OSIntOps News

20 Mar 2024 13:12

Week in OSINT #2024-11 - sector035 - Trial by TikTok
Link
Last week I watched the BBC3 documentary "The Idaho Murders: Trial by TikTok", in which Zara McDermott travels to the United States to investigate the turmoil on social media, following the murder of four students. When I started watching, I had the notion she would embark on investigating the killings herself, but the story took an unexpected turn. The documentary focusses on how wanna-be sleuths are trying to cover every angle of the ongoing investigation. She interviews several people, and in between snippets of TikTok and YouTube videos are shown, where the online community don't always adhere to the 'innocent until proven guilty' rule of the justice system.

The result is that innocent people are being harassed and even threatened, wild theories are being spread online, and people that are officially cleared by police investigators keep being mentioned as 'suspicious'. The whole documentary showed what kind of world there is created , all due to the power of social media, and the hunger for clicks, views and likes. The good news is, that despite all the interference of the online community, the police did apprehend a prime suspect that will face trial later this year.

For anyone that is new to online investigations, this documentary shows it isn't simply a game of collecting likes and views for you social media account. It can genuinely affect innocent people. People that follow my Week in #OSINT, know that I am a firm believer of "verification is everything". And even I once in a while have made mistakes in fact-checking unimportant pieces of information, but I will never put someone's life or future at risk.

If you would like to see the documentary, and have access to BBC1 or BBC3, I can tell you it will be aired again on Monday the 18th and Tuesday the 19th of March (schedule in UK local time here).

OSIntOps News

17 Mar 2024 13:13

Week in OSINT #2024-10 - This Week's Meme

OSIntOps News

16 Mar 2024 18:18

Week in OSINT #2024-10 - Snapmap

Sadly, the free access to the Snapchat map is gone. At least, for now it seems. At the moment of writing it is still unclear whether this is a temporary thing, or whether it is going to be permanent. As Baptiste Robert [ ] stated in his tweet from last weekend, the map is still active and can easily be used, but it just is removed for the majority of the public. So I will say for now that the easiest solution for non-technical people is, to simply login into their account and use the map as intended

OSIntOps News

16 Mar 2024 08:08

Week in OSINT #2024-10 - Anonymous Instagram

I still remember that at the end of 2019 Instagram forced people to log in, even to view public and open profiles. Things have changed a lot since then, but not all open source investigators have an Instagram account. And even if you do, it is always helpful to know there are third party websites that are able to help you to download content without an account. So lately I have had a look at some online websites that offer an anonymous browsing experience, and I tested them. Here is a small list of websites, with their respective features:

https://imginn.com
Posts / Stories / Highlights / Tagged

https://www.pixwox.com
Posts / Highlights / Tagged / IGTV

https://instanavigation.com
Stories / Highlights / Posts

https://indownloader.app
Photos / Videos / Profile / Reels / Avatar

https://igram.world
Stories / Highlights / Posts

https://dumpoir.com
Posts / Stories

https://inflact.com
Profile analyzer / User search / Stories / Posts

https://www.picuki.com
Posts / Highlights / Tagged

NB
Highlights are all 'expanded', and not in their separate 'collections'. It claims it can show stories, but not visible for me.

NB2
Do be aware that if you use a third party to view an open Instagram profile, for whatever reason, you do leave a digital trail. The third party involved can log and see your visits, your searches and other interactions on the website. So please be aware of that!

OSIntOps News

11 Mar 2024 18:18

2024/03/10: The Best Chrome Extensions for OSINT Professionals, Researchers and Journalists in 2024

https://i-intelligence.eu/insights/the-best-chrome-extensions-for-osint-professionals-researchers-and-journalists-in-2024

Browser extensions (or add-ons) are small pieces of software that can significantly enhance intelligence, investigative, and research workflows while also supporting general office productivity. Below, you will find an updated list of extensions that OSINT professionals, researchers and journalists can use to enhance their ability to find, organise and use open source information. While we have checked and validated every extension in the list, remember to exercise caution when adding extensions to your browser. Today's wonder tool may pose security risks tomorrow.

OSIntOps News

04 Mar 2024 13:13

SIGNAL: Keep your phone number private with Signal usernames
https://signal.org/blog/phone-number-privacy-usernames/

New default: Your phone number will no longer be visible to everyone in Signal

If you use Signal, your phone number will no longer be visible to everyone you chat with by default. People who have your number saved in their phone’s contacts will still see your phone number since they already know it.

Connect without sharing your phone number

If you don’t want to hand out your phone number to chat with someone on Signal, you can now create a unique username that you can use instead (you will still need a phone number to sign up for Signal). Note that a username is not the profile name that’s displayed in chats, it’s not a permanent handle, and not visible to the people you are chatting with in Signal. A username is simply a way to initiate contact on Signal without sharing your phone number.

