Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Fundamentals

Instructor Introduction

• Instructor: Heath Adams - CEO at TCM Security, ethical hacking educator
• Background: Husband, hacker, teacher, gamer, sports fan
• Experience: Over 200,000 students taught

Course Overview

• Duration: 4.5 hours of a 9-hour course
• Topics Covered:
  • What is Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)
  • Notekeeping
  • Creation of sock puppets
  • Search engine OSINT
  • Image OSINT
  • Email OSINT
  • Password OSINT
  • Username OSINT
  • People OSINT
  • Social Media OSINT
• Disclaimer: Ethical use of gathered information is paramount

Course Curriculum

1. Open Source Intelligence Basics

   • Definition and methods of gathering publicly available information

2. Note Keeping

   • Tools for taking effective notes during the course
   • Examples: KeepNote, Notion, OneNote

3. Sock Puppets

   • Definition and importance in research
   • Steps to create a sock puppet account

4. Search Engine OSINT

   • Using advanced search techniques to gather information
   • Example tools: Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo
   • Techniques: using operators like "site:" and "filetype:"

5. Image OSINT

   • Techniques like reverse image searching and EXIF data analysis
   • Tools: Google Images, TinEye, Yandex

6. Email OSINT

   • Discovering email addresses and patterns in email structures
   • Tools: Hunter.io, VoilaNorbert, Clearbit

7. Password OSINT

   • Searching for breached credentials and user information
   • Methods: Analyzing leaked databases

8. Username OSINT

   • Hunting for usernames across different platforms
   • Tools: Namecheck, Social Bearing

9. Social Media OSINT

   • Analyzing Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn
   • Tools: TweetDeck, Social Bearing, and others

Important Concepts

• Ethical Use of OSINT: Gather information responsibly and with permission.
• Intelligence Life Cycle: Planning, Collection, Processing, Analysis, Dissemination
• Tools and Methodologies: Focus on methods rather than specific tools; tools change frequently.

Summary of Tools Mentioned**

• Note Taking: KeepNote, Notion, OneNote
• Search Engines: Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo
• Image Analysis: Google Images, TinEye, Yandex
• Email Discovery: Hunter.io, VoilaNorbert, Clearbit
• Password Analysis: Have I Been Pwned, D-Hash, We Leak Info
• Social Media: TweetDeck, Social Bearing, Snapdex

Conclusion

• Next Steps: Engage in further learning through TCM Security Academy and apply the learned techniques ethically.
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