How Private Equity (PE) Firms Can Use OSINT – A Beginner's Guide

Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) might sound like something reserved for government analysts or spy movies, but it plays a powerful role in the private sector and is increasingly the tool of choice for smart investors. For private equity (PE) firms trying to make decisions in opaque or fast-moving sectors, the ability to gather, verify and interpret publicly available information can generate a competitive advantage by sharpening investment selection decisions and providing greater risk visibility.

Why Private Equity Can Be a Compelling Use Case for OSINT

Compared with public finance projects, PE investments often hinge on information that isn't neatly packaged in quarterly or official reports. Targets are often private entities, including foreign subsidiaries or mid-market firms whose financials and operations are less visible. Due diligence, therefore, relies heavily on disparate fragments of information: press releases, trade rumours, regulatory filings, leaked court records, or founders' personal reputations.

OSINT can help weave those fragments into something clearer, with greater context, and, when performed by experienced practitioners and supported by more than a single source, is, to the extent possible, verified. For example:

• During pre-deal research: Cross-referencing registry data with other sources can reveal who really owns a company, including shell companies in offshore jurisdictions. For firms screening for fraud or corruption risks, open company registries, court judgments, and sanctions lists can collectively become invaluable sources. OSINT can help deliver rapid red-flag checks on people, entities, litigation, sanctions, and supply-chain exposure. This is a critical area to cover, as failing to identify risks of this nature at the outset can be costly, professionally embarrassing, and even critical, further down the line.

• Reputation and ESG risks: OSINT can add valuable insights through social media analysis, local news, or non-government organisations (NGO) reports, which, for example, can flag up labour dispute cases or environmental controversies long before they show up in disclosure demands from regulators or lenders. Market claims can be tested against publicly available information, as can customer feedback and sentiment. These are areas that are often more difficult to surface through conventional due diligence techniques and are frequently invisible to commercial compliance and research databases, but are familiar theatres to experienced OSINT practitioners.

• Post-close monitoring: This can be enriched significantly through analysis of open-source data, surfacing issues such as management churn, high-profile and potentially costly disputes, policy shifts, or signs that a key distributor or trading partner has lost its licence or is subject to enforcement action, which could quickly feed through into lost revenue or operational disruption.

• Supply chain scrutiny: OSINT tools capable of tracking maritime and customs data can reveal whether a portfolio company imports from suppliers in sanctioned regions. They can surface litigation and disputes in jurisdictions that are likely to be off a portfolio manager's radar and help identify critical or emerging cyber threats. The value of this type of threat intelligence isn't hypothetical: Recorded Future, a company originally funded by both Google and In-Q-Tel, provided threat intelligence across multiple sectors, including finance. It was itself acquired by a private equity firm in 2019, underscoring the investor community's value for these capabilities. It was subsequently acquired by MasterCard for $2.65 billion in 2024.

• Geopolitical exposure: No PE firm has a crystal ball, but having a view of what might be coming helps enable better risk management and more effective opportunity identification. OSINT isn't just about spotting breaking events - it also feeds strategic understanding. Brett Holmgren, the Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, put it plainly when explaining how his bureau uses open sources: analysts are "more interested in the types of open‑source products, things that help us understand, for instance, the long-term economic policies of, say, the PRC (China)". For private equity firms, the parallel is clear: in-house OSINT can help anticipate not just near-term red flags but also longer-range structural risks or opportunities that traditional diligence often misses.

When used responsibly, intelligence can be collected defensibly, graded, analysed, and verified, giving investment managers an edge: spotting not just upside but also shining a light on critical downside risk that might otherwise remain hidden until too late.

When to Deploy OSINT: Early and Often

Many firms treat OSINT as a single check when concerns arise. This approach wastes its real value. You should start OSINT work during initial screening, before you spend serious money on advisors, lawyers, or management time. Early deployment helps you spot fundamental problems that justify walking away before you commit resources.

OSINT should not end when the deal closes. Circumstances evolve, new management takes over, regulations change, and customers or suppliers encounter issues. Market sentiment can shift rapidly. After acquisition, conduct regular OSINT monitoring. Do this periodically, when events raise concerns, or when preparing for refinancing or exit. This ongoing approach transforms OSINT from a one-off check into an early-warning system that safeguards value throughout your entire holding period.

OSINT as a Negotiation and Value-Creation Tool

You might use OSINT mainly to avoid poor deals before they happen. While identifying risks is important, this view misses its broader role. OSINT insights often become tools in negotiations. For example, an undisclosed legal settlement can justify price adjustments or the inclusion of warranty clauses. Evidence of customer concentration risk supports the use of earn-out arrangements rather than upfront payments. Alerts about management departures help shape post-deal retention packages or succession plans.

