Geolocating a Traveler Through OSINT: Unlocking the Secrets of Location - Learn what methods and open intelligence sources are used to locate individuals in a world saturated with technology and online activity.
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The use of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) techniques to determine the geolocation of the co-founder of social links is an important task in the field of digital security and Internet research. The main purpose of such analysis is to collect information about the location of a person based on publicly available information on the network. The application of OSINT methods may include the analysis of geotagged photos, open data in social networks, public records and posts in the public domain, as well as other sources of information. This process allows for the creation of a map of a person’s possible whereabouts, which can be important for investigation or analysis in various contexts.
OSINT methods are a valuable tool for security researchers and professionals, as well as for determining the geolocation of persons of interest in various digital activities. Knowing your geographic location can be useful for further research and Internet security measures. OSINT techniques in geolocation of the co-founder of social links help uncover publicly available information that may reveal his possible whereabouts. This approach certainly facilitates the collection of contextual information and can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as digital research, incident location, or security. When using OSINT methods, it is important to take into account the public nature of the collected information and to follow the rules of ethics and legislation. Information obtained through these methods can be used in a variety of contexts, including research, investigation and security, but should always be used with caution and with consideration of possible consequences.
In today’s blog, we will dive into the OSINT investigation I conducted to pinpoint the exact geolocation of Ivan Shkvarun, co-founder of Social Links, as part of the OSINT testing he gave.
First of all, we started our research by uploading an image to find more details about it. As we can see, the image is mirrored through the mirror in front of Ivan, so we flipped it horizontally (left to right) using the excellent website pinetools.com. Now let’s try to get some clues from the image. We scaled the image using imgupscaler.media.io.
First we looked at the signs in the elevator and the atmosphere inside. At first glance, the elevator looks very fancy (could be a hotel or business center), with white marble floor and wall, high-rise building (47), LIFT 5B 10th floor.
The lettering in the background is in Arabic and English, and we can see that the name of the elevator company is “Comfort” (top left). The logo is a circle (not a full letter C) with two arrows inside, one pointing up and one pointing down.
We googled “Comfort elevators” and found a potential match.
Comfort Elevators is Fuji’s Middle East agent and is based in Doha.
Back at the elevator, there is a black sign that can give information about the floor plan (lobby, reception, pool, spa, etc.). We can see that the logo is rounded (black and white).
We looked at the Clients page on their website to try to identify the logo inside the elevator and found a potential match among all the clients listed. Pullman Hotels & Resorts logo.
So we went to Pullman’s official website to find potential Arabic-Middle East seats. There were 3 potential countries: Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar.
We tried to google a tall building with 45+ floors. Found one located in Doha, Qatar. The name of this hotel is “Pullman Doha West Bay”.
A great website to check Tell buildings around the world is ctbuh.org. In addition to that, I found a Wikipedia list of the tallest buildings in Doha, Qatar, so we tried to find this particular 45-50 story hotel on the list. We found the Pullman Hotel inside!
Now we decided to look for photos of visitors to this hotel, a great solution is Google and TripAdvisor. As a reminder, we are looking for a similar picture of the elevator with all the signs and signs inside (marble, black sign with the Pullman logo). I use Google Dorking to define my search.
BINGO! found the same pattern! (This is another elevator inside the hotel — a smaller one).
Exact location: Pullman Doha West Bay, Al Shatt St, Doha, Qatar, 10th Floor.
To sum up, the task was not easy at all. Since part of the image was blurry, we had to guess some of the writing. But eventually we were able to get some clues that led me to the result. Remember, it’s all about your creativity and thinking outside the box.
Happy hunting investigators!
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