Welcome!

This is the home site of Arno H.P. Reuser with an explanation of my current activities in the field of courses in Open Source Intelligence training for information professionals, OSINT experts and analists.

I am available for speeches, seminars, workshops and full fledged classroom training on Open Source Intelligence and related fields in information science, such as cyberwarfare and the like.

edited on 10oct10 by ar

Activities and availability

In close cooperation with clients we develop dedicated OSINT training packages. Clients are typically (government) institutions. Training packages can range from one day to a full two weeks or anything in between, typically conducted at the venue of the client. See Reuser's OSINT Training Page for more information.

In conjuction with IHS Janes, I also run a general purpose OSINT Training Programme (see below). Registration is open for anyone.

In addition, I am available for speeches, lectures, talks at conferences and the like. Mail me for information

Open Source Intelligence Training Programme

In conjunction with IHS Janes we have developed an OSINT Methods and Techniques Training Programme aimed at a broad audience that are concerned with international relations, conflict security, law enforcement, crisis management and anti-terrorism. The training is an all-round programme to enable open source researchers to more effectively collect and analyse information in order to produce better quality intelligence reports.

The IHS Jane's/RIS OSINT Methods and Techniques course is a modularised approach to identifying overarching methods, best practices, considerations, challenges and tools available to open source intelligence analysts. This course provides an overview of the current OSINT landscape and demonstrates how to best access and analyse the most appropriate resources to fulfil OSINT requirements.

Programme

Some highlights from the programme : understanding the Internet; secure(r) searching; semantics and terminology; search logic; search strategies; search tactics; information validation techniques; creating a personal source book; design and use of a collection plan; analyses techniques; reporting techniques. Each lesson has individual or group exercises.

Availability

The course is available for open registration. Alternatively, the course can be adapted to specific client needs to be conducted for a closed group of participants from a single organisation or group at the client's premises.

Training schedule

Please find below the OSINT Methods & Techniques Training Programme schedule for this year.

If the below does not work, please click here to get the course schedule.

edited on 5dec10 by ar

Open Source Intelligence Training

One of the main activities is the set of courses and lessons in Open Source Intelligence training. The lessons are designed to be flexible and modular, built around a central theme: how to find the best possible information from open sources and do something usefull with it. The lessons are aimed at the beginner as well as advanced searchers in the field and range from a background introduction into the secrets of the internet, search strategies and search tactics, up to searching premium content providers like Factiva Dow Jones, Dialog and Lexis-Nexis. Take a look at the curriculum to find out exactly how it works.

We have a brochure available with lots of information regarding the courses. Mail us if you are interested.

edited on 5jan10 by ar

Repertorium Bibliographicum

The full name of the Repertorium is Repertorium Bibliographicum in Usum Scholarum. As the name suggests, it is a systematic listing of bibliographic sources for general use. It is a little project that simply grew out of control since I graduated from the Library academy. The list of general quick reference works taught at the Academy is the basis of the Repertorium and was - at least by me - considered of such importance that I could not resist the temptation of rewriting the list and gradually adding my own titles.

The Repertorium Bibliographicum is free for use.

edited on 24may08 by ar

Isolde

Not just the love of Tristan, but also a little tool I am currently developing to search multiple single search engines in a more systematic way, applying the Building Block Search Strategy. The idea is to save all queries in a box to cite them in any new search, thus giving the possibility to actually create multiple queries (blocks) that can be combined in any order (building). Search results are always presented in a new window and for each of the major search engines a help page is automatically listed with the (clickable) operators and field names.

STATUS: alpha. As of now, Isolde only works for Mozilla Firefox and is under continuous revision. See http://isolde.reuser.biz.

edited on 12apr08 by ar

Reusers New Repertorium

A "Repertorium" is actually a little pocketbook for reference purposes. The Reusers New Repertorium does basically just that: it is a little list of most important links to search engines, search tools, web sites and information retrieval tools that I found the most usefull for daily intelligence purposes. Entries are annotated and each category will be introduced by a little explanation.

The table of contents is divided into several parts. First: listing search engines and search tools, secondly: vendors and libraries, thirdly: common resource discovery tools and web sites. The 'Configurator' was written to enable the user to adapt the Repertorium to ones own needs buy turning on or off certain chapters.

