The war continues, Russia has attacked Ukraine. Now each of us is at war – evidence and intelligence can hurt the enemy more than bullets. Now everyone can contribute to victory. Undoubtedly: Ukraine will win. The only question is, how long will it take? To speed up the process, we invite you to join. OSINT-technologies are more relevant now than ever, we have all the possibilities at hand.
When choosing software, there are often difficulties:
- many services and programs duplicate each other in functionality;
- developers are asking for a generous reward for paid features;
- state portals open and close their registers.
An unequivocal list of “best tools” simply does not exist, so the Molfar team publishes their personal top, and tells how to use these tools during the war.
0. OSINT Framework – “road sign”
It is rare to find a resource where such a huge amount of valuable information is collected in one place.
Zero position because it is a directory with names and links. Here you can find the right tools for your search tasks, following a branched scheme indicating resources.
1. OpenCorporates – search for legal entities
Large open base, which makes it convenient to do research. First of all, check legal entities for Russian counterparties. Doing business with Russia and Russia is taboo. Any company that continues to do so is potentially dangerous.
Sometimes it is possible to gather enough evidence only using this database to prove collaboration with the occupiers.
2. 52wmb – search for customs invoices
With the help of the service you can analyze all queries related to the calculation of imports and exports. Who trades with Russia and Belarus, who supplies goods, where the goods come from – all this can be found. Weapons purchases are also shown in customs invoices.
Also, 52wmb is indispensable in niche business analytics – in peacetime, the service will help to create a detailed profile of a trading company.
3. X-ray – full profile of a person, search for contacts
Convenient and fast platform for finding interconnected information about a person. X-ray works faster and collects more information than bots on social networks. It is twice as cheap. Search for any of the three points:
- name + surname;
- links on social networks;
- mobile phone number.
Any human interactions with each other can lead to large-scale search results. X-Ray checks all available data and gets information quickly.
4. WhatsMyName – search by nickname
Once the pages on social networks are found using X-ray, we move on to a detailed analysis of the content. As a rule, we quickly find one or more nicknames that a person uses in messengers or on various sites, such as YouTube. Then analyze through WhatsMyName.
The service searches for the specified nickname on hundreds of sites, including on Russian platforms, and immediately provides links to the matches found. Finds even personal messengers. Usually it helps to search for variations of nicknames, by selection. For example: Ivan Fedorov → ivanfedorov → Ifedorov → fedorov → fedorovivan → etc.
5. RiskIQ – search for technical information
A handy resource for finding relationships between the technical data of specific companies. We find the technical parts of the domains that lie on Russian servers – this is significant evidence of collaboration with the occupiers.
You can also search by IP, tags, certificates, articles, emails and other technical data.
We recommend using this resource at an advanced stage – when you know enough information to compile a complete picture. In peacetime, we look for relationships in competitive analysis and business risk assessment. Most often, the cost of time is generously recouped by insights.
6. DomainBigData – search for information on domains
This service works almost in the same way as the previous one, but has less functionality. The strength of this tool – domains and whois sites, a little weaker with IP. We also find those technical parts of the sites that have been transferred to Russia or Belarus. It says a lot about companies, their polarity, prospects, relationships and so on.
We use it as a second independent tool to verify technical information – it gives maximum data and helps to verify the facts.
Fact-checking should always be given enough time. When fact-checking becomes a habit, an extremely useful skill is formed, which helps to navigate effectively in the media space.
7. Law360 – search for legal entities
Another resource for working with public information, we are looking for records of lawsuits against legal entities. We check all enterprises in Russia and Belarus, from court cases you can get a lot of insights about the activities of companies. The results of Law360 complement the information from the OpenCorporates site well.
This service also looks for offshore assets when researching a company or person.
8. PropertyShark – search for real estate in the United States
The most complete information about real estate in the United States. Including loans for real estate, individual plots, redemption obligations, rights to “air”, acquired for future development or, conversely, their freezing. You can find a lot of interesting things, including the temporary lease of land, buildings and premises.
In our case, we analyze the names of people who may have real estate in the United States. Heads of companies, officials, politicians, etc.
Many businessmen view real estate in the United States as a highly liquid asset. Therefore, it always makes sense to use PropertyShark when checking a public person. This often justifies itself.
9. PimEyes – search for people by photos
Very convenient and powerful service for finding people by photos. PimEyes is used by professional journalists, according to quotes from The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNN, BBC and others. We are looking for additional information on the photos of captiveі and occupiers, we are transmitting valuable data to the relevant state structures.
The service works quickly, so it won’t take much time to check photos. With the help of photo analysis we reach out to interconnected people, their contacts and data.
10. SanctionsExplorer – check sanctions against companies and public figures
And finally, the most interesting thing is sanctions. If the company you are reviewing or the legal address of the person is on the sanctions list, you need to go as deep as possible.
It is often possible to find additional statements with accusations and decisions of judicial structures. Plus, if these are not the first sanctions, then most likely in the process of searching you will find full-fledged journalistic investigations into the activities of companies. This is a very large amount of useful information that must be reflected in the review.
This completes the review, you can start the search. The Molfar team has prepared this material for you.
