OSINT_Teaсher

Inspiration

Every day, thousands of people fall victim to online scams, phishing, and digital fraud. When someone receives a message like "I stole all your money," the immediate reaction is panic and helplessness. We realized that the best defense against cyber threats is education. We wanted to build a platform that turns vulnerable users into empowered digital investigators by teaching them the basics of Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) and cybersecurity in an engaging way.

What it does

OSINT Teacher is an interactive, hands-on learning platform designed to teach users how to protect their digital footprint and track down potential threats. It features a retro-terminal UI where users can learn OSINT techniques, query an AI-powered assistant for cybersecurity advice, and practice identifying scams. Instead of boring lectures, users get a gamified, practical experience of how real investigators gather data from public sources.

How we built it

We built the frontend using React and Vite to ensure a fast, responsive user experience. The core interface was designed using custom CSS to mimic a cyberpunk-style hacker terminal (Terminal - Investigation, ASSISTANT.EXE). To provide dynamic, intelligent feedback to the user, we integrated the Gemini API as the core logic for our AI assistant.

Challenges we ran into

One of the main challenges was designing an intuitive yet authentic terminal-like UI that doesn't overwhelm a beginner. Additionally, configuring the Gemini API prompts to act strictly as a helpful cybersecurity mentor—without giving away direct answers too easily—required significant fine-tuning and state management within React.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are incredibly proud of building a fully functional, highly stylized prototype in such a short amount of time. The seamless integration of the AI model into a custom UI makes the learning process feel like a real cyber investigation.

What we learned

During this project, we deepened our knowledge of React state management, Vite build configurations, and AI API integration. We also learned a lot about how to structure educational content so that it remains engaging and practical.

What's next for OSINT Teacher

In the future, we plan to add more advanced OSINT modules (like tracking cryptocurrency transactions and social media footprinting), real-time Capture The Flag (CTF) challenges, and a mobile-responsive version of the terminal to help users learn on the go.

Built With

• css
• gemini-api
• html
• javascript
• react
• vite