Check out our 9 courses Internet Investigations & Intelligence Training for Law Enforcement with online or classroom delivery.
INVESTIGATION LEVELS
The NPCC has defined the levels of III / OSINT investigations. The old ACPO levels have been updated so that the 5 levels are now 3 levels. Axeten complies with these 3 levels.
They are:-
Level 1 : Overt Internet Research. The practitioner does not deploy a non-attributable connection and might not deploy a Synthetic Identity to obfuscate their identity. The outcome is that the identity of the investigating organisation might be easily detected.
Level 2 : Covert Internet Research. The practitioner deploys a non-attributable connection and also deploys a Synthetic Identity to obfuscate their identity. The outcome is that the identity of the investigating organisation cannot be detected. Axeten trains to Level 2.
Level 3 : Online Undercover Engagement. The same as Level 2 but the practitioner is trained and authorised to engage online with the subjects of an investigation and their associates.
TRAINING LEVELS
OfQual, the UK Government training regulator has applied its existing training levels to OSINT. These levels do not comply with the NPCC levels.
Since 2016, we have been providing Internet Investigations and Intelligence (III) / Open Source Intelligence training courses to many hundreds of Police Officers & Support Staff from a number of forces and other law enforcement agencies and wider Public Authorities in the UK, Europe and worldwide.
The Axeten training for Law Enforcement and wider Public Authorities does not explicitly teach covert online engagement techniques. That role is only to be undertaken by suitably trained undercover classed officers. Within the UK Police, Officers and Staff engaged in these types of undercover on-line processing activities are referred to as Covert Internet Investigators or CII’s and must do the appropriate training course with The College of Policing.
Axeten offers a similar course for people employed in enforcement roles that deploy covert activities for anyone with the authority who is engaged with these types of on-line processing activities, In UK law enforcement, this is called On-line Covert Investigations & Engagement Training (OCI&ET).
We understand that some Police Forces in England & Wales might still be working with the 5 Levels of Internet Investigations and Intelligence (III) with CII enquiries. Level 5 is out of scope for the Axeten training service. For UK Police Officers who must attain their full CII status, an On-line Covert Investigations & Engagement Training is required. The other 4 levels are all involved in III processing, the location, gathering and preservation of information that is already in existence. The training stops short of engaging on-line with the subject of an investigation. Axeten provides training up to and including the old level 4.
-
Level 1 – Overt Open Source Investigation & Research
Staff engaged in these activities are using standard networked computers gathering information from open websites which do not require an individual to sign up for an account to access. As such these staff will not require additional legal training.
All of the Axeten online and 2, 3 & 4 day classroom courses would appear to exceed the required material at this level.
-
Level 2 – Core Open Source Investigation & Research
Staff engaged in these activities may have to use more covert computers to gather information from the internet including social networking sites, creating passive profiles but are not to engage with others on-line.
Staff must understand & consider the different legislation that may affect their processing activities and must be able to evidence the information that is recovered.
All of the Axeten online and 2, 3 & 4 day classroom courses would appear to cover the required material at this level.
-
Level 3 – Covert Advanced Open Source Investigation & Research
Staff engaged in these activities will have to use covert computers to gather information from the internet including social networking sites, creating passive profiles but are not to engage with others on-line.
Staff must understand & consider the different legislation that may affect their processing activities and must be able to evidence the information that is recovered and be enter it into the intelligence system, with an understanding of the 5x5x5 system.
All of the Axeten online and 2, 3 & 4 day classroom courses would appear to cover the required material at this level with the except of the 5x5x5 Intelligence system. The Intelligence Systems 5x5x5 and 5x3x2 are covered in Module 5 of the Blended training and will be covered in any custom and private training for Law Enforcement, online or classroom.
-
Level 4 – Covert Internet & Network Investigations
Staff engaged at this level of internet investigations are working on higher level processing activities, where they will need to have a greater understanding & knowledge of the relevant legislation and the intelligence system and being able to use the 5x5x5 system.
All of the Axeten online and 2, 3 & 4 day classroom courses would appear to cover the required material at this level with the except of the 5x5x5 Intelligence system. The Intelligence Systems 5x5x5 and 5x3x2 are covered in Module 5 of the Blended training and will be covered in any custom and private training for Law Enforcement, online or classroom.
We understand that many Police forces and particularly those in Scotland & Northern Ireland are working to three Levels of Internet investigation, with CII processing being at Level 3. The other two levels are all involved in internet investigations, harvesting information that is already in existence but stop short of engaging with the subject of their investigation;
-
Level 1 – Overt Open Source Investigation & Research
All of the Axeten online and the 2, 3 & 4 day classroom courses would appear to exceed the required material at this level.
-
Level 2 – Covert Open Source Investigation & Research
All of the Axeten online and the 2, 3 & 4 day classroom courses would appear to cover the required material at this level with the except of the 5x5x5 Intelligence system. The Intelligence Systems 5x5x5 and 5x3x2 are covered in Module 5 of the Blended training and will be covered in any custom and private training for Law Enforcement, online or classroom.
COURSES
Axeten courses are very hands on, with the delegates spending a lot of time putting into practice the techniques they are shown. Most of the elements of the course have practical exercises attached, so it is essential for the course that each delegate has access to an internet enabled computer on a one to one basis, so they are able to access & explorer the internet whilst being showed the techniques to use.
The computers do not need to be anything special, in fact laptops are OK, they just need to have access to a reliable, fast and unrestricted internet connection.
If you do not have access to an appropriate training room then we can arrange one, but obviously this will be at an additional charge.
Our courses do not cover the technical aspects of how computers or the internet works. We do not cover hardware forensics or recovering data from devices. All of these are not things that an investigative OSINT researcher, either inside or outside of the police, needs to know about. Compare it to police officers on a driving course who are taught how to drive safely at speed. They are not taught how the car works, that is for a mechanic to know about. How computers or the internet works are for computer or network forensic engineers to know about and to describe to a court.
Our courses cover how to locate and preserve your research in a structured and provable manner and how to present that research in a statement for a court or tribunal.
Check out our 9 courses Internet Investigations & Intelligence Training for Law Enforcement. Delivery online or classroom.
If you would like to book a course for your staff, please email us for details.
PRESENTATIONS
We also regularly give presentations on this subject to interested groups, lasting from 30 minutes to several hours, depending on whatever the client has requested.
If you are having a meeting or conference and want an outside speaker, then just email us for details.