Speaker 1: All right, let's jump right into it. Welcome everyone, We're
Speaker 1: about to take a deep dive into the world of
Speaker 1: open source intelligence.
Speaker 2: Ocent for sure.
Speaker 1: Oh, since that's right. If you want to learn some serious,
Speaker 1: cutting edge techniques, you are in the right place because
Speaker 1: today we're diving into Michael Bizell's book Open Source Intelligence Techniques.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 1: We are, so get ready to uncover some secrets that
Speaker 1: are hidden in plain sight.
Speaker 2: Yeah. But before we before we start digging into other
Speaker 2: people's lives, we really have to talk about protecting your own.
Speaker 1: Oh that's a good point.
Speaker 2: It's like, imagine like you're trying to track someone and
Speaker 2: you find out they're already tracking you. Uh oh yeah,
Speaker 2: not good.
Speaker 1: That sounds like a like a bad spy movie waiting
Speaker 1: to happen.
Speaker 2: Right, So how do we make sure we're not the
Speaker 2: ones being investigated? Yeah?
Speaker 1: How do we protect ourselves?
Speaker 2: So think of it like building a digital fortress around yourself. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you gotta start with the basics. Anti virus, malware protection,
Speaker 2: super important.
Speaker 1: Those are the essentials.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. Now, ClamAV that's a great open source opwa
Speaker 2: If you're looking for.
Speaker 1: Something free, okay, good to know.
Speaker 2: Then you want to harden your browser, so disable any
Speaker 2: plugins you don't actually need.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'm always surprised by how many I have
Speaker 1: and I don't even.
Speaker 2: Realize it exactly exactly. And then we got to talk
Speaker 2: about privacy focused add ons. Okay, think of these as
Speaker 2: your OCENT toolkit, all right, so you block origin, blocks
Speaker 2: those annoying ads. Fire shot. This one lets you capture
Speaker 2: entire web pages.
Speaker 1: Oh neat, like a screenshot, but like a better version.
Speaker 2: Way better. And bulk media downloader, Yeah, that's for well,
Speaker 2: downloading media in bulk. And of course exit viewer. This
Speaker 2: lets you analyze images, get all the metadata.
Speaker 1: That sounds pretty powerful it is.
Speaker 2: And of course a VPN.
Speaker 1: Always got to have a VPN.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's essential for masking your IP address. Right,
Speaker 2: but Bazel takes it a step further.
Speaker 1: Oh what does he say?
Speaker 2: He really advocates using a Linux virtual machine.
Speaker 1: A virtual machine? What's that?
Speaker 2: So think of it as a mini computer inside your computer? Whoa, yeah, right,
Speaker 2: and this one is dedicated it's solely to OCENT.
Speaker 1: Ah, I get it.
Speaker 2: It's an extra layer of security.
Speaker 1: That makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 2: So even if your main system gets compromised, your OCENT
Speaker 2: work stays safe. Yeah, you want to be the one
Speaker 2: doing the investigating, not the other way around.
Speaker 1: Very true.
Speaker 2: All right, So now we got our digital defenses up,
Speaker 2: let's get into some actual ocent techniques.
Speaker 1: Let's do it. Where should we start?
Speaker 2: I think a good place to start is social media.
Speaker 1: Of course, that's like a gold mine of information.
Speaker 2: It really is. Let's start with Facebook, all right, Facebook?
Speaker 2: Did you know that every Facebook user has a unique
Speaker 2: ID that can be exploited?
Speaker 1: Wait, a secret code, like a like a skeleton key.
Speaker 2: It's a skeleton key. Yeah. Once you find it, you
Speaker 2: can uncover photos, they've liked, groups, they've joined events, they've attended.
Speaker 1: Whoa, It's like a whole secret history, it really is, and.
Speaker 2: It's all stuff that Facebook tries to keep hidden.
Speaker 1: That's kind of creepy but also kind of cool.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Right, so how do we find this magical user id?
