Welcome to another exciting episode of our podcast.
I'm Matthea, an accomplished open source intelligence
analyst with a passion for uncovering valuable insights
from publicly available sources.
As a winner of the operation Safe Escape CTF by Trace Labs,
I have honed my skills in the collection, analysis,
and dissemination of intelligence.
In today's episode, we'll be exploring the fascinating world
of username open source intelligence.
As an essential aspect of open source intelligence,
username open source intelligence
can unlock valuable information
for a range of investigative purposes.
So sit back, relax, and join me as we delve deeper
into this exciting two.
In computer science, the username is nothing more
than a word, phrase, number, or combination of characters
that almost always uniquely identifies a user on a service.
Unlike ID codes that are chosen by the service itself
and are immutable, the username can change over time.
Most internet services offer users the ability
to select their own username or nickname.
In the era of social media,
where we are all more or less on display,
the username has become a kind of a stage name
that people give themselves
and that they will hardly change.
Therefore, by knowing a person's username,
we could locate all the profiles on social media
and internet services that use the same username.
In today's world, where social media has become
an essential part of our daily lives,
usernames play a crucial role in identifying individuals
across various online platforms.
While usernames can be easily changed,
they remain a valuable tool for investigators
and researchers to track online activities
and profiles associated with a particular individual.
So where can you find a person's username?
It depends on the platform, but typically,
usernames can be found in the URL
or linked to the person's profile.
By simply viewing the URL,
you can often find the username associated
with a particular profile.
Additionally, usernames can be found in the profile bio,
which is a brief description that users often include
on their social media profiles.
However, in rare cases,
you may need to access the source code of a webpage
to locate a username.
This is because some websites may hide usernames
for security or privacy reasons.
But with the right tools and knowledge,
it is still possible to find a person's username
even in these cases.
Overall, usernames are a powerful tool for investigators,
researchers, and anyone looking to understand
an individual's online presence.
By knowing where to find usernames
and how to use them effectively,
we can gain valuable insights into online behavior
and protect ourselves from potential threats.
In today's digital age,
Google is often considered to be our best friend
when it comes to finding information, including usernames.
Google is the go-to search engine for most people,
and it's the first place to look
when searching for a particular username.
When performing a username search,
it's essential to use the correct search terms,
and the Google door quote is a great way to do this.
By using the Google door quote,
we can narrow down the search results
to only those that contain the exact keyword
we're looking for.
This is because searching for a username without the quotes
will often produce thousands of irrelevant search results.
The Google door quote ensures
that we get the specific information we're looking for
without any additional clutter.
The Google door quote can also be used
on other search engines like DuckDuckGo, Bing, Yandex,
and Yahoo, ensuring that we have access
to a wider range of results.
Additionally, we can further refine our search
by indicating the platforms we're interested in,
such as username, site, Instagram.com.
This tells the search engine to only display results
that contain the username of interest
on the Instagram platform.
Overall, Google and other search engines
can be incredibly useful tools for locating usernames
and other information on the internet.
By using the correct search terms and filtering options,
we can quickly and easily find the information
we're looking for.
Automatic username search.
Firstly, automatic username search services work
by generating the URL of a service
and entering the specified username.
Depending on the script used,
there will be a second phase of verification
of the server's response in order to determine
whether that user exists on the platform or not.
However, no tool is immune to false positives,
so it's important to verify the link provided to us.
False positives can be of two types.
The page responds with a not found error,
but our script indicates that the user exists
or the username exists,
but is associated with another person.
In such cases, a manual check is always necessary.
Let's now move on to the first service, What's My Name?
This tool is available as both a script and a web service
and is known for its accuracy due to a series
of additional checks on the target profile.
What's My Name is currently implemented
in several third-party solutions such as Blackbird,
Spiderfoot, SN0int, and LinkScope.
After entering the username,
we can select a category of interest
or select all to get all results.
By clicking the green button,
all identified profiles will be displayed in green
and we can open the profile directly.
What's My Name currently checks
around 300 different internet services.
The second service we'll be discussing is MayGrey,
a Python script or a standalone Windows package
that allows for the creation of dossiers on usernames.
It supports over 2,500 websites
and offers export in PDF, HTML, and other formats.
If it finds additional information
such as user IDs within the page,
it will also export those,
and in some cases, it will export profile photos.
MayGrey offers recursive search,
which means that if another username is linked
within a profile, it will automatically perform
a second search on the new username.
However, MayGrey currently does not perform
the same type of verification as What's My Name,
which exposes the analyst to numerous false positives.
To use MayGrey, Python, and the PIP package manager
must be installed on the PC.
In conclusion, automatic username search services
such as What's My Name and MayGrey can be extremely useful
for open-source intelligence analysts.
They simplify the search process
and can provide a wealth of information on a target.
However, it's important that no tool is perfect
and manual verification is always necessary
to ensure accuracy.
Data breaches can be a goldmine
for open-source intelligence analysts,
as they often contain user information
such as usernames that can lead to more information.
Some online services allow us to search
for these breaches using a username,
but not all services offer this option.
In such cases, we can try entering the username
in the email field, even though we may rarely get results.
One such service that provides the ability
to check for leaked passwords is LeakCheck.
It offers a paid annual or lifetime subscription
and can verify if an email address
or username has been compromised.
Simply select username in the choose type field,
enter the username, and click on the search button.
In a few seconds, we will receive all the leaked passwords
that use that username.
We can also try searching for the username
as if it were an email address
using the email by keyword option.
With a bit of luck, we may find compromised email addresses
and passwords associated with our target.
However, we must verify all the data
as we cannot be certain that these usernames,
email addresses, and passwords are linked to our target.
Generating possible email addresses from usernames
is another technique we can use.
For instance, we can try variations such as username
at gmail.com or username at outlook.com.
This approach can help us identify any email addresses
associated with our target.
In addition, most major social networks
have internal search engines that we can use to search
for usernames and names associated with our target.
These search engines can be valuable sources of information
for open source intelligence analysts.
Thank you for tuning into this episode of our podcast.
I hope you found our discussion on username
open source intelligence insightful and informative.
Remember, open source intelligence is a powerful tool
that can provide valuable insights and intelligence
from publicly available sources.
If you have any questions or comments,
please don't hesitate to reach out to me.
And, if you enjoyed this podcast,
be sure to subscribe and stay tuned for more episodes
on open source intelligence and related topics.
Thanks again for listening, and I look forward
to bringing you more exciting content in the future.