Setting up a workstation for open source investigation

If you are new to open source investigation, setting up an organised workstation is critical. Below is some advice from Amnesty International’s Mitch Paquette guiding you through the process. 

1. Pick a web browser - Google Chrome is suggested for using open source investigation. It provides the largest range of browser extensions and plugins to help you with your work. It is important to set up a separate account for open source investigations for digital security reasons and to keep your personal and professional accounts separate.

2. Download plugins

• Tweetdeck Launcher extension
• Wayback machine extension
• Google translate plugin 
• InVid plugin 

3. Organise your bookmarks - Keep your tools organised with bookmarks, so you can access them easily during your investigation. This will save you time and frustration and help you stay organised.

4. Software to download:

• Download a media player - either VLC Media Player or Quicktime. These tools will allow you to watch a video frame by frame. They also can serve as a screen recorder for your content preservation during your investigation.
• Download the desktop version of Google Earth Pro 

Interested to learn more? Sign up for Amnesty International’s free 2-part course on Advocacy Assembly.