Speaker 1: Yeah? How do we do it?
Speaker 2: Well, there are tools that can help, or you can
Speaker 2: find it by looking at the source code of their
Speaker 2: profile page. And here's where it gets really interesting. You
Speaker 2: can search for Facebook profiles not just with email addresses,
Speaker 2: but also phone numbers.
Speaker 1: Wait, so I could find your profile just using your
Speaker 1: phone number. That's wild.
Speaker 2: It's possible.
Speaker 1: That's a bit scary.
Speaker 2: It is, it is, and that's not all. You can
Speaker 2: uncover connections between people, connections that aren't obvious.
Speaker 1: Okay, like how do you do that?
Speaker 2: By analyzing their friends networks. You can even use Facebook's
Speaker 2: live video map to find someone's location in real time.
Speaker 1: Hold on real time? That's I mean. Isn't that an
Speaker 1: invasion of privacy?
Speaker 2: It can be. Yeah, but it's all public information.
Speaker 1: That's crazy, Yeah, it is, all.
Speaker 2: Right, let's switch gears. Let's talk about Twitter.
Speaker 1: Okay, Twitter, so.
Speaker 2: Unlike Facebook, Twitter is much more open, but you need
Speaker 2: a strategic approach. You can use advanced operators to filter,
Speaker 2: buy date, location, even the device someone used to tweet.
Speaker 1: Okay, that sounds pretty specific.
Speaker 2: It is like Facebook. You can sometimes unearth deleted tweets.
Speaker 1: Oh wait, deleted? How's that possible?
Speaker 2: So nothing is ever truly gone on the internet. Oh,
Speaker 2: that's the beauty and the danger of it. There are
Speaker 2: services that archive web pages, including tweets, even after they've
Speaker 2: been deleted.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, So even if someone thinks they've covered their.
Speaker 2: Tracks, it's still out there.
Speaker 1: That's a bit scary but also fascinating.
Speaker 2: It is. And then there are tools like tweet beaver
Speaker 2: and tinfol leak that can analyze a user's network and
Speaker 2: activity patterns.
Speaker 1: So we can see who they're connected to and how
Speaker 1: they're using Twitter exactly. I'm starting to feel like a
Speaker 1: digital detective.
Speaker 2: Here you are, you're getting it. Okay, let's move on
Speaker 2: to Instagram.
Speaker 1: All right, Instagram everyone's favorite photo sharing app.
Speaker 2: Right, So Instagram search function is kind of limited.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not the best.
Speaker 2: But you can bypass that use Google to find profiles
Speaker 2: and tag posts. Plus, Instagram often keeps metadata in photos,
Speaker 2: which can reveal locations.
Speaker 1: Oh right, metadata.
Speaker 2: We talked to that even a selfie can give away
Speaker 2: more than you intended.
Speaker 1: Yikes, gotta be careful about what I post.
Speaker 2: You do you do? So what else can we use
Speaker 2: beyond social media?
Speaker 1: Yeah? What else is there?
Speaker 2: People? Search engines, pipil peak you. These are amazing resources.
Speaker 1: I've used those before. It's always a bit unnerving how
Speaker 1: much they find, right.
Speaker 2: It's eye opening. Yeah, and you can use them to
Speaker 2: find potential email addresses and even social media profiles, even
Speaker 2: if you only have a name and a location.
Speaker 1: So like one piece of information leads to another and another.
Speaker 2: It's like a digital trail, a trail of breadcrumbs, exactly.
Speaker 2: You can go even deeper than that. Deeper.
Speaker 1: How much deeper can it go?
Speaker 2: Have you ever heard of the dark Web?
Speaker 1: I have, but it sounds kind of intimidating.
Speaker 2: So think of the Internet like an iceberg. Right. The
Speaker 2: surface web is what we see every day, but underneath
Speaker 2: lies this vast hidden network the dark web.
