Zaki Khalid

open source intelligence consultant

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Zaki Khalid is a consultant in open source intelligence (OSINT), a field he says grew from a personal interest into his career. He says he had no formal training and learned from videos, reading and online literature. He says he is currently doing a major in history.

Early life and background

Khalid spent his childhood schooling years in the UAE, which he describes as a multicultural environment. He attended a school there that he says is considered one of the top in the country. He says he memorized the capitals of the world at the age of eight. He says he wondered whether a person could study a country and its people without actually going there. He also says he used brief details he remembered about his aunt to pinpoint the exact location of her home. [1]

He recalls early internet access in Pakistan being sold on 50-rupee scratch cards. He says he created his first Facebook account in 2007. Khalid knows French and has learned some basic Mandarin. He says a search for his name used to turn up a chemical researcher in Egypt from the 1930s with the same name. [1]

Education

Khalid says he is currently doing a major in history. He says cyber psychology was one element of his OSINT training. He recommends a cyber psychology journal published from Europe. [1]

Career

Khalid says NATO was the first to publish on open source intelligence, in the late 1990s. He says he had no formal training and learned from videos, reading and online literature. He says his interest in OSINT became a career, and he now consults people on it. He also says people in the field taught him to respect the boundaries of OSINT. [1]

Training and mentoring

Khalid describes a planned one-of-a-kind place that will give vocational training. He says the training will be hands-on rather than academic. He says he plans to teach students, government officials and the media community vocational skills in fact checking, disinformation, analysis and research. He says he would be happy to mentor people who want to learn. [1]

Views on open source intelligence

Khalid says OSINT uses public information and does not involve hacking. He says compiling public information and making sense of it turns information into intelligence. In his view, OSINT must be done by qualified, responsible people who follow a code of ethics. He says hacking is totally different from OSINT and is a complete breach of privacy. [1]

He says OSINT also checks the credibility and reliability of sources, and that the government could use it to fact-check disinformation at state level. He says OSINT costs nothing except paying the people who are employed, and that it can be done sitting at a laptop. He says people who studied library and information science may do well in OSINT. He also says research is different from creating noise. [1]

Views on the internet

He says the dark web needs different techniques, such as Tor, to access, and that it has no search engine. He says the dark web is not sinister in itself. He also says most people who hide their identity on the dark web are engaged in dangerous activities. [1]

Privacy and online safety

Khalid says people with bad motives study targets to write convincing phishing emails. He advises putting adequate privacy settings on social media. He advises people to read each platform's guidelines and to be mindful of privacy settings. He says a Google removal form, with proof of identity, can get content taken down quickly. [1]

Views on Pakistan

Khalid says Pakistan's biggest untapped resource is the intellectual ability of its people. He says Pakistan has the technical and human resources needed to counter state-level disinformation, and that it has one of the largest young adult populations in the world. He says he does not expect productive change without drastic reforms in the next few years. [1]

He thinks people do not know what is good for themselves. He says morality is underrated and civic responsibility starts with the individual. He expects the Pakistan of his old age to have an extremely well-informed citizenry. He says a well-informed society can make good policy that leads to development, and that knowledge is useful to society when it is shared. [1]

Timeline

2007
Created his first Facebook account[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2021-09-29 The internet is an ocean. Most Pakistanis are still wading in. Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Zaki Khalid?

Zaki Khalid is a consultant in open source intelligence (OSINT). He says his interest in the field became a career and that he now consults people on it. He says he is also doing a major in history.[1]

What does Zaki Khalid do?

Zaki Khalid consults people on open source intelligence. He also says he plans to teach students, government officials and the media community vocational skills in fact checking, disinformation, analysis and research.[1]

Where did Zaki Khalid study?

Zaki Khalid spent his childhood schooling years in the UAE, at a school he says is considered one of the top in the country. He says he is currently doing a major in history. He also says cyber psychology was one element of his OSINT training.[1]

Where did Zaki Khalid grow up?

Zaki Khalid spent his childhood schooling years in the UAE. He describes his schooling there as a multicultural environment.[1]

How did Zaki Khalid learn OSINT?

Zaki Khalid says he had no formal training and learned from videos, reading and online literature. He says people in the field taught him to respect the boundaries of OSINT. He says his interest in the subject later became a career.[1]

What languages does Zaki Khalid speak?

Zaki Khalid says he knows French. He also says he has learned some basic Mandarin.[1]

What does Zaki Khalid say about the dark web?

Zaki Khalid says the dark web needs different techniques, such as Tor, to access, and that it has no search engine. He says the dark web is not sinister in itself. He also says most people who hide their identity there are engaged in dangerous activities.[1]

Does Zaki Khalid consider OSINT the same as hacking?