Control who can find you on Signal by phone number

If you don’t want people to be able to find you by searching for your phone number on Signal, you can now enable a new, optional privacy setting. This means that unless people have your exact unique username, they won’t be able to start a conversation, or even know that you have a Signal account – even if they have your phone number

Usernames: Another way to start a conversation

Until now, someone needed to know your phone number to reach you on Signal. Now, you can connect on Signal without needing to hand out your phone number. (You will still need a phone number to register for Signal.) This is where usernames come in.

Instead of giving out your phone number, you can now share a username. You can also generate a QR code or link that directs people to your username, letting them quickly connect with you on Signal.

OSIntOps News

01 Mar 2024 08:08

Week in OSINT #2024-05 - Nitter

Link

And in other 'bad' news, Nitter is no longer either. In a comment on GitHub, the founder zedeus literally said: Nitter is dead. The SSL certificate has expired, but that is not the reason for the problems. They seemed to have been using an old feature that used "guest accounts" to retrieve information, but X/Twitter has removed that according to this message. That also means, that in the near future pretty much all Nitter instances will be useless. In case you do want to check content on X without having an account, there is still the option of Sotwe! But just as with Nitter, I do want to stress that this an external source that you might be using.

OSIntOps News

29 Feb 2024 13:13

OSINT TIP: Chinese Military
by Justen Charters
Here are five ways to research the People's Liberation Army (PLA) with OSINT.

1️⃣ Use Baidu (China's version of Google) to search 解放军.

2️⃣ QQ, which Tencent owns, has 650 million monthly users, and you can find blogs and articles about the PLA on QQ.

3️⃣ Mil.sohu.com, a subdomain for sohu, will provide a lot of info about the PLA.

4️⃣ 51job.com. 51job is one of many Chinese alternatives to LinkedIn. But you can see Chinese companies in the defense space on this site and military units recruiting candidates.

5️⃣ Facebook groups. Several Facebook groups repost content about the PLA from platforms where China blocks U.S. IP addresses or phone numbers from creating accounts on their sites.

PLUS
China Digital Times
https://chinadigitaltimes.net/

Pretty active Chinese dissent site, regularly covers active trends on Chinese social media, the innuendo that Chinese use to bypass censors and information about campaigns by the Chinese government

OSIntOps News

28 Feb 2024 13:13

Week in OSINT #2024-05 - Sofia's Challenge

Challenge
List

At the end of January, Sofia Santos posted a new OSINT challenge! This one is rated easy, and I do have to say that finding the specific moment in the video mentioned, was more difficult than finding the answer, haha! But nonetheless, these small little training exercises are great for anyone! So no matter what your skill level is, I do recommend checking out Sophia's list of 'OSINT Exercises' over on her website!

OSIntOps News

28 Feb 2024 08:08

The near-term impact of AI on the cyber threat
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/report/impact-of-ai-on-cyber-threat
An NCSC assessment focusing on how AI will impact the efficacy of cyber operations and the implications for the cyber threat over the next two years.

OSIntOps News

24 Feb 2024 08:08

Week in OSINT #2024-07 - FUNINT

OSIntOps News

22 Feb 2024 13:13

Week in OSINT #2024-06 - Europol Hackathon

Link

I try to keep these episodes about tips, techniques or tools, and usually stay away from worldly affairs. But once in a while you read an article that just needs to be shared here. Like this initiative, where law enforcement and experts from 23 countries came together in The Hague, to search for Ukrainian children by using open source information. These type of hackathons are extremely difficult, looking at the circumstances involved, so respect for everyone who was involved in this! I already heard about this from several colleagues, but of course Christiaan Triebert was also quick in sharing the news!

OSIntOps News

21 Feb 2024 18:18

How to Transition From OSINT Practitioner to Intelligence Analyst
https://medium.com/the-sleuth-sheet/how-to-transition-from-osint-practitioner-to-intelligence-analyst-a18cda54d717

TOPICS
What Is an OSINT Practitioner
The Dividing Line
Intelligence Analysis
Bonus Challenge — Prize

OSIntOps News

21 Feb 2024 08:08

Week in OSINT #2024-07 - Bell¿ngcat Tech Series
Playlist
Bell¿ngcat started a new video series on YouTube: Tech Series. The first video looks really promising already, and talks about the command line. This video is aimed at people that don't know what it is, and goes over all the basics. If you are scared of the command line, I highly recommend you to check it out!

OSIntOps News

20 Feb 2024 13:13

Week in OSINT #2024-06 - Grep for OSINT
⛓
Bashinho solved a tricky question by Tilman Wagner the other day, by using so called 'Regular Expressions' (check out the last item here). By using this query language, he was able to narrow down the amount of ships he needed to check, to only 2!

Right after this, he wrote a blog post about regular expressions, where he explains some basic expressions that can be used to search within data. All his blogs are in German, but they do contain a wealth of information. So use your favourite translation tool, and take time reading up on this useful query language!

