OSINT is a research and information methodology. But where do you start to become Osinter? Here are tools, methods and best practices to know when getting started with OSINT.
The OSINT method is increasingly mobilizing. Social networks have made Internet searches easier, by producing a mass of easily accessible and usable data. So that even computer novices can get started.
Advertisement
If OSINT is a methodology accessible to all, communities of Osinters have been created: Osint-FR And Ozint. Tests and other practical advice are available on dedicated eponymous Discord servers. Budding Osinters, all you have to do is get started… Here are methods, tools and best practices to know to get started in OSINT.
4 ways to get started with OSINT
1. Reverse search
Reverse search is probably the most obvious method. We all use it when an unknown number calls us and we try to determine the author, thus committing OSINT without even knowing it. It's about finding the origin of information, like a telephone number… or a photo. With regard to the latter, journalists are quick to use this method to verify the veracity of information.
What tools are used? Google, first. As the most used search engine, with 8.5 billion queries per day, it has a powerful algorithm and extensive database to answer Osinters' queries. If by chance Google proves to be failing, other search engines can come to its aid, such as Bing and Yandex.
2. Search on social networks
Arguably the most well-known and obvious method along with reverse search, social media search occupies a large part of the Osinters' work. To make their work easier, platforms like Pipl centralize all the information available about a person on all social networks.
Advertisement
3. Facial recognition
It can have several purposes: ensuring that your face is not used without your consent, ensuring that a person was where they claimed to be, etc. To do this, there are two tools to know: TinEyes And PimEyes.
4. Finding information about IP addresses
The IP address is the number identifying a connected device. A computer, a telephone, a Wi-Fi box and even a printer have an IP address. Therefore, Osinters who have this address and wish to know the place of residence or place of commission of a cyber offense can use tools such as WhoIs Lookup.
3 good practices from Osinter to protect yourself
Our digital footprint is no longer neutral. Everything we do on the Internet leaves traces. Our email addresses, our passwords, our telephone numbers can leak and be made accessible, more or less, to everyone. While it is possible to know information about others, they can also have access to a colossal amount of information about us, if we are not careful.
What advice can we apply to protect our digital lives?
- Regularly updating our devices,
- Using an antivirus (even freeand especially recognized),
- Using a password manager.
Digital life requires hygiene to preserve our privacy. In this regard, the platform Cybercrime lists these tips and guides, step by step, victims of cyberattacks.