Identifying reputational issues early lets you respond effectively. A dormant environmental dispute, a pattern of supplier disagreements, or negative sentiment in key markets gives you time to develop crisis plans, allocate resources for remediation, or adjust your investment thesis before issues escalate after completion. OSINT safeguards against downside risk and creates opportunities to structure smarter deals, allocate capital accurately, and approach transactions with full insight into operational realities that financial statements might not reveal.

OSINT in Practice: A Private Equity Case Study

A private equity firm was considering acquiring a company led by a global executive with significant interests across the infrastructure, hospitality, and resources sectors. The firm needed a fast investigation focused on three areas: litigation exposure, political ties, and asset visibility.

The OSINT investigation revealed several significant red flags. A substantial, unpaid arbitration award had not been disclosed during initial discussions. Allegations of involvement in a money laundering case came to light. The subsidiaries had committed labour rights violations. The executive's assets were held using opaque structures. The individual maintained close ties with controversial political figures.

Despite these findings, the intelligence enabled the firm to make an informed decision rather than walk away immediately. The client weighed the risks against commercial opportunities and chose to continue monitoring before making final commitments.

This case illustrates key principles. OSINT delivered results within a tight timeframe. It uncovered significant information that standard financial due diligence might overlook. It did not require a definitive yes-or-no answer. Instead, it provided the investment team with context to negotiate protective terms, structure suitable governance, and establish ongoing monitoring. The findings became tools for risk mitigation and deal structuring, rather than just reasons to reject the transaction.

Lessons from Government and Academia

OSINT's rapidly emerging credibility comes in part from its track record in other sensitive fields. A landmark study from King's College London found that open intelligence methods were effectively applied to health crisis detection, with tools like HealthMap and GPHIN identifying outbreaks such as SARS and Ebola through news and social chatter ahead of official notices.

Scholars have also underlined that OSINT's value lies as much in discipline as in availability. An article in the European Journal of International Security argues that the rise of OSINT is less about novelty than about the explosion of accessible data, which demands rigorous verification to separate insight from noise.

For a private equity firm, the lesson is the same: abundant filings, forums, and feeds are only useful if analysed critically, verified and graded; accordingly, otherwise, they risk posing more questions than they answer. The takeaway for investors is that open-source intelligence, when collected, graded, verified, and analysed systematically within an ethical framework, can generate insights that inform decision-making and that traditional financial due diligence might miss.

Similarly, the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research has formalised OSINT as a strategic asset, emphasising governance, tool investment and rigorous training as the pillars of trustworthy analysis. That framework translates neatly into a private equity context where good corporate governance can help ensure OSINT is used ethically and embeds the need for verification – this is essential to avoid being misled by fabricated, biased or misinterpreted material.

Limitations and Safeguards

OSINT is not a silver bullet. The same dangers that governments warn against would apply equally to the world of private equity:

• Volume vs. accuracy: data is abundant, but insight isn’t. Medical research shows open sources can surface early signals most effectively when balanced with verification processes and human moderation – at The Coalition of Cyber Investigators, we believe that investigations and due diligence are no different. False positives need to be managed effectively as they can be a real danger and are common, as seen in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing where amateur internet sleuths claimed to have identified the bomber through the use of OSINT. However, in that well-known example of poor OSINT practice, the wrong person was accused and suffered consequences, including intimidation and harassment.

• Verification needs: in security and investigative work, rumours, uncorroborated social media posts, or single press items would be treated as leads at best, but never as fact. The same discipline should apply to OSINT use in private equity. OSINT findings need to be cross-checked against legal records, regulatory filings, financial data, and, where necessary, specialist investigative input before they influence valuation, deal terms, or post-close decisions. Firms should insist on corroboration and clear source grading, so that "interesting" signals do not become actionable without proper verification.

• Legal and ethical boundaries: OSINT must be limited to publicly available sources. Crossing into private communications or hacking is not OSINT; it is an illegal intrusion. PE firms need clear internal policies so enthusiasm for alternative data doesn't tip into practices that breach privacy or data protection rules. Acting within an ethical framework is essential.

Options for OSINT Integration for PE Firms

Private equity houses have several viable approaches for embedding OSINT into their investment research process. The choice is not binary but depends on deal flow, geographic exposure, and the level of investigative depth required. Broadly speaking, there are three options: firms can build their own in-house capability, engage specialist external investigators, or adopt a hybrid model that blends the speed and cost‑efficiency of internal coverage with the depth and reach of trusted third parties.

