Plessas Experts Network is a leading investigative firm providing discreet, high-stakes intelligence to corporations and legal teams. We specialize in using cutting-edge Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) to resolve complex issues such as corporate fraud, intellectual property theft, litigation support, and due diligence.
Contact
info@plessas.net
(202) 684-8101
What We Do
Litigation support
Plessas Experts Network (PEN) employs advanced, high-tech Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) techniques to support litigation and legal proceedings. Our methods extend far beyond basic searches to create comprehensive digital profiles for lawsuits, asset searches, and witness location. This involves a deep dive into the subject's online presence, including an in-depth social media analysis of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, as well as more niche sites, for any posts, images, or connections that could contradict a person's claims in court. We also strategically investigate the deep and dark web, the unindexed layers of the internet, to uncover hidden communications, forum posts, or other digital footprints a subject may believe are securely concealed.
In addition to broad internet investigations, PEN utilizes various specialized technological methods. For asset searches, our experts analyze a person's digital trail to find clues about hidden wealth. This can include tracing cryptocurrency transactions on public blockchains, which can sometimes be linked back to an individual. We also use geolocation and metadata analysis from publicly shared photos or videos to pinpoint recent or historical locations, which can be critical for verifying alibis or tracking a person’s usual whereabouts. Furthermore, for witness location, PEN leverages a witness's known digital footprint to conduct social network mapping, identifying their online connections to find mutual contacts who may have more current information on their location. This high-tech approach ensures that no stone is left unturned in the digital realm, providing robust, data-driven intelligence for legal cases.
Corporate Investigations
Plessas Experts Network (PEN) employs advanced Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) to provide comprehensive support for corporate investigations.1 We go beyond basic public record checks by using sophisticated techniques to uncover hidden digital footprints relevant to internal fraud, due diligence, and insider threats. Our services for internal fraud involve tracking cryptocurrency transactions and analyzing online financial forums to identify suspicious activity. For due diligence, we create detailed digital profiles of individuals or businesses by scrutinizing social media, professional networking sites, and other online sources for any red flags, such as undisclosed business affiliations or questionable online behavior. We also use specialized tools to map and analyze digital connections, revealing potential conflicts of interest or hidden relationships that could pose a risk.
In mitigating insider threats, PEN focuses on a proactive, intelligence-driven approach. We monitor online activity for warning signs, such as disgruntled posts, sudden changes in a person's digital persona, or suspicious communications on encrypted platforms. Our experts are skilled in using OSINT to investigate indicators of compromise (IOCs) following cyber incidents, analyzing digital infrastructure like IP addresses and file hashes to identify the source of a threat.2 By combining human expertise with cutting-edge technology, we can detect potential threats before they escalate, providing corporations with actionable intelligence to protect their assets and reputation from internal risks.
Cyber & IP Theft
Plessas Experts Network (PEN) employs advanced OSINT to track down individuals and groups responsible for cyber and IP theft and brand abuse. We do this by tracing the digital breadcrumbs left by threat actors across the internet. Our investigators monitor illicit online marketplaces, forums, and dark web communities where stolen intellectual property, counterfeit goods, or brand-impersonating materials are often sold or distributed. We analyze this information to identify a suspect's unique digital signature, which can include usernames, aliases, IP addresses, and email accounts. By cross-referencing this data with public social media profiles and other online records, we can connect the anonymous online persona to a real-world identity. For brand abuse, we conduct a similar process, using specialized tools to scan the web for unauthorized use of trademarks, logos, or copyrighted content, and then attribute that abuse back to the responsible individual or organization for legal action.
Competitive Intelligence
Plessas Experts Network (PEN) utilizes advanced Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) to provide clients with a crucial competitive advantage. We analyze publicly available data to build a clear and comprehensive picture of competitors' strategies, operations, and market position. Our methods go beyond simple web searches, using sophisticated tools to monitor online activities, including job postings on professional networking sites like LinkedIn to reveal a competitor's strategic hiring and new areas of focus, or tracking public patent filings to forecast their future product developments. We also analyze social media chatter, company blog posts, and press releases to gauge market sentiment and identify shifts in consumer behavior. By sifting through this massive amount of data, we can uncover a competitor's supply chain partners, identify their technology stacks, and even spot potential vulnerabilities in their business model before they do. This actionable intelligence allows our clients to anticipate market changes, refine their own strategies, and gain a decisive edge in their industry.
Who we serve
Fortune 500 companies/global investigation units
Legal Teams
Government and Law Enforcement
Private investigators
Please note: We partner exclusively with licensed private investigators to serve individual clients. If you are an individual seeking our services, please contact a trusted PI to hire us on your behalf.
Custom technology training
Plessas Experts Network (PEN) offers highly customized training programs built to meet the specific needs of government and private-sector organizations. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, we tailor our curriculum for participants at all skill levels, from beginners to advanced users. Our courses, workshops, and consultations are continuously updated to keep pace with emerging communication technologies and the latest in Internet research. This ensures that our students gain the skills to effectively collect and apply open-source information and publicly available data to address their unique operational requirements. We cover a wide range of critical OSINT disciplines, including advanced investigation techniques for social media and the dark web, how to perform automated and people searches, and ensure operational security for investigators. Our training also extends to specialized applications of OSINT, from supporting cyber investigations and virtual currency attribution to counter-terrorism and internet searching in foreign languages.
PEN also provides specialized AI OSINT training to empower investigators, journalists, and analysts with smarter tools. Our programs are designed to teach professionals how to leverage AI responsibly and effectively as a force multiplier for open-source intelligence, investigative journalism, and threat research. We focus on practical skills, such as prompt engineering to uncover hard-to-find information, methods for verification and credibility checks of AI outputs, and applying core OSINT tradecraft like GEOINT and SOCMINT. We also emphasize crucial ethical considerations, including frameworks for responsible use, bias awareness, and understanding platform policies. Our training extends to AI fraud investigations, where we teach participants to detect AI-generated content, such as synthetic identities and deepfakes, and identify AI-generated phishing attempts. By understanding how fraudsters exploit these new tools, our clients can develop proactive safeguards to protect against scams and strengthen their due diligence and compliance efforts.
research and development partnerships
Plessas Experts Network (PEN) offers comprehensive support for research and development partnerships, providing efficient testing and analysis to help organizations achieve their project goals. Our work spans various disciplines, from specialized linguistic analysis, such as our Robust Extraction of Metaphors from Novel Data (REMND) project, to advanced cognitive and schema analysis in projects like CYCLES. We also maintain a close partnership with institutions like The Institute for Informatics, Logics and Security Studies (ILS) at the University at Albany, State University of New York, with a special focus on international internet culture and languages. Our expertise ensures we can provide valuable, data-driven insights to enhance any research and development initiative.
In addition to our general R&D support, PEN provides highly specialized analyst support for AI developers. We help integrate our proven OSINT investigative methodologies directly into AI models, a process we call OSINT Tradecraft Integration. We also offer Human-in-the-Loop Training by providing high-quality, labeled data, conducting adversarial red-teaming, and giving expert analyst feedback to improve model performance and reliability. Our team can also provide analytical assistance for tailored AI agent development, helping build AI tools specifically customized for investigative workflows. Furthermore, we offer data quality and filtering services to remove noise and harmful content, ensuring robust and reliable models. On the platform and investigative support side, we monitor for threats and misuse, help clients understand their platform's usage through metrics and insights, and provide expert guidance for content moderation and safeguards, emphasizing a Human + AI Synergy to augment, not replace, human judgment.
Let's Chat.
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