Three years ago, I hypothesized that the spread of open-source intelligence, or OSINT, techniques and more publicly available technology would lead to a revolution in intelligence capability for terrorist organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and criminal groups.

Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, we see further evidence that the opposite is also true. Worldwide public involvement in the production and dissemination of intelligence is at an all-time high courtesy of social media platforms such as Twitter and Telegram. The war in Ukraine is truly the people’s war.