Has your legal team ever needed to verify a subject’s story or lifestyle? SMI Aware can help you! Defining Fraud Fraud is defined as a wrongful act of deception intended to result in personal gain. Legal counsel turns to social…
Category: Blog
Role of Social Media and OSINT in Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is a widespread global issue that targets people of all ages for multiple purposes. People can be trafficked for labor or for various types of exploitation. In the digital age, it has become easier for traffickers to locate,…
Benefits and Risks of Open Source Intelligence Investigations
Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is derived from publicly available data and utilized for police investigations. OSINT involves the gathering of publicly available data to assist in mission goals. The evidence collection is different in this case because it is on the…
The Ethics of In-House Social Media Research and Discovery
Social media platforms represent a potentially rich source of information for online discovery. If conducted ethically, social media collection in the process of discovery is entirely legitimate. However, the 2019 Robertelli Majority case serves as a cautionary warning against the…
The Pitfalls of In-House Social Media Investigations
Many law firms rely on in-house staff to conduct online investigations and social media collection. These people typically have other duties at the firm and are not specialists in finding information online. Even when conducted properly and ethically, in-house digital…
Understanding and Evaluating Fake News on Social Media
Social media is a huge part of society today. It’s how we share our lives and keep up with family, friends, and current events. As people spend more and more time on social media platforms, it has also become a…
In Social Media Investigations, Scalability is Key
With billions of individuals using social media, collecting social media data has become an integral element in the discovery process. As such, social media analyses must be both consistent and repeatable. They also need the ability to scale their discovery…
The Neighborhood Academy
As members of the Pittsburgh community, SMI Aware and our employees participate in a variety of community activities and projects. One of those community outreach projects is our involvement with and commitment to the Neighborhood Academy. The Neighborhood Academy is…
The Perils of DIY Social Media Discovery and Analysis
Using a DIY strategy for tasks like simple household repairs can be both smart and satisfying. Taking a hands-on approach frequently saves money, and doing things yourself often ensures that everything is completed according to your specifications. However, social media…
The Trendy, Hot NFT Market Has a New Entrant: Patents
In recent years, non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have become a trendy digital sensation, with splashy headlines touting sales totaling six and seven figures. NFTs have even begun making their way into the intellectual property space, including patents. While the law…