The Repertorium is used during the Open Source Intelligence Courses during the exercises. It is written in XML using XSLt and Saxon for transformation, and a little Javascript for support.

The Repertorium is updated on a almost continuous basis.

edited on 20oct07 by ar

Happy New Year 2011!

Here is my New Years Wish for 2011 for you all, this time devoted to Louis Armstrong and the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band. I stil have the habit of writing a little story about something as an alternative New Year's wish. I have done so since 2006, with the exception of the year 2009. This year too, I could not resist the temptation!

Happy New Year to you all!

List of New Year's wishes so far:

1. New Years Wish for 2011, a story about Louis Armstrong joining the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band;
2. New Years Wish for 2009, a little story about the origin of Stonehenge;
3. New Years Wish for 2008, on King Edward I "The Hammer" and his relation with the Welsh, most notably Llewellyn the Great.
4. New Years Wish for 2007, about the establishment of Rievaulx Abbey in 1132 and the foundation of the Cistercian Order in Britain.

Contact

If you wish to contact me or get in touch, have a look at the following table.

Also on Twitter, Facebook, Skype and LinkedIn.

edited on 16oct10 by ar

About Arno...

Arno Reuser is a professional librarian / information professional with more than 30 years experience in information handling and -processing. He founded and managed the Open Source Intelligence Bureau of the Dutch Defence Intelligence & Security Service about 15 years ago which he managed until October 2010. Today, he holds a position as Senior Policy Advisor for OSINT at the Defence Intelligence & Security Service.

Arno holds a bachelor degree in librarianship and has completed many courses in digital information management, Internet search strategies, update workshops etc. He learned the technical requirements of today's digital world by learning how to write software, program scripts to automate tasks, building websites, getting the most out of the Internet by studying network theory, all in support of OSINT information management.

In addition to his work with the Dutch Defence and Intelligence Service, the Service has granted Arno permission to establish Reuser’s Information Services in 2008 in conjunction with his current position. RIS’ primary goal is to teach Open Source Intelligence and provide consultancy for government and private sector institutions worldwide. Arno conducts these courses on behalf of RIS for clients worldwide. Occasionaly, he works togethe with IHS Janes to conduct the Open Source Intelligence Methods & Techniques training programme.

Arno has an extensive history of teaching OSINT, and OSINT training has been a core focus of his professional activities for decades. Today, he teaches OSINT, search strategies, information handling and security to a wide range of audiences. He travels regularly to the United States, Switzerland, Austria, and United Kingdom to teach to a wide range of multilingual, multicultural audiences and is thus used to communicating with people from different backgrounds and possessing different language skills. Mr. Reuser is a recognized expert on OSINT and speaks regularly at international conferences and workshops on the organization and maintenance of Open Source Intelligence Services, at home and abroad, for a diverse audience such as international organizations, government institutes, intelligence, military, and information professionals, including:

1. First DNI Open Source Conference of the US Director of National Intelligence on a new model of Open Source Intelligence (https://www.dniopensource2007.com/sessions.cfm), 2007.
2. Keynote speech on Information Visualization, Open Source Intelligence and Web Mining 08 London.
3. Presentations, speech and workshops on behalf of The OSINT Budapest Club, three times per year, Bucharest, Budapest, Rome.
4. Workshop OSINT for teachers and instructors of the Royal Dutch Military Academy in Breda, The Netherlands.
5. Speaker, workshop leader at the International Open Source Working Group, yearly.
6. Keynote speech on Information Visualization, Open Source Intelligence and Web Mining 09 Barcelona for mathematicians, physicists and the like.
7. Keynote address at the Counter Terrorism Lab at the University of South Denmark, in Denmark, October 2009
8. Invited speaker at Working Groups of Information Professionals in The Netherlands, October 2009.
9. Speaker on Internet Security at Annual Intelligence and Security Conference NL. Yearly.
10. Teacher for Open Source Intelligence at the Dutch Defence Intelligence and Security Institute, The Netherlands, 5 times per year.
11. Teacher for a one week Open Source Intelligence course for the EU Consilium, repeated six times for a different class of participants.
12. Speaker and workshop leader at the Dutch Police Academy Yearly Conference on OSINT and Web 2.0, 2009
13. Teacher at the Pilot Course Open Source Intelligence, three courses, European Defence Agency, Brussels Belgium, 2008.
14. Speaker and teacher at the PKI Information and Intelligence Cooperation in Multifunctional International Operations, Folke Bernadotte Academy, Sweden, 2009.
15. Teacher at the Open Source Intelligence Methods & Techniques course (two weeks), three courses, European Defence Agency, Brussels Belgium, 2009. This course was taught in conjunction with IHS Jane’s.
16. Teacher at a one-day refresher Internet Search Strategy course, Europol, The Hague.

