Boolean Search for OSINT Investigations: A Practitioner's Guide

The difference between an OSINT search that returns 10,000 irrelevant results and one that returns 15 actionable findings is query construction. Boolean operators are the tools that make the difference.

This guide covers practical Boolean application for security investigations — not textbook theory, but the techniques that working analysts use daily.

The Core Operators

AND narrows results by requiring all terms. "John Smith" AND "Acme Corp" returns only results mentioning both. Use AND to increase precision when broad searches produce too much noise.

OR broadens results by accepting alternatives. "Acme Corp" OR "Acme Corporation" OR "ACME" captures all name variants. Use OR to ensure coverage across how targets describe themselves.

NOT excludes known irrelevant matches. "John Smith" AND "Acme Corp" NOT "John Smith Jr" removes a known false match. Use NOT sparingly — aggressive exclusion can hide relevant results.

Quotes enforce exact phrases. "chief executive officer" matches that exact sequence. Without quotes, each word is searched independently, producing far more (and less relevant) results.

Investigation-Specific Techniques

Person Search Queries

Start with the name and known affiliations: "Jane Doe" AND ("Acme Corp" OR "Chief Financial Officer" OR "CFO"). Then broaden by adding known identifiers: email addresses, phone numbers, social media handles. Each identifier opens a different search vector.

Account for name variations: maiden names, middle names, common nicknames. ("Jane Doe" OR "Jane M. Doe" OR "J. Doe") AND "Acme Corp" catches variants that a single-name search misses.

Threat Monitoring Queries

For threat monitoring, combine entity identifiers with threat-adjacent language: "Acme Corp" AND ("threat" OR "attack" OR "target" OR "destroy" OR "revenge"). This is a starting point — AI classification should handle the nuanced detection, but Boolean queries surface explicit indicators effectively.

For executive protection: "Jane Doe CEO" AND ("home" OR "address" OR "family" OR "schedule" OR "travel") detects reconnaissance activity that precedes targeting.

Credential and Breach Investigation

Search for organizational exposure: "@acmecorp.com" AND ("password" OR "credentials" OR "breach" OR "leaked") across web and dark web sources. Use domain-level searches rather than individual addresses to assess organizational exposure breadth.

Platform-Specific Syntax

Boolean syntax varies across platforms and tools. Standard Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) work in most OSINT platforms. Some platforms require + for AND and - for NOT. Parentheses group operations and control evaluation order: ("term A" OR "term B") AND "term C".

DigitalStakeout supports full Boolean query construction across social media, web, and dark web search tools. Queries can be saved as persistent monitors that run continuously, alerting when new matching content appears.

From Search to Continuous Monitoring

A single Boolean query provides a point-in-time snapshot. For ongoing security operations, the real power is converting refined queries into continuous monitoring rules. The investigation produces an optimized query. The query becomes a persistent monitor. New content matching the query triggers alerts automatically.

This transition — from manual search to automated monitoring — is how investigation findings become sustained security awareness.

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