How OSMOSISCon became the destination conference for OSINTers

Cynthia Hetherington is calling in from a church. It’s appropriate for the founder and CEO of Hetherington Group to work in a reimagined space. Before OSINT (open source intelligence) became a broadly known acronym, Hetherington literally wrote the book on it – a new edition came out earlier this year. 

For 25 years, Hetherington and team have provided a broad range of services centered on OSINT. From due diligence to risk monitoring to intellectual property investigations, the team has their hands full. So naturally, a decade ago, they decided to start a conference. When asked what led to the founding of the event, Hetherington recalls: “We all kind of had our corner of what we called [OSINT], we’re servicing our customers with this information in the private sector. We’re not in the military, DOD, or the IC, or the AEIOU. I knew how to host a good party.”

The party continues this week as the 10th annual OSMOSISCon takes place in Las Vegas and virtually October 20-22. It’s become the place for OSINT practitioners to build skills, network and level up their careers. We talked to Hetherington about the past, present and future of the field. “We’ll keep carrying the banner,” she says.

Factal: I was looking at the history of OSMOSISCon on your website. I’m looking back to you presenting on the dark web a decade ago, and it feels almost like the history of the conference is going through the history of the discipline. Can you tell me a little bit about how this got started? 

Cynthia Hetherington: I’ve been in this space myself for 30 years. Somewhere about 15 years ago, I finally realized, my colleagues in the field, other female private investigators, we’re calling the same project the same thing. We started creating our own world. So I said, well, let’s just host a conference. Let’s call for open source intelligence.

Year one was amazing. Year two got better and it just really kept growing year after year. And now, you know, frankly, as an operation, this is a big thing that stops everybody in my office every year because we have to host this event that keeps growing and growing.

This is exclusively for us. This is for people who sit at their desk all day long and answer questions.

Factal: You’re doing this once a year. It feels like as the amount of tools and techniques on the internet gets bigger, there’s so much that you can do to answer those questions. Are you finding that folks are coming in expecting to leave OSMOSISCon doing something totally different? 

CH: The fun thing about hosting this event is that there’s two things that occur every year, especially in the last three years.

Someone will always inevitably ask me before the conference, Am I going to be at it? So they don’t know that I’m the founder of it, which is kind of funny and ironic but it’s also perfect because this isn’t the Cynthia show. This is about them, which means they’re new to the industry, they’re new to learning. They can’t wait to get in there.

And the other thing that occurs is I find vendors I’ve never met before.

I don’t want, and I never wanted a beginner’s conference. There’s a lot for new people to get instruction. I mean, gee, I wrote a book on it. I want people to come in and say, I didn’t know about that software, that tool, that application, or that new Google dork.

It really has hit the full spectrum now where we get all ranges of talent that come in here and everybody takes something home.

Factal: That’s huge. OSINT is – I don’t know if buzzword is the right word, but certainly raised in prominence and maybe even raised in authority. Do you feel like people are explaining themselves more than they used to, because there’s strangers wandering in, or less because people know what OSINT means, or somewhere in the middle?

CH: At least within the United States, OSINT is still an acronym that we’re still getting comfortable with. Some of the armed forces don’t even have a job description for it, or what you’d call the MOS [Military Occupational Specialty], but everybody’s doing it. ​​And everyone enjoys doing it.

I have people who are rabid podcast listeners to murder-for-hire events and crime solving and they’re doing it. All these folks reach out to me on LinkedIn and start talking about, well, what is OSINT to me, which is very big and vague. I do not like to put these things in a box.

What we’re doing with OSMOSIS is: “How do we create a very clear job description of what that person and candidate looks like, so that they can move and get elevated within their own positions and jobs?”

So, getting the hiring forces to understand, this isn’t another threat analyst sitting at your desk looking at travel maps. This is not a competitive intelligence professional who sits there and does research on very specific markets. This OSINT analyst is going to be much broader based and much deeper diving than a lot of the nuanced positions and should be afforded positions accordingly. OSMOSIS’ aim is to define us better.