Arno was awarded a Golden Candle Award in 2003 and a Lifetime Award in 2004. He was nominated for the 'Information Professional of the year 2010' Award. He writes book chapters on OSINT and its role in Intelligence, and journal articles, like 'When InterNET is InterNOT', published Jan/Feb 2008 Online Magazine. Arno is fluent in English and Dutch and speaks fair German as well.

What others think...

''...Arno Reuser, Chief Librarian for Dutch Military Intelligence, was a real highlight of the conference - he has been a major force in the Open Source movement (with a giant white beard he looked the part of a prophet) and discussed some of the systems he has developed to better enable the retrieval of information''

''......It was a real 'eye opener' and a pleasure. The Internet will never be the same again. Thanks!''

''...Mr. Arno Reuser, Arno the Curious, is a Master Librarian who has done more for the practice of Open Source Inteligence (OSINT) in support of national security than anyone else in Europe. He has been a pioneer in the explotiation of badly-delivered OSINT from private sector vendors, writing original PERL programs to make sense of their feeds; he has known how to make the most of the Internet; and above all, he has known how to find and engage human intellects around the world, each capable of producing unique tailored knowledge not available online or in print. He is the Master Librarian of the OSINT world and all seven intelligence tribes.''

''...I recently heard a great answer to this question at a military intelligence conference. Arno Reuser is a Dutch Master Librarian with many credentials, uniquely humorous insights and a lengthy beard. (One of Arno's notable quotables: "Does size matter? Yes it does, gentlemen, in librarianship.") I asked him how he encourages people to learn to use new tools, such as advanced search processes: "I simply show them the results, and how I do it." Arno gave the following example of a powerful result. He searched Google for: {intitle:(india|new delhi) intitle:pakistan filetype:pdf -inurl:.com -sport}''

''...The single most important international pioneer in military OSINT is Research Arno Reuser, head of the Open Source Intelligence branch of the Dutch Military Intelligence organization. His deep knowledge of sources, softwares, and services, including his knowledge of fair and alternative pricing, is without peer. His latest briefing is available here. His PERL scrips may become avaiable here shortly''

''...Bravo, very good teacher who knows what he is doing, how to do it, very professional.''

''...Mr. Arno Reuser, Military Intelligence, The Netherlands : For his inspired leadership in migrating the Dutch military intelligence library from an archival to a discovery capability, to include value-added programming of incoming streams of raw data, and the virtual organization of distributed open source expertise''

Reuser's Think Tanks

Here is a Google Custom Search Engine that will perform a search in a list of preselected websites only. The list contains only Think Tanks related to international relations and security, including some detours like economy and finance. The selection is based on '' The global 'Go-To Think Tanks' : the leading public policy research organizations in the world'', 31 january 2010, International Relations Program, University of Pennsylvania. With additions based on my own experience.

edited on 22jul10 by ar

Links to...

Here are some links to other sites with interesting contributions to Open Source Intelligence.

1. OSS.Net, by and from one of the international OSINT Pioneers who has done a lot to develop and support the international OSINT movement, Robert David Steele vivas. Read the books and especially the library.
2. Open Source Center, formerly the Foreign Broadcast Information Service, probably the best Open Source organization in the world. Requires registration.
3. OSINT.org.uk, Dutch, not English, despite the suggestion of the domain name, devoted to OSINT in its orginial form, with a links page with categorised links to interesting sites. Definitely worth a visit or two.

edited on 8dec08 by ar