Week in OSINT #2020-34
Here we are again, with some beautiful bangs, facial features, sources for socks and valuable VPN's.
Welcome to the Monday with another set of interesting topics, articles and tips. I'm really grateful for people tagging me on Twitter, or sharing links in Slack channels and chat rooms. So many great things that have passed my eyes, that it's sometimes even difficult to pick the topics to include! It's actually impossible to write about all of the links, simply because I don't have the time. Especially this week, because besides the usual work week I also enjoyed being a judge last Saturday on another CTF organised by TraceLabs. Anyway, enough rambling! This week I have the following topics for you:
- DuckDuckGo Tips
- Facial Recognition
- VPN Logging Policies
- Generated Photos
- Google Account Checker
Tip: DuckDuckGo Tips
ReconMadness shared an interesting article by Hiedi Eraser, that talks about some of the handy features that DuckDuckGo has. Because DDG isn't just a search engine, it is a platform that can be of help with conversions, showing ASCII characters, the weather and of course the thousands of different !bangs.
Link: https://eraser.heidi.ie/duckduckgo-tips-tricks/
Article: Facial recognition
[#OSINT] New blog post is up on using free, simple, point & click facial recognition tools for verification purposes as part of a missing person investigationhttps://t.co/ZaCfrDtknk#OSINTforGood
— OSINT Combine (@osintcombine) August 4, 2020
Earlier this month OSINT Combine wrote an article about some free facial comparison tools and writes about how they could be of use when investigating missing person cases. He goes over how to use the tools, what to expect and how to 'prepare' the photos that you would like to compare.
Link: https://www.osintcombine.com/post/facial-recognition-for-verification-missing-persons
Article: VPN Logging Policies
Last week I noticed a URL that was shared by th3cyb3rguy and the mention of VPN's caught my eye. The article lists a wide range of VPN's, and give them a basic score according to their privacy features. I do want to offer a small personal note and advice. The writer clearly states that the, and I quote: "article will relay our interpretations of the logging policies, some of which can be tricky to decipher". So don't simply pick your next VPN from the score depicted there. Because if you want the highest level of privacy, you should do some research and read independent audits and other technical reviews.
Link: https://www.comparitech.com/vpn/vpn-logging-policies/
Site: Generated Photos
Most of you know the website This Person Does not Exist, which was a revolutionary website in 2019. AI generated images, with wonky ears, pupils always in the same place and crooked teeth. But now there is a new player on the build-your-own-sock-puppet-market, that was shared by slysly in the OSINT.team chat. One that has a database of AI generated faces, that look sideways, have different age categories and you can even specify which gender you prefer. Check out the filters and start browsing the more than 2 million faces that they have online already.
Link: https://generated.photos
PS: About the pupils... Yes, I've seen it here too
Site: Google Account Checker
Last week I was tagged in a tweet by Epieos, because someone had created an online tool to check what information there is to be found. Simply fill in a Gmail address, or any other address that might have Google services connected, and press the button. It retrieves the URL's for the album archive, the map reviews and gives you information on connected services. Looking for info on a Google account just got a lot easier!
Link: https://tools.epieos.com/google-account.php
Have a good week and have a good search!
