About

A policeman and a hacker walk into a bar

NobleNerds is a free, volunteer community that uses open-source intelligence (OSINT) for good.

Where we started

Well, the joke can go a variety of ways from here. Luckily it was no joke, and since you're on this site and still reading, you can surmise the two found common ground. The policeman was not much of a hacker but was willing to learn, and the hacker was not a fan of rules or government regulations, you know, "the law".

They had both been at a conference, let's just call it "A K0n", and both liked trivia contests and showing off how smart they were. A few rounds later (games and drinks), and a few laughs later, they had an idea of how to work together. Nothing official, just sharing ideas. From there a seed was planted. The full story is inAdventures in OSINT.

Today NobleNerds is a community of OSINT professionals, investigators, IT professionals, pentesters and hackers (white, grey and black hats) using their skills to further actual investigations. Other organisations have formed with similar good intentions; a tip of the hat to Trace Labs.

What we do

• Crowd-sourced investigations. Balancing chain of evidence and judicial review, we bring crowd-sourcing into investigations to bridge the gap between the public and private sectors.Why we crowd-source.
• Capture-the-flag events for pre-registered members. See Events.
• Referrals. We are often asked for OSINT trainers and investigators, and we refer people to practitioners we have vetted. How referrals work.
• Resources. Our free start.me page of OSINT tools, plus a curated, dated list of OSINT guides.

Where we are headed

Not long after we started, law enforcement officers, state's attorneys and private-sector partners saw the value in this collaboration. A select, invitation-only group formed to work on cases, called the V Squad. Why the V Squad? That is a little like talking about Fight Club.

Membership of NobleNerds is free. The community grows with your help, support, ideas and creativity, so pleasejoin us.

Founder