Week in OSINT #2023-42
Another short update this week, with blogs, articles, tips and tools from the world of OSINT!
This week I collected a few items that I thought were cool to share. Especially the first topic is really important, and I suggest you read that one, even if you skip the rest of this episode. Because right now, it is important to be aware of disinformation, and the importance of verification:
- Do No Harm
- Quiztime Challenge
- Carbon Credits
- WhatsApp Group Links
- SkyFeed
Article: Do No Harm
Giancarlo Fiorella [] wrote an article for the Financial Times. He talks about some important aspects of open source investigations, and shares some important messages for 'newcomers'. He talks about the amount of disinformation, the creation of confusing by, for instance, recycling old clips and posting them online out of context. About the risk of trauma, due to the sheer amount of atrocities that are out there. Because to be honest, right now the world is not a fun place to be. And we need people that verify events, don't amplify disinformation, and focus on facts, and not rumours. Thank you, Giancarlo for this important message!
Link: https://www.ft.com/content/...
Article: Quiztime Challenge
To balance out the sheer mayhem in the world, I want to share a little write-up of an old Quiztime challenge. Ron Kaminsky [ ] solved a challenge posted by Julia Bayer back in August, and wrote his steps over on Medium. In his post he writes how he uses Google Lens to find his starting point, and he takes of from there. By using historical weather he also proposed a possible date for this. If you are into open source investigations, and want to practice your geolocation and verification skills, do checkout Quiztime!
Link: https://osintteam.blog/...
Article: Carbon Credits
Ben Heubl [] wrote an article on misuse of carbon credits, and how he used public sources to track credits and companies. This is a perfect example of how investigative journalism can use open sources to do their research. The article has several links to other news outlets, but also sources that can be used to track the carbon credits assigned to the different companies worldwide. Thank you, Ben, for another interesting article!
Link: https://techjournalism.medium.com/...
Links: WhatsApp Group Links
Ginger T [ ] added some nice resources to his GitHub repo on social media. He added some lists with WhatsApp group invitation links that are out there. Multiple platforms scrape these links, and make them searchable. Some sources are easier to navigate than others, but with all the different sources he listed, the chances are high that one of them may have something that could be of help in any investigation you are doing.
Link: https://github.com/cqcore/Social-Media-OSINT
Site: SkyFeed
Now that BlueSky is gaining momentum as a new social media platform, a lot of OSINT investigators have created an account there. But keeping up with everybody, and finding relevant news or tips, is different from X. And one of the things I found out, was the fact there were no lists, or a Tweetdeck like feature. But no worries, because both are available!
With SkyFeed you can create your own custom feeds, and get a TweetDeck like experience. You can have multiple feeds, lists and accounts in one view, and it enhances the BlueSky experience a lot! It does take some time to get used to it, and it has some quirks, but I am working on a handy post with more info on SkyFeed!
Link: https://blueskyweb.xyz/blog/7-27-2023-custom-feeds
Link: https://skyfeed.app/
FUNINT: This Week's Meme
Halloween is around the corner...
Have a good week and have a good search!