No. Zaki Khalid says OSINT uses public information and does not involve hacking. He says hacking is totally different from OSINT and is a complete breach of privacy.[1]

References

  1. The internet is an ocean. Most Pakistanis are still wading in. . Thought Behind Things , 2021-09-29.
Show the source passages (68 statements)
  1. He spent his childhood schooling years in the UAE. my childhood years, my primary and initial secondary education was in the UAE
  2. He describes his schooling in the UAE as a multicultural environment. it was a multicultural environment
  3. He attended a school in the UAE that he says is considered one of the top in the country. I was in the Shoifat School which is considered one of the top in the UAE
  4. He says he memorized the capitals of the world at the age of eight. I memorized all the capitals of the world when I was eight
  5. He says he wondered whether a person could study a country and its people without actually going there. can you study a particular country or try to know more about its people while not actually going there?
  6. He says he used brief details he remembered about his aunt to pinpoint the exact location of her home. I just put in the brief details I remembered of my aunt and I was able to pinpoint her the exact location of her home
  7. He says NATO was the first to publish on open source intelligence, in the late 1990s. NATO ne sabse pehle in fact publish kiya tha late 90s mein ki Open Source Intelligence ke upar
  8. He says he had no formal training and learned from videos, reading and online literature. I didn't get any training from anywhere, but I did used to look up a lot of videos, I used to read a lot of things
  9. He says his interest in OSINT became a career, and he now consults people on it. that passion ultimately became a career and then I'm now able to you know, consult people on it.
  10. He says OSINT uses public information and does not involve hacking. public available information. Not hacking into anything.
  11. He says compiling public information and making sense of it turns information into intelligence. we just compile them together and we try to make sense of it. That's when it it transforms from information to intelligence.
  12. He divides the internet into the surface web, the deep web and the dark web. the internet is divided into three levels. One is the surface web
  13. He says the dark web needs different techniques, such as Tor, to access. You have to use a different techniques to access that through Tor, etc.
  14. He says the dark web has no search engine. dark web mein search engine nahi hai
  15. He says the dark web is not sinister in itself. Dark web in itself is not a sinister thing.
  16. He says most people who hide their identity on the dark web are engaged in dangerous activities. most of the people who would not want themselves to be identified and are engaged in activities which we would seriously consider to be extremely dangerous and offensive
  17. He describes Google dorking as searching with Boolean operators to narrow results. usko kehte hain dorking. It is a process in which you use particular Boolean string operators search karne ke liye.
  18. He says the deep web is listed on Google but must be found through targeted keyword searching. It's basically listed in Google, but you have to go find it through a process called targeted keyword searching.
  19. He says a search for his name used to turn up a chemical researcher in Egypt from the 1930s with the same name. I used to find Zaki Khalid jo ek 1930 ke zamane mein Egypt mein ek chemical researcher tha
  20. He says OSINT must be done by qualified, responsible people who follow a code of ethics. this has to be done by people who are qualified, responsible and they have to uphold the code of ethics
  21. He says hacking is totally different from OSINT and is a complete breach of privacy. kyunki hacking is totally different. It's a complete breach of privacy.
  22. He says people in the field taught him to respect the boundaries of OSINT. I was fortunate enough to be instructed by some people who in this field who taught me that you have to be mindful of these things and you have to know the boundaries of these things
  23. He says people who studied library and information science may do well in OSINT. if you are somebody who is knowledgeable or has studied library and information science, there's a pretty good chance you're going to be excellent in OSINT as well
  24. He says cyber psychology was one element of his OSINT training. in my OSINT training, cyber psychology was also an element which I studied
  25. He says he can try to assess a person's personality from their Spotify playlist. I can in fact try to assess a personality by the type of Spotify playlist which they have
  26. He says people with bad motives study targets to write convincing phishing emails. when they study people, toh it is very easy for them to make fake emails jisko phishing kehte hain
  27. He advises putting adequate privacy settings on social media. put adequate privacy settings on your social media
  28. He says a Google removal form, with proof of identity, can get content taken down quickly. Aap Google ko form bhej sakte hain and they will ask for identification and they will take it down immediately
  29. He advises people to read each platform's guidelines and to be mindful of privacy settings. you should be mindful of privacy settings, chahe woh jo bhi platform ho, unki aap guidelines padha karein
  30. He says research is different from creating noise. Research is something else and creating noise is something else
  31. He says Pakistan's biggest untapped resource is the intellectual ability of its people. the biggest resource which is untapped, the potential which we have is the intellectual acumen that is present in each and every male and female in Pakistan
  32. He says the government could use OSINT to fact-check disinformation at state level. The government can use it to fact check disinformation at a state level
  33. He says OSINT also checks the credibility and reliability of sources. it's also actually finding out the credibility and reliability of the source
