Details about individuals and companies can often be found online, though how much you can access depends on the country or region. Official government resources may not always be accessible to everyone. Google is a go-to tool for a lot of OSINT work—it’s quick, easy, and gets you a ton of results. But finding exactly what you need isn’t always as simple as typing in a few keywords. Many search queries return millions of results, making it hard to sift through the noise. Even more frustrating, Google tailors your search results based on the popularity of the topic, your device, your search history, and your geographic location. This kind of personalization is helpful when you're looking for a nearby restaurant or checking the local weather. But when you're trying to collect accurate info on a person of interest, a business, or any other investigative target, this filtering can become a real headache.
The key takeaway is that Google Dorks exists to let you refine your searches, filter out the noise and uncover valuable information more efficiently.
To conduct an OSINT investigation, you may follow these key steps:
Start with What You Know: Begin with available details like a name, email, phone number, or address, username, etc...
Set a Clear Objective: Clarify what information you’re seeking.
Collect Data from Public Sources: Use search engines, social platforms, and specialized tools.
Analyze Findings: Evaluate the data for accuracy and relevance.
Summarize Insights: Organize your findings into actionable conclusions.
Verify Assumptions: Double-check your results to ensure accuracy.
Document Findings: Create a report for reference or sharing.
⭐ Start with Search Engines
Google Dorks (or Google Hacking) is a powerful technique to uncover hidden information. By understanding a few core operators and crafting precise search queries, you can extract details not easily found through normal searches.
Combine these Google search operators together allows you to find exactly what you’re looking for in no time.
"john doe" site:linkedin.com: Finds exact matches for “John Doe” on LinkedIn.
"john doe" -site:linkedin.com/johndoe site:linkedin.com: Excludes a specific profile but shows comments made by “John Doe” on other LinkedIn posts.
"john" "doe" -site:linkedin.com: Searches for “John Doe” across the web, excluding LinkedIn.
"john doe" filetype:pdf OR filetype:xlsx OR filetype:docx OR filetype:ppt: Find documents such as PDFs, Excel sheets, Word files, or presentations for "John Doe".
"john doe" site:youtube.com | site:tiktok.com | site:facebook.com: Pinpoints social media activity or accounts associated with "John Doe" across multiple platforms.
allinurl:john doe ny site:twitter.com: Searches for “john,” “doe,” and “ny” in Twitter URLs. "@example.com" site:example.com: Finds email addresses on a specific domain.
site:example.com intext:@gmail.com filetype:xls: Retrieves Gmail addresses from spreadsheets on a domain.
"john doe" -"actor" -"new york": If "John Doe" shares a name with a celebrity, you can exclude unrelated results to focus only on your intended target
after:2024-06-16 before:2024-12-31: focuses on content from a specific time frame
⭐ Leverage Social Media Platforms
Social media is often the most revealing resource. Check Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter (X), TikTok, and even niche forums or apps. Pay attention to:
Profile pictures and usernames
Profile information (location, workplace, etc...)
Friends and connections
Geotagged photos
Shared links or affiliations
If the target's friends list is private, analyze their posts for likes, comments, and interactions. Repeated engagements from specific individuals can hint at close relationships or associations even when direct connections are hidden.
Usernames often link a person’s accounts across the web. If you have a username (or can deduce one from a name or email), you can use these tools to check username availability across multiple platforms: CheckUser (checkuser.org), AnalyzeID (analyzeid.com), WhatsMyName (whatsmyname.app), etc...
⭐ Search in the Target's Native Language
Often, individuals publish or are mentioned in content written in their native language. Translating your search queries into the target's language can dramatically expand your results. Use translation tools and virtual keyboards (if the language is not Latin) to craft queries that include:
Local nicknames
Slang or informal expressions
Native spellings of names or locations
Regional job titles or institutions
Local news articles, interviews, blogs, social media posts, and government documents that might not show up in English-language searches can be found using this method.
⭐ Utilize People Search Engines
There are numerous specialized platforms designed to aggregate public information:
Pipl
BeenVerified
Spokeo
Whitepages
TruePeopleSearch
While some offer free information, others may require subscriptions for deeper insights. Always cross-reference data from multiple sources.
⭐ Conduct Reverse Image Searches
Images can reveal a wealth of information. Use tools like Google Reverse Image Search, TinEye, or Yandex. Upload or paste the URL of a photo to find where else it appears online. This can help identify aliases, alternate accounts, or physical locations.
Look beyond obvious content. Metadata from documents, images, or online posts can contain:
Author names
Creation dates
Device information
Tools like ExifTool can extract metadata from files and images.
⭐ Ethical and Legal Considerations
Always use OSINT responsibly:
Respect privacy laws in your country.
Avoid accessing non-public data or hacking.
Use findings for legitimate purposes, like research or verification.
⭐ Staying Anonymous While You Search
If you're serious about staying anonymous online, things like incognito mode and VPNs can help, but it’s important to understand what they actually do and where their limits are.
Private browsing, orIncognito mode keeps your browser from saving your history, cookies, or form data. However, it doesn’t hide your IP address or prevent websites, your internet service provider (ISP), or your employer from seeing your activity. In short, you’re not invisible, just locally private on your device.
VPNs enhance online privacy by encrypting your data and concealing your real IP address, making your web activity harder to trace. This makes it harder for outsiders to track what you're doing online. Still, not all VPNs are equally secure. Some may log your data, and under certain legal conditions, that information could be handed over.
So while both incognito mode and VPNs can improve your privacy, neither guarantees full anonymity. If you're researching sensitive topics or simply want to avoid being tracked, it's worth being aware of what these tools can and cannot protect you from.