Introduction of OSINT Tools
Open-source intelligence widely called as OSINT utilizes the information available to the public to help users meet a specific intelligence requirement. OSINT tools, as per the name suggests, are open source and are therefore almost always cost-free. some of the OSINT tools even let you run your customized needs on the tool. OSINT tools even enable ethical hackers to explore vulnerabilities and avoid breaches.
Nowadays, the internet provides lots of information and everyone can access it access easily. Whereas, there are also people who misuse the information or spend a lot of time on it. Hence to avoid these cons, OSINT tools are used to collect and compare data on the network. This Data may be available in different formats such as text, image, file, etc. Open Source Intelligence has been generated from the public data which is properly disseminated, processed, and effectively used. And provides this information for the users to fulfill particular intelligence needs. Such as it helps to gather data of cyber threats, illegal use of intellectual property, leaked data, track person. Now here we will see a list of OSINT tools.
Top 5 OSINT Tools
Here we discuss the top 5 osint tools:
1. Shodan
Shodan is the most popular internet-connected device-related search engine. It is used in educational institutes and organizations. Shodan is mostly loved by a security analyst to identify and test the target for various vulnerabilities, services, open ports, passwords, etc. It can be installed through a browser extension, which is also accessible on their website by logging in.
Features of Shodan
- It provides threat analysis for connected devices.
- It Monitors IoT devices
- It offers web browser APIs, Network scanning software such as Nmap as well as hidden document scanning tool like FOCA (Fingerprinting Organizations with Collected Archives).
2. Spyse
Spyse is also one of the most popular OSINT tool cybersecurity search engine for cyber reconnaissance used by ethical hackers. Spyse provides extensive data to search the target across various entry points. By reviewing various types of target-related data like vulnerabilities, DNS records, ASNs, IPs, Domains with the same MX / NS, Domains on the same Network, which helps the user to start with one domain and extend the investigation scope. Spyse is a web-based model, hence user have to sign up to access the database
Features of Spyse
- Spyse has 1.2 B domains, 29M SSL/TLS certifications, 3.6B IPv4 hosts geo data, 2.2B DNS records, 160M IP Hosts with Ports, 67k Autonomous Systems 140k Vulnerabilities.
- Users can scan unlimited data without limits.
- It allows us to apply 5 various search parameters to get a detailed and precise search.
3. SpiderFoot
SpiderFoot automated OSINT tool threat intelligence, reconnaissance, and perimeter monitoring tool for Linux and Windows. It also runs on every platform virtually.
It allows users to use queries over 100+ OSINT sources to gather intelligence on names, emails, domain names, IP addresses, etc. It helps to collect data about a target, like e-mails, netblocks, web servers, etc.
It gives a detailed understanding of the potential cybersecurity risks that lead to vulnerabilities, loopholes of the system, data breaches, and many other critical details. Hence these observations will help to enable the penetration test to exploit and improve the intelligence of the threat to warn before it is attacked or stolen.
Features of SpiderFoot
- It provides the latest updates to Scan the vulnerabilities.
- It has an efficient command-line interface with a user – friendly interface GUI.
- It allows us to combine with other cyber intelligence software.
- It provides to monitor vulnerability and potential breaches.
- The dashboard is easy to understand and has an intuitive interface.
4. Google Dorks
Google Dorks is a query-based OSINT use to target the index and search results effectively. Google Dorks offers a robust way to find information with the use of certain operators, it is also known called Google Hacking. Such operators facilitate the extraction of information from the search. The Google Docker’s offers operators or indexing options are given as follows
- File Type: This operator is done to find the types of files or to search for a specific string
- Intitle: To query for the title or words given in the URL above
- Ext: It is used to search a particular extension in a file
- Intext: This indexing option is used to find a specific text on a particular page.
- Inurl: Used to query the same URL string or phrase
5. Maltego
Maltego is also a widely used OSINT tool developed by Paterva, which is one of the inbuilt tools of Kali Linux. Maltego is available in 2 versions such as desktop client version and server hosting version. It is available for all operating systems.
Features of Maltego
- It has a Transform Hub which allows user to access 30 different data sources and integrate with external applications
- It connects to, own, public as well as commercial data sources. with the help of APIs, USer can customize the tool and change them as per requirements.
- It provides easy to merge with the data sources
- It has a user-friendly dashboard.
Recommended Articles
This is a guide to OSINT Tools. Here we also discuss the introduction and Top 5 OSINT tools along with features and explanation. You may also have a look at the following articles to learn more –
