It is Friday morning, just before the weekend. Jan proudly shares a post on LinkedIn about a new project. A few team photos, a short description and a location tag at the new office building. The reactions are positive. Likes, congratulations, recognition. What Jan does not see is that someone else is reading the post for a very different reason: gathering information.
The e-learning Social Media & OSINT takes employees into the world of open information. Not as a technical lecture, but as a recognisable reality. Everyone uses social media. LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X or TikTok feel personal, but in essence they are public information sources. Everything you share — consciously or unconsciously — reveals something about you, your work, your network and your organisation.
The course explains OSINT (Open Source Intelligence): collecting and combining information from publicly available sources. No hacking, no breaking in. Just observing, searching and connecting dots. Where OSINT used to take time, artificial intelligence now makes it fast and scalable. AI tools analyse large volumes of social media posts, images and profiles to detect patterns that humans often miss.
Participants learn how attackers use OSINT to map organisations. Who works where? Who has access to what? Who shares details about new projects, office moves or internal changes? All these small details form a detailed profile that can be exploited for targeted phishing, social engineering or even physical access.
The course illustrates this with realistic examples. A photo of an access badge. A screenshot of a workplace showing sensitive information. A casual post about a deadline that suddenly creates urgency for an attacker. Without anyone realising it, social media can become an entry point.
At the same time, the course shows that OSINT is not just a threat. You can use it yourself to protect yourself. By searching for your own name, reviewing your profiles and adjusting privacy settings, you see what outsiders can learn about you. Awareness is the first step to control.
The course then focuses on how to act. Are you contacted by someone who seems overly interested in your work, team or projects? If something feels off, it usually is. Ask questions, check profiles and report concerns to the appropriate team. One report too many is better than one incident too late.
Finally, the course highlights your responsibility as an employee. You are part of your organisation’s public image. What you share reflects on your employer. This does not mean sharing nothing, but sharing consciously. What is public, what is private and what should never be online?
The course concludes with a clear message: social media connect and inspire, but OSINT makes misuse easier than ever. By sharing consciously, taking privacy seriously and staying alert, you remain in control.
What will participants learn?
After completing this course, participants will:
- understand what social media and OSINT are
- recognise how public information can be misused
- understand how attackers use OSINT
- know how to use OSINT to protect themselves
- understand how to act when something feels suspicious
- take responsibility for their online behaviour
Who is this course for?
This course is suitable for:
- employees with several years of security awareness training
- organisations aiming to prevent social engineering
- teams active on social media
- employees strengthening their digital resilience
Why this course is relevant right now
AI has made OSINT faster and more powerful than ever. Training employees to manage their digital footprint significantly reduces the risk of targeted attacks and reputational damage.