How to Use Open‑Source Tools to Monitor Sanctioned Entities and Individuals

Written By Albert Planas

Sanctions are legal instruments that restrict access to money, markets, goods, and technology. They only work when organizations can detect sanctioned parties and related activity early enough to act. That detection problem is where open source intelligence quietly can help. For example:  

1.      Flightradar24 provides real-time and historical flight playback, along with APIs for programmatic queries. This is useful for tracing aircraft movements tied to persons or companies of interest.

2.      MarineTraffic aggregates AIS vessel positions, IMO identifiers, and voyage history to map shipping routes and port calls..

Layering signals materially reduces false positives. Start with authoritative entity lists (OpenSanctions, OFAC) and enrich matches with movement and infrastructure data. OpenSanctions consolidates sanctions, PEPs, and related identifiers into a queryable dataset for screening and enrichment. Use OFAC’s Sanctions List Search for U.S. designations and program context.

Movement intelligence (planes, ships) and GEOINT

Movement intelligence (aviation and maritime tracking) and GEOINT (satellite imagery and geospatial analysis) together provide signal plus visual confirmation, particularly for validating port activity, asset location, or infrastructure presence in sanctioned jurisdictions.

Public trackers let analysts reconstruct routes, identify unusual detours, and correlate movements with sanctioned jurisdictions. Flightradar24 supports historical playback back to 2016 via its API, enabling timeline reconstruction. MarineTraffic’s AIS network and methodology explain how terrestrial and satellite receivers feed vessel positions into its database.

Infrastructure intelligence (Shodan, Censys)

Shodan indexes internet‑connected devices and exposed services; Censys performs structured internet‑wide scans and certificate analysis. Together they reveal exposed servers, hosting patterns, and certificate reuse that can indicate evasive infrastructure or laundering channels that MAY (always keep this in mind) indicate evasive infrastructure or laundering channels.

Entity data and monitoring (OpenSanctions, Sanctions Explorer)

Aggregated historical and current sanctions datasets let you screen names, aliases, vessels, and corporate identifiers. Sanctions Explorer aggregates multi‑authority records and historical entries for research and monitoring.

Practical guidance and limits

  • Document everything: log queries, timestamps, and source URLs to build an auditable trail.

  • Respect legal and TOS constraints: automated scraping or intrusive probing may violate terms or local law—consult legal counsel when needed.

  • Validate before action: technical indicators are signals, not legal determinations; escalate to compliance and legal teams.

  • Important note on data gaps: free OSINT tiers limit history and coverage; production monitoring often requires paid access or curated datasets

  • and as usual: Follow the money

Sourced example

European Ships Keep Russia’s Shadow Fleet Afloat | OCCRP

Investigative reporting documented a “shadow fleet” that used opaque ownership and AIS manipulation to evade sanctions; multi‑org OSINT work traced vessel sales and movements that sustained sanctioned exports.

Confidence levels: Flightradar24/MarineTraffic capabilities — High. Shodan/Censys scanning and indexing — High. Shadow‑fleet reporting scale — Medium‑High.

Decision summary

  1. Screen with OpenSanctions/OFAC.

  2. Enrich matches with movement (Flightradar24/MarineTraffic) and infra (Shodan/Censys).

  3. Document and escalate findings to legal/compliance before action.

Links of interest

Albert Planas
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