Speaker 1: Okay, so like the tip of the iceberg versus what's underneath.
Speaker 2: Exactly, it's a place where anonymity rains and information. Well,
Speaker 2: it can be valuable, but also.
Speaker 1: Sounds like a risky place to be.
Speaker 2: It can be. You can access it using TOR, that's
Speaker 2: the anonymous browsing network.
Speaker 1: Oh, I've heard of Tor.
Speaker 2: And then there are specialized search engines like showdan. This
Speaker 2: can reveal Internet connected devices, potentially including unsecured webcams and servers.
Speaker 1: That's wow. That's kind of scary.
Speaker 2: It is a bit it is. So you've got social media,
Speaker 2: you've got people search engines, you've got the dark web.
Speaker 2: With all this information, how do you even keep track
Speaker 2: of it?
Speaker 1: That's a good question. It sounds like it could get
Speaker 1: overwhelming pretty quickly.
Speaker 2: It definitely can. That's why archiving and Documenting your findings
Speaker 2: is so important.
Speaker 1: So you don't lose track.
Speaker 2: Right, you need to capture, preserve the evidence, especially if
Speaker 2: you might need it later for legal purposes.
Speaker 1: Maybe right makes sense.
Speaker 2: Tools like hunchly they're invaluable for this.
Speaker 1: Hunchy, i'f check that out.
Speaker 2: It's like having a digital notary for your investigation.
Speaker 1: So you've got social media, people, search engines, the dark web.
Speaker 1: Can you give me some real world examples of how
Speaker 1: these overcent techniques have been used? Oh?
Speaker 2: Absolutely. The Housel's book has some incredible stories. There was
Speaker 2: one case where a missing person was found thanks to
Speaker 2: deleted social media posts. Yeah, they used osin techniques to
Speaker 2: recover them.
Speaker 1: Wow. So it's like bringing a digital ghost back to life.
Speaker 1: You could say that that's amazing.
Speaker 2: It really is. And there was another case where a
Speaker 2: suspect in a vandalism case was identified using a reverse
Speaker 2: image search.
Speaker 1: Oh wow. So even seemingly harmless photos can.
Speaker 2: Be incredibly revealing. Osin's even been used to uncover a
Speaker 2: company's hidden connections by analyzing their domain name.
Speaker 1: So it's not just about finding people, it's about understanding
Speaker 1: connections networks exactly.
Speaker 2: It's a powerful tool that's for sure.
Speaker 1: With great power comes great responsibility.
Speaker 2: You got that right. Yeah, We've covered so much already.
Speaker 2: I need a minute to let it all sink in.
Speaker 1: I know, right, We've gone from social media to the
Speaker 1: dark web. It's a lot to process.
Speaker 2: We've only just scratched the surface. The world of ocent
Speaker 2: is vast, constantly evolving.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to learn more. Welcome back to our
Speaker 1: deep dive into the world of open source intelligence.
Speaker 2: It's like we're putting together a giant puzzle, and each
Speaker 2: piece of data brings us closer to the bigger picture.
Speaker 1: Exactly, So let's keep uncovering those pieces. What other techniques
Speaker 1: can we use?
Speaker 2: Let's talk about email addresses. Even if you don't have
Speaker 2: the full email address, you can often piece it together.
Speaker 1: You mean, like a digital guessing game.
Speaker 2: It's more than just guessing. You can try different combinations,
Speaker 2: right their name, use your name, other details with common
Speaker 2: email providers, so.
Speaker 1: Like Gmail, Yahoo, those sorts of things.
Speaker 2: Exactly.
Speaker 1: Are there tools that can help with this?
Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely? Bizell mentions this website find any email really effective.
Speaker 1: Find any email?
Speaker 2: Okay, You just need their name and the employer's domain,
Speaker 2: and it generates a list of possible email addresses.
