OSINT in USA.

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In the United States, OSINT plays an important role in the activities of the intelligence community, including organizations such as the CIA, FBI and NSA. The main objectives of OSINT are:

• Collection of information from open sources: Media, social networks, public databases, forums, government reports and other publicly available resources.
• Analysis and correlation of data: Transforming collected information into useful intelligence through analysis, matching and pattern recognition.
• Support for decision-making: Providing up-to-date information for strategic and tactical decisions in the field of national security.

Tools and Methods Used in OSINT:​

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Examples of using OSINT Tools in Real Life:​

Example 1: Investigating Terrorist Activity through Social Media​

Task: Identify and monitor potential national security threats from extremist groups on social media.

Tools and Methods:

• Social Monitoring: Use tools like Hootsuite or Mention to track keywords and phrases related to extremism.
• Social Network Analysis: Apply Maltego to build graphs of connections between suspects and groups.
• Language and Content Analysis: Utilize NLP (Natural Language Processing) tools to analyze rhetoric and identify calls to action.

Outcome: Detection of a group planning potential attacks, allowing law enforcement to take preventive measures.

Example 2: Identifying Human Trafficking Networks​

Task: Identify and expose an international human trafficking network operating through online platforms.

Tools and Methods:

• Web Scraping: Automatically collect data from ads on suspicious websites using Python and the Beautiful Soup library.
• Geolocation Analysis: Use EXIF data from images to determine locations.
• Cryptocurrency Transaction Analysis: Apply tools like Chainalysis to track financial flows.

Outcome: Provision of collected data to international law enforcement, leading to the arrest of key figures in the network.

Example 3: Cyber Intelligence and Preventing Cyber Attacks​

Task: Prevent a large-scale cyber attack on the energy sector's infrastructure.

Tools and Methods:

• Darknet Monitoring: Use specialized services to track discussions and leaks in the darknet.
• Malware Analysis: Apply tools like IDA Pro or Wireshark to analyze discovered malware.
• Feedback with the Cyber Community: Engage with CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) to share information about identified threats.

Outcome: Early identification of a planned attack and updating security systems, preventing the compromise of critical infrastructure.

OSINT Tools in the United States​

Conducting OSINT investigations can be nuanced, with different approaches depending on the country, language, culture and mentality. It's important to note that finding someone in a different country can be more challenging than in your own, where local resources may be more accessible. In Russia and the CIS, popular resources for OSINT investigations include several affordable services such as Userbox, Eye of God and Chimera. When it comes to OSINT in the United States, there are several services similar to those available in the CIS:

Spokeo: ​

A people search engine that allows you to find information based on various data points such as phone numbers, email addresses, names and addresses. It collects data from public sources and social networks, with an average query cost of about $1.

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Pipl: ​

A people search engine that uses information from the internet, social networks and closed databases. It's often used for verifying biographical information and investigations. Pipl is a commercial product, so acquiring it may require a significant investment and a convincing rationale for its use.

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BeenVerified: ​

An online service that provides access to public data, including real estate information, court records, addresses, phone numbers and social media profiles. The service is somewhat hit-or-miss but worth trying if other sources yield no results.

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TruthFinder: ​

Another tool for people search in the U.S., offering information from public records, including criminal records, residence history, phone numbers and social media profiles.

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Intelius: ​

A tool for conducting background checks, providing access to contact information, addresses, call history and criminal and court records.

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Clearview AI: ​

A more specialized tool based on facial recognition technology, allowing law enforcement and other organizations to search for individuals by photos through access to a vast database of images from social media and open sources.

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There are many similar services, but the real value lies not just in these search services but also in databases, leaks and other resources. To find such databases, one must scour forums and gather information piece by piece. Importantly, knowing how to use search engine dorks is essential. Here’s a list of search engines that you should be familiar with:

• Google
• Bing
• Yahoo!
• Baidu
• Yandex
• DuckDuckGo
• Ecosia
• Ask
• Naver
• Seznam

Most of these search engines offer capabilities for image searches, maps, panoramas and more. It might be worthwhile to create a separate guide on search dorks, but for now we are focusing on OSINT in the U.S. As an example, I'll show how you can search for small bases in the USA:

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If you are looking for data on a specific user, you can try entering their username, email or password (if known) and experiment with different file formats and search engines to see what results you get. Of course, all of this can be automated. Essentially, it involves parsing data from search engines. You can purchase or obtain API keys for search engines, review the documentation or ask for assistance from tools like ChatGPT and you might think you’ve become a top-notch OSINT investigator. However, to truly stand out as a sought-after specialist, it’s not enough to just know how to Google or write prompts in GPT - you need to be able to think critically.

 

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