Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is one of the most fascinating ways to gather information. The best news? This type of information gathering is not just an exclusive tool for intelligence agencies or the military. Today, almost anyone can use OSINT tools to access and analyze interesting, publicly available information. Whether you’re a business, a journalist or just a curious individual who wants to understand the world of intelligence gathering, OSINT offers a wealth of possibilities.
But how exactly does it work? What can you achieve with OSINT? And how do you apply it practically to actually get useful results? In this blog article, we will answer these questions and show you a practical example of how you can use OSINT in your everyday life or professionally.
What is OSINT anyway?
The abbreviation OSINT stands for Open Source Intelligence and refers to the collection of information from publicly accessible sources. The term was originally coined in a military and intelligence context, but OSINT techniques are now used in many areas: from cyber security and industrial espionage to social media monitoring and even journalism.
OSINT uses all available information that is freely accessible to gain insights. These sources are as diverse as the internet itself and range from traditional media such as newspapers and TV to social media, scientific publications and metadata hidden in publicly available images or documents.
An exciting aspect of OSINT is that the sources and data used are accessible to everyone. Unlike traditional espionage methods, where you have to penetrate secret databases, anyone can collect information that is publicly and freely available online. Best of all, this process is often quick, inexpensive and far less risky than traditional methods of gathering information.
Why is OSINT so valuable?
There are many reasons why OSINT is so valuable. Here are some of the key benefits:
- Cost: Acquiring information through open sources is significantly less expensive than other methods. You don’t need expensive databases or fee-based intelligence.
- Automation: Many OSINT tools can automate the entire intelligence gathering process. This means you can collect and analyze large amounts of data in a very short time without having to invest a lot of manual work.
- Availability: As the sources are public, you have a huge amount of data at your disposal. This data is easily accessible and is constantly updated. You can therefore access the latest information almost in real time.
- Hidden information: OSINT helps you find information that may not be immediately obvious. There is a lot of hidden data that can be discovered through targeted searches or with the right tools.
- Low risk: Compared to traditional spying methods where you could run the risk of being caught, accessing open sources is usually completely legal and safe.
Types of OSINT: Active and passive
There are two main types of OSINT data collection: passive and active. The difference lies in how you interact with the target systems.
- Passive methods: With passive methods, you don’t interact directly with the target systems. Instead, you collect data that is publicly accessible without your actions being detected. This method is very inconspicuous and difficult to detect. Examples include browsing social media, retrieving information from public websites or searching for data in public databases.
- Active methods: With active methods, you interact directly with the target systems. This can include, for example, registering on a website or making targeted requests to servers. These methods are more risky as they are easier to detect. It is important to proceed very carefully here so as not to set off any alarm bells.
Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages, and their use often depends on the specific objectives and risk appetite.
How does OSINT work in practice?
Now that we understand the theory of OSINT, let’s take a look at how you apply it in practice. In the next sections, we’ll go step-by-step through the typical OSINT process and show how you could carry out a specific example of using OSINT.
1. Identification of sources
Before you start collecting data, you first need to find out from which sources you can obtain your information. It is important to choose the right sources to ensure that the data you collect is actually useful.
Typical OSINT sources are:
- Social networks: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, forums, blogs, etc.
- Search engines: Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo and specialized search engines such as Shodan or Google Dorks.
- Websites: Public websites of companies, authorities or organizations.
- Databases: Public databases, e.g. WHOIS data, IP databases, scientific publications or public registers.
- Multimedia: Images, videos, metadata.
2. Data Collection
The next step is to collect the data from the identified sources. You can either use automated tools or manual methods. If you are working with social media, for example, you can search the public profiles of a person or organization to get information about their activities or connections.
A practical example would be if you want to gather information about a company. You could search the company website, look for publicly available data such as phone numbers, email addresses or employee profiles and analyze the company’s social media profiles on LinkedIn or Twitter.
3. Data processing and analysis
Once you have collected the information, you need to process and analyze it. This means filtering out the relevant data and correlating it with each other. This can be done manually or with the help of OSINT tools.
Tools such as Maltego or Recon-Ng can help you to link and visualize the information collected. For example, Maltego could help you identify relationships between different domains and IP addresses, or you could use Recon-Ng to find additional websites that are related to your target domain.
4. Creation of results
After analyzing the data, you create a report or summary that summarizes the key findings. If you are using OSINT in a professional context, such as cyber security, these findings could help identify potential security gaps or uncover vulnerabilities in an organization’s systems.
5. Utilization of the results
Depending on your objective, you can now use the collected and analyzed data further. This could mean that you:
- Use the information to defend against cyber attacks.
- Launch a targeted marketing campaign based on the information collected
- Identify a social engineering attack target (in the case of ethical hacking and penetration testing).
