Intro to Missing People OSINT Course with Joe Gray: Review

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Intro to Missing People OSINT Course with Joe Gray: Review

Course: Intro to Missing People OSINT
Taught by: Joe Gray

I found Joe's course on the TraceLabs slack channel. I saw Joe is a winner of multiple CTF competititons from Derbycon, Defcon, to TraceLabs. I thought it would be good to get his insight and a different perspective on OSINT.

CCDC now.. Missing People?

The interest started at Akron. University of Akron has a digital forensic presence. I didn't take any digital forensic classes and regret it. I could have worked home one day a week, left the office early, or some sort of plan. The sad ship has sailed since I'll be in Chicago. I think this happened because my interest went from 0 to 75 and by the time I got interested, it was too late! If I went to Akron (back in 2015-2018), I probably would have double majored in Computer Science and Digital Forensics, with a certificate in DISASTER!

The only reason being when a project is going wrong I can say, "don't worry guys, I have a certificate in disaster. I know all about this." xD. Imagine being the "Department of Disaster".

WELL I saw Trace Labs on YouTube and was feeling really lost on what topic to jump on next. This is next. My plan was to get 2x better before the next Trace Lab CTF competiton. I'm there. I need to get to 3x now.

Highlights and Notes

Joe has a pretty calm and collected demeanor. He's really organized and passionate. Joe knows what he is doing. Here are some snippets of notes I took. I won't give away everything.

  • A person is called a subject. A company is called a target.
  • www.melissa.com/v2/lookups/propertyviewer/zipcode/?zipcode=44131 <-- good site.
  • recon-ng is a tool for Linux.
  • The Weather tip. Look for the weather of the day they went missing. Example: Why is their coat in a backbag and not worn if its below freezing?
  • Note if a Predator was in the area (check to see if they were paroled and lived in the area that month/year). If the crime is applicable.
  • If a friend goes missing, that is a continuation of the subject case (could be related).
  • Only research for one hour. If you get stuck after one hour, move on to another case.
  • Judges will get pissed if your trying to game the system. Submit high quality info. They will not prioritize a team that spams.
  • Given an entire list of items/categories to submit. Really helpful and eye-opening of what info to collect.
  • If a person has a first and last name that can be flipped Ex: Davis Phillip, try flipping it to Phillip Davis. Joe found a person that way.
  • Look on their Amazon Wishlist.
  • If a Facebook friend is friends with everyone else besides that person. Think Mom is friends with all her children except one. Note it.
  • The team called "Password Inspection Agency" is a good team because Joe is on it lol. Pay attention to them!

Next Steps

If your interested in this, I'm looking for a 4-person team! I'll continue reading my 7th Edition OSINT book by Michael Bazzell. I have a VM I'm working on with all the tools/privacy set up.

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