{"id":254,"date":"2026-02-24T12:45:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T12:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quantusintel.group\/osint\/blog\/2026\/02\/24\/big-data-network-analysis-and-the-right-tools-in-osint-with-chris-p\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T12:45:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T12:45:13","slug":"big-data-network-analysis-and-the-right-tools-in-osint-with-chris-p","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quantusintel.group\/osint\/blog\/2026\/02\/24\/big-data-network-analysis-and-the-right-tools-in-osint-with-chris-p\/","title":{"rendered":"Big data, network analysis and the right tools in OSINT with Chris P."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n \"Big <\/a>\n<\/div>\n
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Chris P, Head of Intelligence at Blackdot, joined the latest episode of From the Source<\/span><\/span><\/a>, the Blackdot podcast. He discussed his diverse career in military intelligence, the National Crime Agency, and the challenges of big data in intelligence analysis. He also explored the importance of network analysis, the role of AI and human oversight in OSINT, and the need for sovereignty in intelligence tools. You can read his insights below or listen to the full episode here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chris\u2019s journey: from military to OSINT tech<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Chris explains that he\u2019s had various career strands: from the military, to an investigator for the National Cyber Crime Unit, to Head of Intelligence at Blackdot. He joined the military as an army reservist at 17 and did five years with the Royal Anglian Regiment in the infantry before moving to military intelligence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I’ve been really fortunate in that time to deploy to some really interesting places. I went to Kosovo in 2017. I went to Iraq in 2020 and Afghanistan in 2013. So I’ve had a really interesting military career. I’m still a serving reservist,\u2019 he explains. \u2018And in fact, Blackdot are going through the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme<\/a><\/span>, part of the Armed Forces Covenant, which is really exciting. And it just shows their commitment to veterans and reservists as well.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Chris joined the National Crime Agency (NCA) in 2014 and spent six years as an investigator in the National Cyber Crime Unit before moving into human intelligence collection. He then joined a startup company called Logically, specialising in misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation, before joining Tadaweb, where he worked as the Defence and Intelligence Manager for the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n

The issue with big data<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

For intelligence analysts and investigators, Chris believes big data is a major issue, especially given the rise of social media. He describes it as looking for a golden nugget in \u2018a haystack in a field of haystacks in a country full of fields\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked how to tackle it, he explains that Boolean search queries and Google Dorks<\/a> <\/span>can help hone down results and data visualisation is valuable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I’m a very visual person,\u2019 he begins, \u2018I love a good network analysis chart. One of the reasons that drew me to Blackdot is how good their platform is at visually displaying that data. And I think it’s really easy then for the analyst to sift through and identify key entities, key relationships, key attributes between individuals and really look at that network and kind of exploit it to its best possibility.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

He adds that network analysis charts are relatable to humans, so they can look at a chart and identify complex relationships via nodes and lines. For example, a person might identify that the chart is showcasing a family tree or a company hierarchy based on the graph or diagram.<\/span><\/p>\n

The National Police Service, technology and sovereignty in 2026<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Chris explains that he is excited and interested to see how the government\u2019s new National Police Service (NPS), colloquially referred to as a \u2018British FBI\u2019, will go.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I think it’s really interesting that there’s going to be this national body responsible for national, serious organised crime, counterterrorism, bringing all those parts of law enforcement under one umbrella,\u2019 he explains.<\/span><\/p>\n

The NPS will also be responsible for pushing technology forwards, which Chris believes is necessary for law enforcement.<\/span><\/p>\n

They’re also going to be responsible for pushing technology forwards.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Almost all criminal activity nowadays is either technology enabled or technology dependent. So I think that’s something that’s really quite interesting. I think 2026 is going to be an interesting year geopolitically,\u2019 he adds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Chris explains that for OSINT analysts and investigators, trying to keep ahead of geopolitics is difficult because the world is constantly changing. Something that comes up a lot in his conversations with leaders of government departments and private industry is sovereignty and the importance of producing sovereign capability. For Chris, it\u2019s important for businesses to consider their dependencies, their tooling and to create a business resilience plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018There are a plethora of OSINT tools out there that people can use, both free and paid for. Maybe consider where those tools are based. Some are based abroad, some are based in the UK. Blackdot, for example, is headquartered in the UK. The developers are in the UK. It is a sovereign product, I think, by that definition,\u2019 he says.<\/span><\/p>\n

AI in the world of OSINT<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

While he believes AI can be extremely useful, Chris notes problems such as the increase in AI-generated and AI-edited content online, as well as AI-generated influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I will always be an advocate for human in the loop,\u2019 Chris begins, \u2018I think the idea of the human having that accountability, the review of whatever material is collected, is really important. AI can hallucinate, can make stuff up. Repeatability is an issue.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

He believes it will be a \u2018make or break\u2019 year for AI, adding that its lack of transparency is a huge issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018People may ask it \u201cwhat’s the best cancer hospital in LA?\u201d And it will provide an answer. But you don’t know how it’s reached that answer,\u2019 he explains. \u2018It only takes one more step to include in the prompt and show your reasoning and show how you got to this answer. At least then the human in the loop can review how the AI came to that conclusion and agree or disagree or discount some of the things that it’s raised.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

How to get the most from OSINT<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

For Chris, there are two key things to remember when it comes to OSINT. The first is the importance of using the right tools, and the second is to remember the limitations of OSINT.<\/span><\/p>\n

‘I will always be an advocate for the right tool for the right question\u2019 begins Chris, \u2018If you want to display something geospatially, use a geospatial platform. If you want to investigate a network, use a network analysis platform.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

He adds that OSINT isn\u2019t a silver bullet. Like any other intelligence discipline, it has its limitations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018You wouldn’t go to an imagery intelligence analyst and ask for the image of inside a building\u2019 he explains, \u2018OSINT will provide you the answer if the answer exists. I think that’s quite key.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen to Big data, network analysis and the right tools in OSINT and stay tuned for even more OSINT insight on Blackdot\u2019s next podcast episode.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris P, Head of Intelligence at Blackdot, joined the latest episode of From the Source, the Blackdot podcast. He discussed his diverse career in military intelligence, the National Crime Agency, and the challenges of big data in intelligence analysis. He also explored the importance of network analysis, the role of AI and human oversight in … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantusintel.group\/osint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantusintel.group\/osint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantusintel.group\/osint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantusintel.group\/osint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantusintel.group\/osint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quantusintel.group\/osint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantusintel.group\/osint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantusintel.group\/osint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantusintel.group\/osint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantusintel.group\/osint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}