Building Better Digital Identities: An Interview with SockPuppet’s CEO

We aim to set our students up for success, and a major part of that is introducing them to thought leaders and organizations that help propel them forward in their OSINT endeavors.

The OSINT landscape is always evolving, and we want to help you keep pace with the tools, ideas, and innovations shaping modern investigations.

With that in mind, one company stands out. We had the privilege of interviewing its CEO to hear his perspective on where digital identities are headed and how investigators can work more efficiently and securely online.

Allow us to introduce you to Sagi Brody, CEO of SockPuppet.

In this interview, Sagi shares the problem SockPuppet set out to solve, how automation fits alongside real-world tradecraft, and the guardrails that keep powerful OSINT tools used responsibly.

What problem did you originally set out to solve with SockPuppet, and how has that vision evolved since the early days?

We started SockPuppet to solve a very specific pain point: investigators were wasting huge amounts of time getting social media identities and environments ready before they could even begin their work. Our vision was to give them identities that were operational from day one, reducing time spent on what we call OSINT tech support. Over time, that grew into Alias, a managed environment that doesn’t just provide virtual desktops and phones, but handles the entire lifecycle of digital identities, from creation and building out a backstory, to nurturing and handling suspensions.

How do you balance traditional OSINT tradecraft with the push to automate and scale investigations through technology?

Balancing tradecraft with automation has always been about respect for the craft. Automation helps with scale, but it can never replace the judgment and creativity of an experienced investigator. We build tools to take the repetitive burdens away while leaving the actual decision-making and tradecraft in human hands.

OSINT tools can be powerful. Where do you personally draw the line between legitimate investigation and potential misuse?

The line between legitimate use and misuse comes down to intent and oversight. SockPuppet is built for professionals who need these capabilities for lawful investigations, security, and research. We put clear guardrails in place in how accounts are provisioned, how data is handled, and in the expectations we set for the use case of our platform.

What’s one unexpected way customers have used SockPuppet’s Alias platform that you didn’t anticipate when building the platform?

One of the surprises has been seeing customers use Alias for training. We expected it to be purely operational, but clients have used it in classrooms and exercises to safely simulate online operations without risking their real infrastructure. That showed us the platform has value not just in live investigations, but also in education and readiness.

Some customers have started using Alias to simulate adversary behavior against their own organizations—not just for OSINT, but to actively test whether their defenses can withstand fraud attempts, phishing campaigns, or coordinated social media attacks. It’s essentially become a red-team toolkit for digital identity threats. This was never our original intention, but it’s been eye-opening to see Alias help security teams validate that their people, processes, and controls actually work in the face of real-world adversarial tactics.

Digital identities are central to covert investigations. How do you see the role of human operators versus automated systems in keeping those personas alive and effective?

When it comes to keeping identities alive, human operators are irreplaceable. An automated system can keep an account technically active, but it can’t breathe life into a persona, build trust, or adapt to the nuances of human interaction online. Our role is to give operators the best possible foundation so they can focus on the human side of identity management.

What’s been the hardest technical or operational challenge in building Alias at scale, and how did you overcome it?

The hardest challenge was scaling Alias across regions with different connectivity and verification requirements. Phone numbers, device fingerprints, and regional restrictions were constant roadblocks. We overcame this by building deep infrastructure, not just software but connectivity, numbers, and devices that were region-specific, so accounts could operate as if they belonged there.

Many OSINT tools focus on scraping and dashboards. How do you see the next wave of OSINT platforms differentiating themselves?

The next wave of OSINT platforms will go beyond scraping and dashboards. Data alone isn’t enough anymore; the differentiator will be access to spaces that aren’t easily scraped, seamless integration with analyst workflows, and AI-driven analysis that cuts through noise without removing the investigator’s control.

How important is the OSINT practitioner community to the future of SockPuppet, and what role do you see collaboration playing in tool development?

The OSINT community is absolutely critical to our future. We don’t build in a vacuum; we listen to practitioners, test alongside them, and adapt based on their needs. Collaboration ensures our platform and tools don’t just look good on paper, but actually solve real problems in the field.

If you could fast-forward five years, what do you think the OSINT industry will look like — and what role do you want SockPuppet to play in that landscape?

Five years from now, OSINT will be more fragmented but also more specialized. Governments and enterprises will demand platforms that integrate directly into their security operations, while individuals will need tools that protect them from threats at scale. I want SockPuppet to be the gold standard for digital identity management and attribution, the foundation on which serious investigators and analysts build their work.

We’re grateful to Sagi for sharing his insight and expertise. To explore SockPuppet and the Alias platform further, here are a few helpful links:

• Explore their website
• Follow SockPuppet on LinkedIn for updates
• Join their mailing list for exclusive insights

Are you ready to put your OSINT skills into practice? Try one of our training scenarios!