Speaker 1: That sounds super helpful. Okay, So let's say we have
Speaker 1: a potential email address. What do we do with it?
Speaker 2: First, verify it's real email. Hippo can check if it exists.
Speaker 1: If it's active email, Hippo got it.
Speaker 2: Then have I been planed? Check if it's been compromised?
Speaker 1: Oh right, like a data breach or something exactly.
Speaker 2: You wouldn't want to rely on a compromise email address.
Speaker 1: Right, definitely not. Okay, So what else can we do
Speaker 1: with a verified email address?
Speaker 2: You can gather some intel. Try creating an account on
Speaker 2: Apple ID using their email if it's already in use,
Speaker 2: you know they have an Apple account?
Speaker 1: Ah, clever.
Speaker 2: You can do this with other services too, build a
Speaker 2: profile of their online activity.
Speaker 1: It's like a digital fingerprint exactly.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's shift gears a bit. Say we're not investigating
Speaker 2: a person but an event.
Speaker 1: Okay, so like a protest, a crime or something like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, osin can be really helpful there too. How so
Speaker 2: social media is your starting point, right? Search Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 2: Instagram using keywords makes sense. Remember those advanced search operators.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, those are super powerful.
Speaker 2: They can help you filter through the noise and get
Speaker 2: to the most relevant.
Speaker 1: Posts, so you don't have to weighe through everything.
Speaker 2: Right, and don't forget about tools like tweet monitor, multiple feeds, hashtags.
Speaker 1: Tweet deck like a command center for information exactly.
Speaker 2: What about events that aren't widely discussed on social media?
Speaker 1: Hmmm, yeah, those are trickier.
Speaker 2: Online communities are a good place to look. Think forums,
Speaker 2: message boards.
Speaker 1: Like those niche communities exactly.
Speaker 2: They usually have their own search functions, or you can
Speaker 2: use Google.
Speaker 1: Okay, So we got to find the right communities for
Speaker 1: our investigation.
Speaker 2: Right and look for discussions, threads, any mentions of the event,
Speaker 2: user names, timestamps. Pay attention to those details.
Speaker 1: It's like virtual detective work.
Speaker 2: It is bizelle mentions. Reddit. It's a great example, vast
Speaker 2: network of communities.
Speaker 1: I've heard of Reddit. It seems a bit overwhelming, it.
Speaker 2: Can be, but once you get the structure, it's a
Speaker 2: gold mine.
Speaker 1: So how do you even navigate it?
Speaker 2: Search for specific subredits or use the main search function
Speaker 2: look for keywords?
Speaker 1: Okay, so we found some interesting posts.
Speaker 2: Now what try to identify the users?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: Yea, Then you can use those other techniques we talked
Speaker 2: about to find their social medt profiles, learn more about them.
Speaker 1: Ah. Okay, so it all ties together.
Speaker 2: And there's this service push Shift. It lets you search
Speaker 2: for deleted Reddit.
Speaker 1: Posts, deleted posts, so even if they try to cover their.
Speaker 2: Tracks, it might still be out there.
Speaker 1: Wow, the Internet never forgets, it really doesn't.
Speaker 2: All right, let's move on to a different kind of
Speaker 2: online space, dating websites.
Speaker 1: Oh interesting, So we're not just talking about finding lost loves,
Speaker 1: not this time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, these platforms can be valuable for investigations, relationships, infidelity,
Speaker 2: even criminal activity.
Speaker 1: Okay, I can see how that would be relevant.
Speaker 2: But how do we even investigate them? They seem pretty private?
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what I was thinking.
Speaker 2: Most have search functions filter by location, age, interests, that
Speaker 2: sort of thing.
Speaker 1: Okay, so you can narrow down the search, and you.
Speaker 2: Can always use Google. Some profiles are publicly.
Speaker 1: Visible, even if they think they're private.
Speaker 2: Sometimes. Yeah, now here's a cool technique sentence searching. Take
Speaker 2: a unique phrase from their profile and search for it
Speaker 2: on Google.
