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Sock puppet accounts are mainly known to those outside the information security field as accounts used for disinformation purposes, such as swaying your opinion about a topic or a product. However, this is not the only way to use a sock puppet account. In Hg’s Summer FactSheet, up-and-coming cybersecurity researcher Dakota State University Junior, Mariel Klosterman, describes how sock puppets are used by malicious actors and OSINT investigators, types of sock puppet accounts, and how to create a sock puppet for information collection. -
Protecting Your Image Online
"Have you Googled yourself lately?" Not a bad line to throw out at happy hour, because it is sure to bring a few chuckles. However, this is a very serious statement to make not only to investigators, police officers and prosecutors - but anyone else concerned about personal security. -
Social Network Searching Summer Update
There are always new Web sites to visit and use for our investigative work. In this article, we focus on social network investigations and the latest sites - or updates to those you are already familiar with. -
Counterterrorism and Social Media
As an Internet investigator, the following are tools, resources, and tips I would recommend to anyone in this field, once an event has occurred and social media is available. Most importantly, the article will conclude with some shared open source services that will help to identify potentially risky behavior and negative content before an event occurs. -
Across the Ocean - Business Due Diligence in the Republic of China
How does the well-informed investigator determine if a company located in the Republic of China is reputable and free from encumbrances? In this article you will be given a systematic account of the due diligence steps necessary to answer the above question. This article examines the steps, thought processes, and online resources necessary to achieve success with business due diligence in China. The objective of our investigation is to minimize monetary and reputational risks involved with a foreign business. -
Due Diligence with LexisNexis and WestLaw
The value of combining traditional media (e.g., news, journals, and the written word vs. social media) with online litigation searches is immeasurable. Case after case has been made thanks to finding articles with a mere mention of our subject referenced. Old court cases, no longer accessible from county Web sites—if ever they were available—can also be located. -
Investigating with Instagram
Instagram is a smartphone application that allows for photo-sharing over social networks. Once the photo is taken, any number of filters can be applied to the photo greyscale, sepia, darker, brighter, etc.) – and significantly altered; a mini-version of Adobe Photoshop, if you will. Additionally, the image can be placed in a frame, cropping the photo down in size, and cutting out all the noise in the background. Apparently this is a lot of fun to do, because Instagram has 60 million photos uploaded every day to its service with more than 65 percent of the activity coming in from overseas (www.instagram.com/press/). -
Primer for Due Diligence Investigations
Primer for Due Diligence Investigations will explain what due diligence is and how online due diligence can accomplish much with very little. We outline the phases of conducting proper research and the necessary skill sets that are indispensable for this work. -
Building Social Media Investigations
Building Social Media Investigations will explore the alternatives in other countries that exist aside from Facebook. It will explore the preferred social media sites, online communication methods, and popular focus of investigation for both a country and it's culture. -
Opt-Out Online: Part 1
This article will help you understand the dark side of information. Data, at its most annoying, is a commodity with social media sites selling your Likes to data providers. Data, at its most dangerous, allows someone from overseas to obtain personal addresses and threaten families. -
Opt-Out Online: Part 3
Despite the overabundance of information shared and sold on the Web today, a number of measures for protecting your information are available to you. Learn about these important protections and how to exercise the options they offer to you. -
Keeping Current with the Latest Investigative Tools
A good investigator must stay abreast of current investigative industry tools. Snaptrends and CyberTOOLBELT, two tools reviewed in the Spring 2015 issue of data2know.com have, in the six months since, significantly increased their investigative capacity—enough to warrant a review update. This article will discuss the Snaptrends and CyberTOOLBELT updates and will introduce a third investigative tool, Geofeedia.