Build an in-house capability: For firms with a steady pipeline of deals, establishing a small in-house OSINT capability can deliver real speed and cost advantages. Internal analysts, working within a clearly defined ethical and policy framework, can screen people, companies, and counterparties within hours rather than weeks. The benefit is not just efficiency: internal teams better understand the nuances of your investment criteria and can filter findings against what really matters commercially.

However, downsides include an upfront spend on staff, tools and training, plus ongoing operational costs, additional governance requirements to ensure OSINT is gathered and analysed legally and ethically, limited reach for specialised/cross-border issues, and, if not positioned correctly, a potential to distract from core business objectives.

Work with specialist third parties: External investigators and intelligence professionals bring skills and reach that an internal team may not always have. They will have access to local knowledge, language expertise, interview capabilities, or evidentiary handling for sensitive disputes. For complex cross-border issues or where reputations and litigation risk are at stake, engaging third parties provides assurance that the work has been done to the highest professional and legal standards.

Downsides include potentially slower turnaround time than in-house, higher per-assignment costs, and less awareness of firm priorities; however, these can be mitigated to some extent by developing longer-term relationships with a particular specialist.

Adopt a hybrid approach: Many firms will find value in combining the two approaches. Core monitoring and red flag identification remain in-house, ensuring decision-makers receive rapid, contextual insight day to day. Where an issue crosses a threshold, for example, a potential regulatory breach, cross-border fraud risk, or reputational exposure in a high-risk market, the case can be escalated to trusted external experts. This blended model delivers the best of both worlds: responsiveness and cost control, backed by depth when it's needed most.

Conclusion

The attraction of OSINT for PE firms is simple: better intelligence means greater risk visibility and more informed decision making.

When PE firms miss warning signs, it can lead to both financial losses and reputational damage that extends across fundraising cycles. By contrast, firms that institutionalise OSINT will gain resilience. They will have a significantly better chance of spotting sectoral shifts before competitors, filter targets faster, and build in the reputational safeguards that investors are increasingly demanding.

Arguably, the greatest investment a PE firm could make is to strategically adopt OSINT. Not as a bolt-on or a novelty, but as a core capability woven into every stage of the investment lifecycle. The payoff is not just avoiding bad deals. It is the ability to move faster than peers, ask sharper questions during diligence, protect portfolio value through continuous monitoring, and demonstrate to Limited Partners that risk management is proactive rather than reactive.

Across security, compliance, and investigative work, OSINT is already evolving into a serious discipline, with defined methods, grading of sources, and clear expectations around verification and documentation. Private equity firms that integrate OSINT workflows into their risk assessment and research processes will be better placed to distinguish between noise and genuine risk and convert publicly available information into defensible, audit-ready insights to underpin investment decisions.

Authored by:

The Coalition of Cyber Investigators, Paul Wright (United Kingdom) & Neal Ysart (Philippines), with contributions from guest author Ryan Kyle, a former Royal Marine and military intelligence officer and founder of KISS (Kyle Intelligence and Security Services).

© 2025 The Coalition of Cyber Investigators. All rights reserved.

The Coalition of Cyber Investigators is a collaboration between

Paul Wright (United Kingdom) - Experienced Cybercrime, Intelligence (OSINT & HUMINT) and Digital Forensics Investigator;

Neal Ysart (Philippines) - Elite Investigator & Strategic Risk Advisor, Ex-Big 4 Forensic Leader; and

Lajos Antal (Hungary) - Highly experienced expert in cyberforensics, investigations, and cybercrime.

The Coalition unites leading experts to deliver cutting-edge research, OSINT, Investigations, & Cybercrime Advisory Services worldwide.

Our co-founders, Paul Wright and Neal Ysart, offer over 80 years of combined professional experience. Their careers span law enforcement, cyber investigations, open source intelligence, risk management, and strategic risk advisory roles across multiple continents.

They have been instrumental in setting formative legal precedents and stated cases in cybercrime investigations and contributing to the development of globally accepted guidance and standards for handling digital evidence.

Their leadership and expertise form the foundation of the Coalition’s commitment to excellence and ethical practice.

Alongside them, Lajos Antal, a founding member of our Boiler Room Investment Fraud Practice, brings deep expertise in cybercrime investigations, digital forensics, and cyber response, further strengthening our team’s capabilities and reach.

The Coalition of Cyber Investigators, with decades of hands-on experience in cyber investigations and OSINT, is uniquely positioned to support organisations facing complex or high-risk investigations. Our team’s expertise is not just theoretical - it’s built on years of real-world investigations, a deep understanding of the dynamic nature of digital intelligence, and a commitment to the highest evidential standards.