A practical OSINT workflow for business due diligence: registries, sanctions, web footprint, people and image checks, with free tools verified alive in 2026.
Most OSINT guides are about intelligence work, investigative journalism, thriller material. This one is not. This one is about the moment you are about to sign a contract with a supplier you have never met, take a wire from a foreign client, or accept an engagement from a company that has existed, maybe, for eight months. The OSINT you need there is not spycraft: it is the discipline of checking official public sources before committing money, time or reputation. I have an OSINT background, and I spent months inside registries, archives and verification tools while researching GEOPOLITECH, the third volume of my trilogy. This article distils that method into a repeatable workflow for business due diligence. Every tool mentioned was verified reachable in August 2026, with a preference for free or freemium. If you want the broader introduction to OSINT, from case studies to starter tools, I wrote it here…