Navigate a distinct digital ecosystem

Learn to operate within China's unique internet landscape, including its search engines, social media platforms, and government repositories, using OSINT techniques tailored to the environment.

Investigate organisations, people, and locations

Develop practical skills for corporate profiling using Chinese data aggregators, person-of-interest research across Chinese and Western social media, and geospatial analysis using China-specific mapping services.

Maintain operational security throughout

Apply a risk management framework for managing IP attribution, browser fingerprinting, and digital footprint isolation when conducting research in China's digital space.

ABOUT THIS COURSE

This course develops OSINT techniques and methodology tailored specifically for navigating and extracting information from China's distinctive online landscape. 

You'll build the essential skills to collect, process, and analyse China's global interactions, intentions, and developments through open-source intelligence, while managing the operational security demands of working within this complex digital environment. 

ESTIMATED TIME TO COMPLETE

This course takes approximately 13 - 15 hours to complete and is entirely self-paced.

WHO THIS COURSE IS FOR

This course is designed for intelligence analysts, investigators, researchers, and security professionals who need to collect and analyse information from China's online environment.

It suits practitioners supporting geopolitical analysis, corporate due diligence, counter-intelligence, or technology tracking. 

PREREQUISITES

Completion of OSINT Primer or equivalent foundational OSINT experience is recommended.

Deep China expertise is not required, the course builds that from the ground up.

Mandarin language proficiency is also not required. The course covers working with Chinese language through translation tools and practical techniques.

WHAT'S NEXT?

AI Essentials provides the foundational understanding of how generative AI works, where it fails, and why human oversight matters. It's an ideal complement to the AI-enabled chatbot techniques introduced in this course, giving you the critical thinking framework to evaluate AI outputs before relying on them in your work.

Detecting and Analysing Disinformation develops your ability to identify inauthentic content, map influence networks, and analyse the strategic objectives behind information operations. For practitioners working across complex information environments, this course builds the analytical skills to assess source credibility and detect manipulation techniques at scale.

COURSE CURRICULUM

    1. Course Welcome

    2. Before We Begin

    1. Understanding OSINT for Chinese Internet Research

    2. Country Specific OSINT

    3. Characteristics and Infrastructure of the Chinese Internet

    4. ICT Governance in China

    5. User Behaviour and Technology

    6. Mobile Internet Access Rates and WeChat Use

    7. User Behaviour and Governance

    8. Quiz: Introduction to the Chinese Internet

    1. Chinese Language basics and OSINT Application

    2. Online Translation Tools

    3. Quiz: Working with Chinese Language in OSINT

    1. Understanding Online Attribution

    2. Isolating Your Digital Footprint

    3. Managing Your IP Address Footprint

    4. Using Virtual Machines (VMs)

    5. Spoofing User Agent Strings

    6. Managing Website Analytics

    7. Managing Browser Fingerprinting

    8. What is Operational Security (OPSEC)?

    9. OPSEC, Entities of Interest and the Operating Environment

    10. OPSEC and the OSINT Attribution Framework

    11. Quiz: Managing Online Attribution on the Chinese Internet

    1. Introduction to Online Personas

    2. Developing an Online Persona

    3. Supporting an Online Persona with Images

    4. Creating a Persona's Online Presence

    5. Considerations for Working with Online Personas

    6. Quiz: Tools and Techniques for Online Personas

    1. Collection Planning and Methodologies

    2. Search Engines for the Chinese Internet

    3. The Wayback Machine

    4. The OSINT Combine China Bookmark Stack

    5. Quiz: Online Investigation Basics

COURSE SNAPSHOT

  • $499.00
  • 76 lessons
  • 5 hours of video content