The answer to your question is yes and no. Yes, I am still over-explaining it to people because I think they’re halfway there. But at least we are saying the acronym out loud in public now. 

Factal: Part of the benefit of any conference, but I think especially this one, is the networking and mingling and sharing all those different perspectives. Can you tell me a little bit about how you make sure that that is part of OSMOSISCon?

CH: I throw a great party. I know how to bring people together. This is baked into my DNA. 

To me, our conference is really about what I call that vendor space, because that’s where all the networking happens and all the growth and development and across cross-cultural mixes. 

OSMOSISCon is unique in the fact that it is an international conference and it’s an interdisciplinary conference. So you’re not just going to be working and talking with the military or private sector or private eyes.

I tell the private eyes that your future customers are there because the Fortune 50 brands actually have their analysts at the conference. The brands want to meet them because they’ll be their boots on the ground to do investigative work. The brands, the DoD and the military folks that come in and my law enforcement community are always very interested in what new technology come out.

Factal: Where do you see first time attendees coming from? Like, is there a profile of someone where you’re like, Oh, you should be at this conference. You just don’t know about it yet. 

CH: Internationally, we’re getting a bigger reach now. We are collaborating with different OSINT associations that are geographically located, like UK OSINT is out there now.

We do see ourselves as non specific, non territorial. We want to be the globe. And I have many colleagues on my board that are very focused on their particular industry and their market segment. But I’m always that voice that says, this has to be for everybody.

We want to make sure that anybody who wants to learn and grow and network will be able to see these opportunities because OSINTers can also all work from home. So who’s to say that you can’t get an amazing researcher out of Australia to work your 12 hour shift difference when you’ve got a company set up in New York? 

Those things happen at this conference, people actually really see new opportunities and growth.

Factal: What has surprised you over the past 10 years of founding OSMOSIS and OSMOSISCon?

CH: Personally, that I’m the banner holder for it. I’m a librarian that just rolled into this industry 30-something years ago. And, you know, I operate my intelligence agency out of a church with a dog in the background. I’m not your stereotypical retired cop or military professional who does this job.

When we give out the awards we ask and challenge our entire community to represent each other for awards. The rising stars are just amazing. They’re tenacious, the grit in these young OSINT professionals.

When I started out in investigations work, you really kind of had to walk and talk and behave like you’re a fed, whether you were or weren’t.

And now, look at Rae Baker, you know, purple hair. She’s been in the industry for less than three years. She wrote one of the best books on the topic. I mean, she’s just a rockstar. She wasn’t one of us and now she’s one of us. 

I love that the diversity creates such an inclusive environment for us, because that’s where we’re going to tap all those experts. If we keep licking our own ice cream cone, the flavor never changes. But if we start hitting the Baskin-Robbins and asking Where else can we get this?…

The awards of OSMOSIS bring that to light.

Factal: This industry moves really fast. And so what role does OSMOSIS play when you’re not in Vegas? 

CH: We recognized about two or three years ago that we kept wanting to talk to each other, even when we’re not in person. So we’ve transitioned it into an association. All members are welcome to join; membership is free.

We launched the OSC this past year, which is the open source certification. We’re going to have pop up events. Nothing’s going to be as big as OSMOSISCon, but single day events, online events, we’re trying to get over to Europe.

Factal: What would you say to someone who’s considering attending their first OSMOSISCon?

CH: If you’re still on the fence, do consider that you can attend virtually, which is economical for those who don’t want to travel. We’ve always hosted it virtually – we’re an online environment! People actually at the conference [in person] sit in the landscape as well.

What I find in the virtual environment is, it’s like a Discord that just goes on. It’s funny. It is fun. It’s like a really good way to spend time in front of a computer. You know, you’re learning, you’re chatting with people, they’re throwing up really great ideas and alternate sites. People are always trying to one up each other, which is common in our world.

It’s not about what we [as organizers] say. It’s about how you lead the industry. We just give you a portal to sit in and drive through. 

Registration for OSMOSISCon is open – learn more here.

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