A concrete example of OSINT
Imagine you work as a cyber security analyst and want to find out whether a certain company has been the victim of data leaks in the past. You start your research with a simple email address that you found in a public forum.
Collect data: First, you use theHarvester tool to investigate this email address. You find out that it belongs to an employee of the company and is linked to various other email addresses and social media accounts.
Process the data: You combine this information with public company data and available information from social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook. In doing so, you identify that this employee works in the company’s IT department and often posts about security issues.
Analysis: Using Maltego, you visualize the connections between this email address, other contacts in the IT department and the company data. You discover that several IP addresses are linked to sensitive company data.
Results and report: You compile all the relevant data into a report and present it to the company’s security team. It turns out that there are several potential security vulnerabilities that need to be investigated further.
The most important tools for Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)
OSINT thrives on the tools that make it possible to efficiently collect and analyze public information. Some tools are specifically designed for certain tasks, while others have a broader application. Below is an overview of some of the most popular and powerful OSINT tools used by security researchers, hackers and investigative agencies alike.
1. Maltego
Maltego is one of the best-known OSINT tools, which particularly shines in network analysis and visualization. Developed by the company Paterva, Maltego offers a graphical interface that makes it possible to visualize connections between different entities such as domains, IP addresses, people and emails. Maltego uses a technique called “transformations”, where it automatically pulls data from various sources such as social media, WHOIS databases or IP geolocations and displays it in an interactive diagram.
- Possible applications: Network analysis, identification of connections between entities, determination of IP addresses and domains.
- Advantage: Very suitable for visualizing the relationships between different data points.
2. Recon-ng
Recon-ng is another powerful tool that comes pre-installed on Kali Linux and is often used for collecting information from publicly available sources. Recon-ng works with so-called workspaces that allow the user to organize all operations and data. The tool offers various modules for researching subdomains, WHOIS data, e-mail addresses and much more. Recon-ng is particularly interesting for those who also want a certain degree of automation when gathering information.
- Possible applications: Subdomain research, WHOIS queries, social media analysis.
- Advantage: Many built-in modules and a user-friendly interface.
3. theHarvester
theHarvester is one of the simpler but very effective tools for collecting information. It focuses on extracting email addresses and subdomains from various public sources. theHarvester can extract information from search engines such as Google, Bing or even from public key servers. It is particularly useful for quickly collecting basic data on a target person or organization.
- Possible applications: Extraction of email addresses, subdomains and other basic data.
- Advantage: Very fast and easy to use, ideal for quick reconnaissance operations.
4. Shodan
Shodan is known as the “search engine for the Internet of Things”. Unlike Google, which searches websites, Shodan searches for devices available online. These devices could include webcams, routers, servers or even industrial control systems. Shodan makes it possible to find specific devices and their security vulnerabilities and is an invaluable resource for security researchers looking for exposed devices.
- Possible applications: Identification of exposed devices, security vulnerabilities in devices and networks.
- Advantages: Very useful for cyber attacks or security analysis of devices on the internet.
5. Google Dorks
Google Dorks are special search queries that are used to extract hidden or hard-to-find information on websites. By using special operators such as “filetype” or “inurl”, security researchers or hackers can search specifically for files that contain sensitive information or for websites that have security vulnerabilities.
- Possible applications: Detailed searches for specific file types or information on websites.
- Advantage: Inexpensive, as it can simply be carried out via Google, but still very effective.
6. SpiderFoot
SpiderFoot is an open-source OSINT tool specifically designed for comprehensive information gathering. It analyzes a variety of public sources to extract data, including IP addresses, domains, subdomains, email addresses, geographic locations and more. SpiderFoot is particularly useful when it comes to building a complete picture of a target organization.
- Possible uses: Gathering information from a variety of public sources to create a detailed profile.
- Advantage: Very comprehensive and detailed, particularly suitable for in-depth reconnaissance work.
7. FOCA
FOCA (Fingerprinting Organizations with Collected Archives) is a very powerful tool for extracting metadata from public documents. For example, if an organization has published PDFs or other documents, FOCA can search them for hidden information such as user information, software versions or even internal networks.
- Possible applications: Extraction of metadata from documents such as PDFs, Office files or other published archives.
- Advantage: Very useful for extracting unintentionally released information from publicly accessible files.
Conclusion
OSINT is a powerful intelligence gathering method used by companies, cybersecurity experts, journalists and many others. By analyzing publicly available data, you can gain deeper insights and identify potential threats or opportunities.
Whether you work in cybersecurity, are a journalist looking for information, or are just curious, OSINT can help you navigate the world of open data and draw valuable insights from it. So, grab your tools and start deciphering the wealth of public data – the possibilities are endless!
