discipline. Trends suggest that the need for OSINT, which is data derived from publicly available information (PAI), will grow in the future for government agencies and private companies.

For this Overwatch brief, analysts identified key events where OSINT gained more mainstream attention and how private and public sectors are beginning to recognize the criticality of OSINT.

Key Events

Capitol Riots

Since the Capitol Riots that occurred on January 6, 2021, the FBI has used OSINT to identify individuals involved in criminal activity during this event. Using social media, the FBI continues to ask for the public’s help identifying participants in the riot. Volunteer sleuths have created OSINT-based movements to investigate Capitol Rioters independently. One such group, which calls themselves the Sedition Hunters, has successfully identified many Capitol Rioters and provided that information to the FBI.

In addition, the Department of Justice’s Capitol Breach Investigation Resource Page has a list of every defendant charged in federal court in relation to the Capitol Riot. News media organizations, investigators, and researchers use this data set to conduct further OSINT on Capitol Rioters.

In a previous briefOverwatch used OSINT to identify information about Capitol Rioter Evan Neumann, who fled to Belarus and was granted asylum there. Our open-source research confirmed Neumann’s extensive history in Eastern Europe, interest in “bomb-making,” and business ties to Russia.

Russia-Ukraine War

Before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, many researchers used OSINT to identify Russian troop movements by reviewing videos posted to TikTok, VK (Russia’s version of Facebook), and Telegram. Overwatch found multiple TikTok videos that showed Russian troop movement close to the Ukrainian border or in Belarus’s Gomel Region, where there were no planned military exercises.

While the Russian officials continuously denied plans to invade Ukraine, TikTok videos showed military vehicles and aircraft, weapons systems, and mobile medical units moving closer to the Ukrainian border. Additionally, OSINT was used through satellite imagery to locate field hospitals in Belarus and pontoon bridges.

After Russia invaded, Ukrainians constantly uploaded videos of airstrikes against civilian infrastructure and the Russian military in Ukraine. Analysts used the publicly available data to geolocate where airstrikes took place in Ukraine and identify what Russian military units were in the country.

Private and Public Sector

In 2020, activity from each person online generated 1.7 megabytes of data per second. A significant amount of that data came from social media, with 4.62 billion users globally. Social media by itself is forecasted to be a 939-billion-dollar industry by 2026. Every day, analysts, investigators, and researchers are on social media collecting open-source information to fulfill information requirements for clients in the private and public sectors.

OSINT in the Job Market

quick job search on LinkedIn for OSINT suggests that more private sector companies outside human resources, PI firms, law firms, or security and investigations, some of the industries with the highest OSINT demand, see the need for the intelligence discipline. For example, Live Nation Entertainment, which manages ticket sales for live entertainment in the U.S. and internationally, put up a job posting for a Threat Analyst. One of the primary duties is to “conduct public records and social media searches.”

Another OSINT job in the private sector listed on LinkedIn was for a Crypto Enhanced Due Diligence Analyst, posted by the company Brex. In the ad for the job, one of the responsibilities is to conduct “open-source intelligence to mitigate money laundering and regulatory risks.”

The need for due diligence and compliance also continues to increase; a market expected to grow by roughly 12 billion dollars from its current 16.82 billion dollars by 2026.

Government

Additionally, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. government began to see more value in OSINT. In the Intelligence Authorization Act for the Fiscal Year of 2022, the report suggests using OSINT to counter China’s malign influence. “The Intelligence Community must reorient to engage in a strategic competition with the PRC while countering China’s malign activities globally. To do so, it must continue to build open-source intelligence capabilities and augment capacity; enhance sharing of intelligence capabilities; and strengthen the analytical and collection capabilities relating to non-military threats including technology competition.”

Further, according to Fed Scoop, the U.S. Army is creating a new unit that will use PAI to defend against foreign influence. Fed Scoop reported in March 2022, “By blending military intel with commercial data, publicly available information on foreign adversaries and certain national intelligence systems, it will provide insight necessary for Army Cyber Command to operate and defend networks and influence foreign audiences, the spokesperson added. The team brings together personnel from a wide variety of disciplines across the intelligence and non-intelligence communities.”

Analysts note that creating the new unit will likely prove beneficial. We used OSINT to identify foreign influence from the Chinese state in our first Overwatch brief: Quantum Technology, the People’s Republic of China, and Tsinghua University.

Emerging Technology and OSINT

In a March 2022 interview with Mckinsey and Company, Amy Zegart, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Professor of Political Science at Stanford, explained how emerging technologies like AI are challenging intelligence agencies today. These challenges, according to Zegart, all happen in the open-source space.

Zegart said, “They’re doing it in five ways. I call them the five “mores.” The convergence of technology is creating, number one, more threats for the United States—more threats through cyberspace, in particular, that our intelligence agencies need to understand. The second more is more speed: the acceleration of decision-making time means that intelligence has to operate at the speed of networks, not the speed of bureaucracy.”

“The third more is more data; intelligence analysts, like the rest of us, are drowning in data. The fourth more is more consumers—more decision makers outside the government who need intelligence. Think about voters who need intelligence about foreign election interference or tech leaders who need intelligence about cyberthreats.”

“Then there’s the fifth more: more intelligence competitors. I devoted two years and a whole chapter to ‘nuclear citizen detectives’ who are tracking the most secretive nuclear threats around the globe using only unclassified and publicly available information like commercial satellite imagery.”

OUR ASSESSMENT

With the current global conflict and mass adoption of social media, OSINT will become a more mainstream intelligence discipline, helping to dispel misinformation and provide accurate reporting on events. Should the Chinese state invade Taiwan in the future, we assess that analysts will use OSINT to dispel Chinese Communist Party and Chinese State media propaganda, as has been done with the Russia-Ukraine War.

The domestic use of OSINT will grow as private sector companies see a higher demand for due diligence and deep-dive research that alleviates risk for their clients or business. Further, while OSINT has been a part of U.S. government operations since World War II, the success of the usage of OSINT to monitor the Russia-Ukraine War provides a strong use case for the government to put more resources into open-source intelligence.

With internet users creating a massive data trail daily, the need to collect, protect, and analyze that information will only increase. As a result, we assess that both private and public sectors will seek out OSINT subject matter experts to learn more about how their personal data becomes disseminated or compromised and how to limit their digital footprint.