![]() ![]() The search parameters would be something like this: So if I had a magic database that I could search to find who committed the bank robbery, I would use Boolean logic to set my parameters to find the suspect. (This ignores the issue of witness reliability and other real-world factors, but I’m just illustrating a point). If any of those conditions are not true of a suspect, then they can be eliminated. For example if I investigate a bank robbery and the witnesses describe the suspect as a white man, aged under 25, with a blue jacket and local accent, then I know that the suspect will be in a pool of people for whom all those conditions are true. The goal of any investigation, no matter how big or small, is to arrive at a series of propositions that can be shown to be true, with any incorrect propositions having been eliminated and shown to be false. I’ll be using Philipp Dudek’s recent Quiztime challenge as an example. The rest of this post will look at how to use Boolean-style logic to solve investigative challenges and how they can also be applied to conduct highly targeted Google Image searches. ![]() George Boole – the real founder of Google… It also provides a logical structure that can be used to evaluate propositions and determine whether something is true or false, which is ultimately the purpose of investigations of any kind. ![]() The mathematical logic behind Boolean Searching dates back to the 19th Century and it underpins modern computer technology, programming, and web searches, among other things. That said there are some very old techniques that aren’t likely to disappear soon and when combined with modern technology they are a useful part of any OSINT investigator’s arsenal. The demise of Facebook’s graph search is a well known recent example among many. There are many reasons for this but the main reason is that almost all the tools and techniques we like to use are relatively short-lived and become obsolete quickly. In this blog I’ve often tried to emphasise how important it is to grasp the basic principles of investigation and learn how to apply the right method to a problem instead of just relying on a few tools to do the job. ![]()
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