  34. He says OSINT costs nothing except paying the people who are employed. You don't need to spend a single dime except obviously if you're employing somebody, you have to you know, compensate them and pay them
  35. He says OSINT can be done sitting at a laptop. Woh baniyan pehen ke aap baith ke laptop pe OSINT kar sakte hain
  36. He knows French and has learned some basic Mandarin. I personally know French, I can I've learned some basic Mandarin as well
  37. He says he is currently doing a major in history. By the way, I am currently doing majors in history
  38. He says he created his first Facebook account in 2007. I think I created my first Facebook account in 2007
  39. He describes a planned one-of-a-kind place that will give vocational training. It's basically one of a kind place where we'll give vocational training
  40. He says the training will be hands-on rather than academic. So it's not academic but it's something to do with hands-on training
  41. He says he plans to teach students, government officials and the media community vocational skills in fact checking, disinformation, analysis and research. Hum students ko, government officials ko aur jo media community hai unko hum vocational skills sikhayenge on fact checking, disinformation, analysis and trying to find out to conduct better research basically
  42. He says he would be happy to mentor people who want to learn. I would be more than happy to you know mentor them
  43. He says Pakistan has the technical and human resources needed to counter state-level disinformation. I can tell you that the resources are there, technical but more importantly the human resources are there
  44. He says Pakistan has one of the largest young adult populations in the world. We have a fabulous country of young people and just the very fact that we have one of the largest young adult population in the world
  45. He says he does not expect productive change without drastic reforms in the next few years. unfortunately until there are some drastic reforms taking place I don't see anything productive happening at least for the next few years
  46. He says not everything should be discussed publicly. Not everything not everything should be discussed publicly or you know deliberated upon so openly
  47. He believes state institutions are responsible for managing these matters. jo state level ke hamare jo organs responsible hain chahe woh executive se leke jo bhi institutions hain woh yeh cheezon ko karein, handle karein, it's their job to manage these things
  48. He says an old German concept means knowledge that should not be shared with everyone. jisko kehte hain Ershafts Wissen. It's a very interesting word I found randomly online matlab aisa nahi hai ke main I was interested. Do saal pehle I came across this word it is an old German concept which means knowledge that should not be shared with everyone
  49. He says fifth generation warfare is unquestionably a national security threat. I think it is a national security threat, unquestionably it is
  50. He says he appeared on a programme on Dawn. I went to Zarar Khuhro's program on Dawn
  51. He says a Google search for hybrid or fifth generation warfare mostly returns op-eds and tweets by Pakistanis. aap sirf type karein hybrid warfare ya fifth generation. Nine out of ten search results you will get are you know columns, op-eds, tweets written by Pakistanis
  52. He says no one can map where the world's servers are, not even the US. hum koi bhi nahi map kar sakta, US bhi nahi kar sakta
  53. He says the internet is boundless, though its limits are unknown. I believe it is boundless because although it will have some limits we are still unsure about what its limits are
  54. He thinks people do not know what is good for themselves. I think people don't know what's good for their own selves
  55. He says morality is underrated and civic responsibility starts with the individual. Morality is underrated. If you are a uphold your civic responsibility as a citizen, you start with your own self
  56. He expects the Pakistan of his old age to have an extremely well-informed citizenry. the Pakistan of that time would be comprised of a citizenry that is extremely well informed
  57. He says a well-informed society can make good policy that leads to development. Then that society is able to conduct good policy making that leads towards development and something productive
  58. He credits Google with making thousands of websites easy to find that earlier search engines missed. I have to singularly credit Google as being the thing which actually enabled people to find thousands and thousands of websites
  59. He recalls early internet access in Pakistan being sold on 50-rupee scratch cards. woh 50 rupees wale scratch karke you had to get online
  60. He says Facebook is still very popular in Pakistan for human-to-human social networking. If you're talking about pure social networking, human to human interaction, to Facebook is still very popular in Pakistan
  61. He says Facebook is the most accessed medium in Pakistan. Facebook is the most accessed medium in Pakistan
  62. He says, citing a data reporter, that YouTube is the number one platform in Pakistan. according to the data reporter, YouTube is the number one platform
  63. He estimates that about half of Pakistan's Twitter users are fake accounts. Now it's reasonable to say ki un 2 million mein se main badi reasonably keh sakta hoon ki 50% fake accounts hain
  64. He says online behaviour tends to be more exhibitionist and different from real-life behaviour. it tends to be very exhibitionist and different from what they are in real life because we get into this mode when we are online
  65. He says his approach to OSINT is from a social science perspective, not a technical one. We are from a totally social science perspective
  66. He says he maps a person's context from their earliest online records, starting around 1996. I try to start from the earliest ki 96 mein yeh kya tha, 97 mein kya tha karte karte you start to understand the evolution of a person
  67. He recommends a cyber psychology journal published from Europe. aap cyber psychology ka ek journal hai jo publish hota hai Europe se
  68. He says knowledge is useful to society when it is shared. Ilm jitna batega utna society ke kaam aayega