ZHIHU OSINT PROGRAM

This  module lays the foundation for doing OSINT On China and China-focused  OSINT by explaining how the Chinese internet differs from the West and  why standard tools often fail. You'll learn how censorship, real-name  policies, and access restrictions shape the landscape, what mistakes to  avoid, and how to adapt your mindset and methods for effective  investigations. It’s a practical introduction to thinking, searching,  and operating smarter in China’s controlled online environment.

This  module teaches how to effectively work with Chinese-language content in  OSINT investigations, searching China even without knowing the  language. You’ll learn how to search smarter, spot mis-translations,  understand slang and hidden meanings, and investigate names and people  accurately. It covers key communication styles, tools to bypass language  and access barriers, and how to avoid common mistakes that derail  Western analysts. 

You will easily create accounts and explore various Zhihu features for OSINT investigative work, like questions, answers, columns, live sessions, and topic circles. Usage of full platform features for investigative work. 

You will learn that to find results on Zhihu is not just about 'searching' with keywords. You will learn on-platform and off-platform source development.

You will actively collect intelligence (including cyberspace focus) from the platform that few know how to browse, and fewer know how to properly navigate this Chinese platform.

You will learn about various real life case studies (Fresh April 2026) of source development, extracting valuable intelligence sources from China, searching, pivoting to threat actors data, sources, and building full knowledge base of tools, sources, keywords. 

You practice drills on real people, accounts, data on various scenarios from cyber threat intelligence to OSINT on people and practice profiling targets, extracting intelligence and seeing what other's can't find.