Speaker 1: Ah. So if they've used that phrase elsewhere, you might.
Speaker 2: Find their other accounts, social media blogs.
Speaker 1: Clever.
Speaker 2: And don't forget about reverse image search. If you have their.
Speaker 1: Photo, Oh right, that can be powerful.
Speaker 2: It can lead you to their other online identities.
Speaker 1: So many techniques. How do we keep it all organized?
Speaker 2: Organization is key, especially for complex investigations. Bizell suggests using
Speaker 2: mind maps or other visual tools.
Speaker 1: To connect the dots exactly.
Speaker 2: And spreadsheets. Those are your friends.
Speaker 1: I love a good spreadsheet, simple but effective, they really are.
Speaker 2: Speaking of practical tools, what about online classifieds?
Speaker 1: Oh, like craigslists.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Craigslist. You might think it's just for furniture and apartments.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what I usually use it for.
Speaker 2: But it can be useful for investigations, missing persons, stolen goods,
Speaker 2: even criminal activity.
Speaker 1: Wow, I didn't realize.
Speaker 2: You can search by location, keywords, even phone numbers.
Speaker 1: Okay, that makes sense.
Speaker 2: And there's this technique called site searching. You use Google
Speaker 2: to search for specific content within a.
Speaker 1: Website, so like searching for a specific phone number, but
Speaker 1: only within craigslists.
Speaker 2: Exactly. Pay attention to the language, time of posting, any patterns.
Speaker 1: It's all about the details.
Speaker 2: It is. It is a scent. Is more than just techniques.
Speaker 2: It's a mindset, way of thinking, curiosity, persistence, connecting the dots.
Speaker 2: We've covered a lot, but there's still more to come.
Speaker 1: This is all so fascinating. I can't wait to learn more.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to our final deep dive into ocent. We've
Speaker 1: explored so much already, social media, the dark web, even
Speaker 1: dating apps.
Speaker 2: We have, but there's still so much more to explore.
Speaker 1: I'm ready for it.
Speaker 2: What else is there today? Let's shift gears a bit
Speaker 2: less about specific platforms, more about the information itself.
Speaker 1: Okay, I like where this is going.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about document analysis.
Speaker 1: Document analysis like reading reports and stuff.
Speaker 2: More than just reading, it's about analyzing think reports, presentations, spreadsheets,
Speaker 2: legal filings, all publicly available online.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, I can see how those could be valuable.
Speaker 2: They're gold mines if you know how to analyze them.
Speaker 1: That is, So, where do we find these documents?
Speaker 2: Search engines those are your best friend. Use specific keywords
Speaker 2: file types to narrow down your search.
Speaker 1: So if I'm investigating a company, for.
Speaker 2: Example, exactly, you could search for their name, plus file
Speaker 2: types like PDF or DOCX, find reports, presentations, even internal documents.
Speaker 1: Sometimes that's pretty cool. It's like going on a digital
Speaker 1: treasure hunt.
Speaker 2: It is, and Bazell has some great tips on search
Speaker 2: operators that can make this even more effective. Ooth like
Speaker 2: what the file type operator that lets you search for
Speaker 2: specific file types or site to restrict your search to
Speaker 2: a specific website.
Speaker 1: Okay, those are useful, But once we've found some promising documents,
Speaker 1: how do we analyze them?
Speaker 2: It's a skill definitely takes practice. Start by scanning for keywords,
Speaker 2: phrases relevant to your investigation, names, dates, locations, things like that.
Speaker 1: So it's like you're looking for those key pieces of information, right.
Speaker 2: And then try to understand the context. Who created the
Speaker 2: doc document when why.
Speaker 1: So it's not just about what the document says, but
Speaker 1: who wrote it, why they wrote it exactly.
Speaker 2: And don't forget about the metadata.
Speaker 1: Metadata Like with photos.
