The Best Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Tools and Techniques. Author Alan Kerrigan
Open-source intelligence, also known as OSINT, is the collected data and information from publically available resources. The collection of data and information usually does not require clandestine efforts. Typically, the data is retrieved is a legal manner to meet the copyright requirements.
Companies collect the raw data and then analyze it to understand something clearly. OSINT platforms and/or tools help you make decisions, evaluate public perceptions, and forecast changes.
Generally, a person who has sophisticated know-how about techniques and tools to access data can use the process. However, it is important to know that most often, OSINT tools are used officially by the intelligence community, law enforcement agencies, the military, information technology experts, private investigators, and businesses.
Open-source information or data is available in different places. You can access it online. Some of the examples include government websites, documents, and reports. Also, open-source intelligence data can be public records databases, media magazines, radio, TV, and newspapers.
In addition, open-source intelligence data can be retrieved from the dark web, photos, videos, commercial imagery, maps, and social media networking sites.
Primarily, the biggest advantage of OSINT tools is the affordable cost. These tools are less expensive than traditional data collection tools. Not only do they offer a potential return on investment but also provide essential features to access and share information sophisticatedly.
You can easily and legally share information with anyone. OSINT tools available and continuously up-to-date on any topic. For instance, Twitter is an open-source platform and easily accessible.
Moreover, data collected from public sources is an incredible and useful resource for the national security department. You can also utilize it to create long-term strategies for different business objectives.
Now, you have an overview of the OSINT tools. Next, we are going to tell you about the best open-source intelligence (OSINT) tools and techniques. Read on!
1. Maltego
Maltego is on top of our OSINT tools. This tool, developed by Paterva, is used by law enforcement agencies and the forensic department to collect and analyze open-source intelligence.
The tool offers a range of features to collect data and information easily from different sources. The data is processed by the algorithms to generate visual results — i.e. in graphics. One of the best advantages of using this tool is that it provides you built-in transforms. You can customize them according to your needs too.
The tool is formally coded in Java programming language, which likewise comes with Kali Linux package. Before using it, you need to register it. Advantage: the registration is free. Once you are registered, you can use Maltego to create digital footprints of the target online.
2. Google Dorks
Although there are many search engines for online searching — the best among them is Google. It has a simple user interface, open to everyone, and can give you faster results. For a single search term, there are hundreds or thousands of relevant pages. In addition, the results vary from images, websites, ads, social network posts, etc.
So, what is the use of Google Dorks? Well, simply put, it helps you target the index or search the results in an effective manner. You can easily find the data using specific terms. For instance, if you want to find the word “passwords” but at the same also need results with “doc” files, then you can do the following.
Filetype: doc. It will search the term “password” in a doc file.
Intitle: this indexing option will search the term “password” in the title of the page.
Inurl: Using this will allow you to search the term “password” in the page URL.
Intext: Use this to search the term “password” in the text or body section of the page.
3. Shodan
Everyone knows Google is the most popular search engine when it comes to online searching and finding information. On the other hand, one of the best OSINT tools is Shodan, which is popularly known as the search engine for hackers.
However, it is important to know that a common man does not understand the result it shows. The results presented by Shodan is understood by a security professional. Digital asset and network are considered important entities for security professionals.
Shodan, as one of the most sophisticated OSINT tools, provides significant information about the assets — connected to a network. Likewise, you must know that network devices may be different from laptops, computer systems, traffic signals, webcams, and other IoT devices.
Shodan helps the professionals of law enforcement agencies to identify the target as well as test it for different susceptibilities, passwords, services, banners, available ports, etc.
4. Metagoofil
Christian Martorella is the lead programmer of Metagoofil. This OSINT tool is based on the command line and works substantially to collect metadata from public documents.
Pre-bundled in Kali Linux, the tool offers a wide range of features such as document search, local download, metadata extraction, and result reports.
For instance, you can look for a certain type of document on a particular website — i.e. Metagoofil –d nmap.org –t doc. The same is applied for the pdf.
5. Check Usernames
Another popular OSINT tool, “Check Usernames” uses social networking website such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others to analyze data and search for the required usernames.
Doing this manually is quite a daunting task. That’s why this tool comes into play. “Check Username” is an online tool that searches a particular username on a different website — 150 websites concurrently.
You can likewise check the target presence on a particular site so that you can make a more targeted attack. In addition, https://knowem.com is the most advanced version of the online tool, which has over 500 websites indexed to search for a particular username.
In conclusion, the aforementioned OSINT tools are best to collect information from public sources — for instance, those available online. You can use any of these tools depending on the type of information you need and/or according to your requirements. We recommend you to study these tools in order to use them accurately.
Organizations such as law enforcement agencies, private investigators, companies, and common people use OSINT tools all day long. Product management, marketing, and sales teams also use OSINT techniques and tools to increase conversions. The tools are likewise effective in delivering your services to the public.
In the field of cybersecurity, using the right OSINT tools can be really effective. It is vital to combine them with critical thinking in order to have a clear OSINT strategy. If you are running an investigation against a person or a company, having pre-defined OSINT strategies and objectives can save you a lot of time.
Kind Regards
Alan Kerrigan
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