Week in OSINT #2024-17
This week's episode of WiO covers topics from cruise ships to custom search, and from sins to secrets!
Now that I've got the very cheesy alliteration covered, it's time to write the intro for this week's episode. As usual, this is done in the early morning, when everything around me is still quite, with a mug of coffee in my hand, editing a file called item.md. It has been quite a busy week for me, with a lot of work and a large project of building a brand new Linux based virtual machine for doing online research. So this quite moment of writing, can be a lovely break during the week. Talking about the virtual machine, even though I have quite some experience in setting up such environments, and being used to maintaining Linux systems, I keep learning new things, tricks and tools that make creating or maintaining such a platform so much easier! Maybe I will share some things in a later episode, if people are interested. But for now, it is time for this week's overview:
- Cruismapper
- Kirbstr's CSE's
- Elevation
- 7 Deadly Sins
- Open Secret
Site: Cruismapper
While diving into the world of tools, cheat sheets and websites that could be helpful for online research, I went over some of my old links that I used to have on my site. A lot of those links were dead now, so I went hunting down some interesting new ones. And one of them is CruiseMapper. Not only is it a great replacement for the now defunct "Life Cruise Ship Tracker" , but it also features lots of great information! Ever wanted to check out the deck plans of the MS Deutschland or MS Amadea, for some TV research? Or did you hear about a cybersecurity officer of the 'Harmony Of The Seas' that was apprehended on May 6, 2023 and want to find out what happened? Then do check out all the information that is available on this awesome site!
Link: https://www.cruisemapper.com
Tutorial: Kirbstr's CSE's
Kirby Plessas [ ] created several custom Google searches, and she decided to share them over at Plessas.net. Besides that, she also wrote a blog post on how to create your own Google search engine. Kirby explains how she uses Similarweb and the extension "Instant Data Scraper" to create a list of useful sites, and build a custom search engine from scratch. Since Google, and the use of it for conducting research, can be very helpful, this tutorial is great for people who haven't played with this yet.
Link: https://plessas.net/search-cses
Blog: https://plessas.net/blog/2024/4/12/...
Article: Elevation
GingerT [ ] shared a cool article written by LifeWire [] about how to view elevation lines in Google Maps. Of course there are many tools for that, but when you are browsing around in maps and want to have a quick idea how high a certain location might be, then turning on the "terrain" view, and zooming in a little bit, isn't such a bad idea! Thanks for this useful tip!
Link: https://www.lifewire.com/...
Article: 7 Deadly Sins
Bellingcat [ ] published an article about what not to do when it comes to open source investigations. I have touched on the subject before in some episodes of Week in OSINT, and this list should be a must-read for anyone that is working in this field of work. They describe some of the bad practice, and explain why it is important to watch out for these rules to become a better investigator.
Link: https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/...
Media: Open Secret
A few days ago I learned about a brand new podcast that started earlier this month, and this one is by OSINT Combine [ ]. Hosts Kylie Pert [] and Jane van Tienen talk to several guest, and the first six episodes are online already! If you are looking for a new listen with some interesting people and stories, then this one is for you!
Link: https://pod.link/1728540991
FUNINT: This Week's Meme
Have a good week and have a good search!