OSIntOps News

18 Mar 2024 08:08

Week in OSINT #2024-10 - IC OSINT Strategy

Link

Steven 'Nixintel' Harris shared an important document, that comes from the United Stated Intelligence Community. It is the OSINT strategy for 2024 to 2026, and highlights four strategic areas:

Coordinate Open Source Data Acquisition and Expand Sharing
Establish Integrated Open Source Collection Management
Drive OSINT Innovation To Deliver New Capabilities
Develop the Next-Generation OSINT Workforce and Tradecraft

This strategic report for the upcoming years shows how important open source information has become to generate intelligence. The professionalisation of this area within the intelligence community shows it has true value. And in his small thread, Steven sums up the key elements of the report, and closes off with an important element: Training.

OSIntOps News

17 Mar 2024 08:08

Week in OSINT #2024-10 - Sensitive Documents

Link

Christina Lekati wrote an article about how specific search queries can be helpful to uncover interesting documents. She gives some useful examples, and explains how one can create a search for documents and information that maybe should not have been indexed by a search engine.

OSIntOps News

16 Mar 2024 13:13

Week in OSINT #2024-10 - Open Measures

The platform Open Measures is built to investigate online content, like disinformation and extremism. It contains several tools, that enable you to analyse content by generating timelines or user activity on several social media. It can give you a free insight in historical events, starting from 6 months ago. There are also paid options, where a user is able to retrieve current content.

OSIntOps News

15 Mar 2024 18:18

Week in OSINT #2024-10 - Instagram Basics

Link

Over on his website bashinho">Bashinho wrote a blog post about Instagram. The German article covers all the basics about Instagram, has some handy links, tools and other websites to explore, and is a great reference for people starting out with open source investigations.

OSIntOps News

10 Mar 2024 08:08

Keep it simple… 🙂🙂🙂

OSIntOps News

02 Mar 2024 08:08

Week in OSINT #2024-05 - FUNINT

OSIntOps News

29 Feb 2024 21:43

😁😁😁😁😁

OSIntOps News

29 Feb 2024 08:08

Week in OSINT #2024-05 - Privacy & InfoSec

Link

GingerT has been very busy lately, and added a bunch of resources to his GitHub repo. If you have never checked his repositories over on GitHub before, I do recommend having a look. In this repo, he shares links, products and tools that help you understand or protect your privacy online. Just like the rest of his GitHub content, it is a treasure trove of links to tips, sites and more.

OSIntOps News

28 Feb 2024 09:49

Search alert: Google filetype search is broken. How to fix it?

https://www.digitaldigging.org/p/search-alert-google-filetype-search

The search community is on edge that Google may soon stop supporting filetype:pdf and other formats. It’s my favorite way of finding specialized documents and it would be a nightmare for me if Google really dumbs down their search engine.

OSIntOps News

27 Feb 2024 18:18

Week in OSINT #2024-05 - FUNINT

OSIntOps News

23 Feb 2024 13:13

Week in OSINT #2024-06 - Google Cache

Chrome extension
Firefox add-on
Micah Hofmann shared some solid tips over on X about other places where caches websites can be found, like Bing, Yandex and even the good old Yahoo! So there are enough options left, and to make things easier, there are also handy extensions to help you find archived or cached pages. Do read up on each of those websites, to make sure you understand what each platform offers.

OSIntOps News

22 Feb 2024 08:08

Week in OSINT #2024-07 - OSINT on Bluesky

Natalia Antonova has apparently seen quite some posts on Bluesky about open source information/intelligence. And some of those posts seem to hit a wrong note with people. No matter what the context is, Natalia has a good point in her post over on Bluesky.
Her quote:

Like any powerful tool, OSINT tools can be dangerous.

Any tool, skill or information that you have can be used for good, or evil. Please stay ethical, and use it to make it a better world!

OSIntOps News

21 Feb 2024 13:13

Week in OSINT #2024-06 - NeedleStack Podcast
⛓
Last week NeedleStack published a new, short, episode of their podcast. In it they talk about different free, and some very affordable trainings. Many well-known names and platforms are dropped, but in case you are new to the scene and are looking for ways to enhance your knowledge, or train your skills, then I do recommend you listen to this episode.

OSIntOps News

20 Feb 2024 18:18

Week in OSINT #2024-06 - UNREDACTED Magazine
After a hiatus of about a year, issue number 6 of the 'Unredacted' magazine from Michael Bazzell has been published! It contains a lot of high-quality articles on privacy and OSINT, but Michael Bazzell does need your help!
Unredacted can only exist if there is enough supplied content. This means, that the e-zine needs your articles! If you have a history of writing solid, high quality articles about OSINT, privacy or related topics, or if you have an interesting story to share, then check out https://unredactedmagazine.com/

OSIntOps News

20 Feb 2024 08:08

Week in OSINT #2024-07 - Tips on Websites

OSINT Combine shared two tips last week, that I have been using for several years myself. These two tips can give you that little bit of extra information on a website. First there is the option of finding historical analytics IDs:

And second, the website Whoxy can be used to find domain names that were registered by the same email address: