How to Gather Info on Someone through OSINT
Summary
TLDRThis video script delves into the concept of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), tracing its roots to WWII and emphasizing its modern applications. It explains OSINT as the collection of publicly available information from various sources, including social media and public records. The script introduces techniques like Google hacking, using search operators to uncover hidden data, and tools for facial recognition and reverse image searches. It also covers the use of reverse email searches and the exploration of social media profiles to gather insights into individuals' interests and activities, all while reminding viewers of the ethical implications of such practices.
Takeaways
- đ”ïž Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is not a new technique; it dates back to the earliest intelligence efforts, including its significant use during World War II.
- đ Lieutenant General Samuel B. Wilson claimed that 90% of intelligence data was obtained through open sources during his leadership of the American defense intelligence agency in the 1970s.
- đ OSINT refers to the collection of publicly available information about individuals, companies, or organizations from various accessible sources like social media, websites, public records, and news articles.
- đ Google Hacking or Google Dorking is an OSINT technique that uses special search operators on Google to find information not easily accessible through regular searches.
- đ« A disclaimer is provided that while gathering public information is legal, using it for malicious intent can lead to trouble, and the video is for educational purposes only.
- đ The script explains how to use search operators like 'site:' to narrow down search results to a specific website, enhancing the effectiveness of OSINT.
- đ The use of file type search operators can help find publicly available documents related to a person, which might include court records, resumes, or other official documents.
- đŒïž Demise, an AI facial recognition tool, can search the internet for the same person based on facial features, providing additional information about their online presence.
- đ Google's reverse image search can offer valuable information about the location or context of a photograph if details are not provided by the subject.
- đ§ Tools like fbos allow for reverse email searches to find social media accounts associated with an email address, revealing more about a person's online activities.
- đ Websites like SocialSearcher.com and CheckUsernames.com are useful for finding social media accounts associated with a person's name or username across multiple platforms.
Q & A
What is the historical context of open source intelligence (OSINT) mentioned in the script?
-The script mentions that open source intelligence has been around since the beginning, specifically highlighting its use during the Second World War. Lieutenant General Samuel B. Wilson, who headed the American defense intelligence agency in the 70s, claimed to have received 90% of intelligence data through open sources.
What does the term 'OSINT' stand for and what does it involve?
-OSINT stands for Open Source Intelligence. It refers to the process of gathering publicly available information about a person, company, or organization from various sources that are accessible to anyone, such as social media platforms, websites, public records, and news articles.
How can one gather OSINT from a person's social media when certain information is hidden?
-If a person's friend list or certain posts are hidden on social media, one can still gather OSINT by looking at the likes or comments on their public profile photo or other posts. This can provide clues such as the full names of their friends and the people they frequently interact with.
What is Google hacking or Google Dorking and how is it used in OSINT?
-Google hacking or Google Dorking involves using Google's search engine with special search operators to find information that may not be easily found through regular searches. It can be used to search for specific file types containing a person's name or to refine search results to a particular website.
What is the ethical disclaimer provided in the script regarding the use of OSINT?
-The script includes a disclaimer that while gathering publicly available information is legal, using it to compromise security or engaging in other activities with ill intent can still result in trouble. The video is for educational purposes only and strongly discourages unethical behavior.
How can one refine Google search results using special operators for OSINT purposes?
-One can refine Google search results by using special search operators like 'site:' to limit results to a specific website, or by using 'filetype:' to search for specific types of documents, such as PDFs, Excel, or Word files, associated with a name.
What is the role of the Google Hacking Database in OSINT?
-The Google Hacking Database is a resource where people have created and posted multiple search strings to find information that may not be readily available through regular searches. It can be used to enhance OSINT efforts by providing advanced search techniques.
How can AI facial recognition be utilized in OSINT to gather information about a person?
-AI facial recognition, through tools like Demise, can be used to search for the same person across the internet based on their facial features. This can help gather additional information about a person's online presence.
What is a reverse image search and how can it be used in OSINT?
-A reverse image search involves uploading a photograph to Google Images or a similar service to find other instances of the same image on the web. This can provide valuable information about where the photograph was taken or other related details.
How can one find social media accounts associated with an email address in OSINT?
-Tools like FOBO or fbos can be used to conduct a reverse email search to find social media accounts associated with an email address. This can help explore the online activities and interests of the email address owner.
What are some additional tools and websites mentioned in the script for finding information on both email addresses and phone numbers?
-The script mentions websites like SocialSearcher.com for comprehensive social media searches, CheckUsernames.com for finding a specific username across multiple platforms, and That's It for finding information on both email addresses and phone numbers.
Outlines
đ”ïžââïž Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Basics and Techniques
This paragraph introduces the concept of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), which is not a new technique but dates back to World War II. It highlights a claim by Lieutenant General Samuel B. Wilson about the significant percentage of intelligence data acquired through open sources. The paragraph explains that OSINT involves gathering publicly available information about individuals, companies, or organizations from various accessible sources like social media, websites, public records, and news articles. It also discusses a common scenario where information might be hidden on social media and how to use OSINT to find clues through likes or comments on public posts. The paragraph emphasizes the legality of gathering such information for educational purposes and discourages unethical behavior. It introduces the first OSINT technique, Google hacking or Google Dorking, which uses special search operators to find specific information not easily accessible through regular searches.
đ Advanced OSINT Techniques and Tools
The second paragraph delves into advanced OSINT techniques and the use of various tools to enhance information gathering. It explains how to use Google search operators to find documents related to a person's name across different file types and how to refine search results by targeting specific websites. The paragraph also introduces tools like 'demise' for AI facial recognition searches and 'Google Images' for reverse image searches to gather more information about a person's online presence and physical locations. Furthermore, it discusses the use of 'fbos' for reverse email searches to find associated social media accounts and 'socialsearcher.com' for comprehensive searches across multiple platforms. The paragraph concludes with mentions of other tools and resources like 'checkusernames.com' and 'Intel techniques' for gathering information from social media accounts, emphasizing the importance of exploring the OSINT framework for additional tools and methods.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄOpen Source Intelligence (OSINT)
đĄGoogle Hacking
đĄSearch Operators
đĄPublic Records
đĄSocial Media Platforms
đĄReverse Image Search
đĄFacial Recognition
đĄReverse Email Search
đĄSocial Media Accounts
đĄEthical Behavior
Highlights
Open source intelligence (OSINT) has a long history, dating back to World War II.
Lieutenant General Samuel B. Wilson claimed to receive 90% of intelligence data through open sources in the 70s.
OSINT involves gathering publicly available information from various accessible sources.
Examples of OSINT sources include social media platforms, websites, public records, and news articles.
Google hacking or Google Dorking is a technique used in OSINT to find specific information using special search operators.
A disclaimer is provided about the legal and ethical use of OSINT gathering for educational purposes only.
The site: search operator can be used to limit search results to a specific website.
File type search operators can find documents associated with a name, such as PDFs, Excel, or Word files.
Google Dorking can refine search results by targeting specific websites related to the target.
A cheat sheet with various search operators for OSINT is available for further exploration.
The Google Hacking Database contains search strings created by users to find valuable information.
Demise is an AI facial recognition tool that can search for a person across the internet based on their profile picture.
Reverse image search on Google can provide information about the location of a photograph.
FBOS is a tool for conducting reverse email searches to find associated social media accounts.
Social media accounts can reveal a person's interests and hobbies, such as GitHub for programmers or Pixabay for artists.
SocialSearcher.com allows for comprehensive searches across multiple social media platforms simultaneously.
CheckUsernames.com can search for a specific username across over 100 social media platforms.
Phone numbers can also be a valuable source of information in OSINT investigations.
Intel Techniques by Michael Basil is a resource for gathering information from social media accounts.
The video encourages viewers to explore the OSINT framework and its tools for more information.
Transcripts
open source intelligence isn't a modern
technique it has been around since the
very beginning in fact during the second
world war Lieutenant General Samuel B
Wilson who headed the American defense
intelligence agency in the 70s made an
astounding claim that he received 90 of
intelligence data through open sources
but what exactly is open source
intelligence and what does it mean in
the Modern Age of Technology well in
simple terms open source intelligence or
ocean refers to the process of gathering
publicly available information about a
person company or an organization from a
variety of sources that are accessible
for anyone to see these sources can
range from social media platforms and
websites to public records and news
articles for example let's say you want
to find out more information about who
this particular person hangs around with
but when you go to their Facebook's
friend list you notice that they've
hidden or concealed this information so
what can you do in a scenario like this
well if you go ahead and open up their
profile photo cover photo or any other
post made by them that is set to public
you can look at the likes or comments to
possibly get some Clues such as the full
names of their friends and the people
they frequently interact with this small
amount of intelligence that we just
gathered is called open source
intelligence now you might be wondering
that okay so what if we got their full
names how can we find more about them
well this is where our first oceans
technique called Google hacking or
Google Dorking comes into play but
before we get into that a quick
disclaimer while Gathering publicly
available information is legal using it
to compromise security or engaging in
other activities with ill intent can
still result in trouble real quick this
video is meant for educational purposes
only and strongly discourages an ethical
Behavior anyway coming back to the topic
Google Dorking involves utilizing Google
search engine with special search
operators to find information that may
not be easily found through regular
searches for example let's say we're
looking to purchase a Wireless Wi-Fi
adapter and we conduct a search on
Google in this scenario Google will
present us with wireless adapters
available on different websites from
across the globe but what if we
specifically want to see search results
from a particular website like Amazon
well in that case we can employ a
special search operator called site
colon followed by amazon.com in the
search query like this to exclusively
see search results limited to Amazon
this practice is essentially what we
refer to as Google hacking or Google
Dorking now similarly if you possess the
full name of your target you can go
ahead and search for every publicly
available PDF Excel or Word document
posted online containing the exact name
using the file type search operator to
accomplish this you would first enter
the victim's name enclosed an inverted
Comet like this and then write file type
to specify the types of files you want
to search for the all research operator
used here tells the search engine to
also include Excel and Word Documents in
the search results after hitting enter
the search results will display all the
documents that may be associated with
the provided name this can be very
effective as the documents found might
include court records resumes or other
official documents that can give insight
into a person's life the beautiful
aspect of Google Dorking is that if you
wish to refine these search results even
further by targeting a particular
website such as the victims University
or workplace you can achieve it by
incorporating the sitecolon search
operator we discussed earlier now if you
would like to experiment with different
search operators on your own I will
provide a link to a cheat sheet in the
description down below that includes
various search operators specifically
tailored for open source intelligence
Additionally you can also visit a
website called the Google hacking
database where several people have
created and posted multiple search
strings to find juicy information now if
your victim has a photo of themselves as
their profile picture you can conduct a
search for them based on their facial
features using a fascinating tool called
demise this tool utilizes AI facial
recognition to search for the same
person across the internet and help us
gather additional information about
their online presence and if the victim
has upload did a photograph of
themselves standing outside next to a
building or something without providing
any specific information as to where
they might be you can head over to
images.google.com click on search by
image and upload that photograph to
initiate a reverse image search by
analyzing the visual characteristics of
the image and comparing it to similar
images across the web Google May provide
valuable information about where the
photograph was taken or other related
details additionally if you couldn't
find anything using Google images you
can also explore other tools available
for conducting reverse image searches by
searching for them on the Internet next
if you have managed to obtain the email
address of your victim through Google
Dorking or any other means you can also
conduct a reverse email search on them
using a useful tool called fbos this
tool allows you to search for social
media accounts associated with an email
address and explore other activities
carried out by the owner of that email
such as their contributions to Google
Maps finding multiple social media
accounts of our victim is a great way to
learn more about their interests for
example a programmer is likely to have
an active profile on GitHub while an
artist may have profiles on platforms
like Pixar or deviantART exploring
different social media accounts can
provide valuable insights into the
Hobby's passions and creative Pursuits
of an individual when looking for social
media accounts associated with a person
there's another fantastic website called
socialsearcher.com this website allows
you to perform a comprehensive Google
search using the victim's full name
across multiple social media platforms
simultaneously and save a lot of
valuable time slash effort you can also
head over to checkusernames.com and
search for a specific username on over
more than 100 social media platforms
this tool can be very effective as many
people prefer using a single username
across the internet similar to feos a
website called that's that is another
great tool for finding information on
both email addresses and phone numbers
phone numbers can also provide a wealth
of information when conducting an ocean
investigation and if you're interested
in learning more about phonos and
techniques you can check out my detailed
video on the topic by clicking the I
button above Intel techniques by Michael
basil is also a good resource which
provides multiple tools to gather
information about our targets from their
social media accounts this website
gathers all the important links in one
place saving us time that we would
otherwise spend manually going through
our targets profiles anyway guys this is
it for the video now I could go ahead
and discuss several more tools and
sources that can be utilized for finding
information about someone but I want to
encourage you to visit the ocean
framework yourself and explore the
multiple tools available there if you
have any questions regarding the video
make sure to ask them in the comments
section below and I will see you in the
next one
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