Speaker 2: Yep, documents have it too hidden information about the creation,
Speaker 2: modification history.
Speaker 1: So that could tell us who the author is, when
Speaker 1: it was created, things like.
Speaker 2: That, even the location where it was created. It's like
Speaker 2: having x ray vision for digital documents.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's powerful. Are there tools that can help us
Speaker 1: extract this metadata?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah absolutely ex off tool that's one Bazell recommends,
Speaker 2: handles a ton of file types, reveals a lot of information.
Speaker 1: Ex of tool. I'll have to check that out. But
Speaker 1: with so much information in these documents, how do we
Speaker 1: stay organized?
Speaker 2: Organization is key? For any kind of ocent. Really, label store,
Speaker 2: cross reference your findings, spreadsheets, mind maps, those are your friends.
Speaker 1: Keep it all straight exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Okay, So let's say you've analyzed the document, you've found
Speaker 2: something interesting. What's next?
Speaker 1: What do we do with that information?
Speaker 2: Corroborate it? Can you verify it through other sources, other documents, websites,
Speaker 2: social media? Does it match what you already know?
Speaker 1: So it's like building a case, making sure all the pieces.
Speaker 2: Fit precisely, and if you find discrepancies, don't ignore them.
Speaker 1: Oh those could be important.
Speaker 2: It could be clues pointing you in a new direction.
Speaker 1: Okay, so let's switch gears again from documents to something
Speaker 1: more visual. Maps, satellite imagery.
Speaker 2: Those are great tools. Say you're investigating a company an individual,
Speaker 2: you want to understand their physical environment. Google maps being maps,
Speaker 2: you can view their office buildings, their homes, even the
Speaker 2: surrounding neighborhoods.
Speaker 1: So we can get a feel for the place without
Speaker 1: even being there exactly.
Speaker 2: Pay attention to details, the size of the building, what
Speaker 2: kind of cars are parked there, even the landscaping.
Speaker 1: Ah, I never thought about those details.
Speaker 2: They can tell you a lot about a person, an organization,
Speaker 2: their wealth, status activities.
Speaker 1: It's like being a virtual detective.
Speaker 2: You are, and don't forget about historical imagery.
Speaker 1: Oh right, you can see how places have changed.
Speaker 2: Over time exactly, construction projects, patterns of activity, it's like
Speaker 2: a time machine.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. But what about bigger events, natural disasters, protests.
Speaker 1: Can maps and satellite imagery help with those?
Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely? Real time situational awareness track movements, assess damage,
Speaker 2: identify hazards so you can.
Speaker 1: Get a sense of what's happening on the ground exactly.
Speaker 2: And social media is crucial for those events too, crowdsourced
Speaker 2: view of what's happening.
Speaker 1: It's like having a global network of eyes and ears exactly.
Speaker 2: But with all this information, it's important to.
Speaker 1: Be critical, right, how do we know what to trust?
Speaker 2: That's the key to being a good OCENT investigator. Evaluate
Speaker 2: your sources, corroborate your information, look for patterns, consistencies, inconsistencies.
Speaker 1: So it's not just about finding information, it's about analyzing it,
Speaker 1: making sure it's reliable exactly.
Speaker 2: Ocent is about asking the right questions. The world of
Speaker 2: ocent it's always changing, new techniques, new technologies.
Speaker 1: So yes, stay curious people, Exactly.
Speaker 2: The truth is out there, just waiting to be discovered.
Speaker 1: This has been an incredible deep dive into Osent. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for sharing your expertise and for guiding
Speaker 1: us through this fascinating world. I feel like I've learned
Speaker 1: so much.
Speaker 2: It's been my pleasure. Remember Happy Sleuthan everyone, and
Speaker 1: To our listeners, thank you for joining us on this journey,
Speaker 1: Keep exploring, keep learning, and we'll see you next time
Speaker 1: on the deep dive