Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) tools are akin to powerful flashlights that illuminate the hidden nooks and crannies of the internet. They serve as wizards of data collection, capable of extracting valuable information from publicly accessible resources that anyone can reach. These tools transcend the realm of tech wizards and cyber sleuths, finding utility in the arsenals of journalists, market researchers, and law enforcement professionals alike. They serve as indispensable aides, providing the raw material that shapes pivotal decisions and strategies.
Why Command Line OSINT Tools Shine
Command line OSINT tools hold a special allure in the digital landscape. Picture wielding a magic wand that automates mundane tasks, effortlessly sifts through vast troves of data, and unearths precious insights in mere seconds. That’s precisely the magic these command line tools deliver. Stripped of flashy visuals, they harness the power of simplicity to wield immense capabilities. With just text commands, they unravel complex searches, streamline data organization, and seamlessly integrate with other digital tools. It’s no wonder they’ve become darlings among tech enthusiasts who prize efficiency and adaptability.
Let’s Meet Some Top Open Source Command Line OSINT Tools
Now, let’s dive into some of the most popular open-source command line OSINT tools out there and discover what they can do for you:
Email and Contact Information
EmailHarvester: Retrieves domain email addresses from search engines, designed to aid penetration testers in the early stages of their tests.
Infoga: Collects email accounts, IP addresses, hostnames, and associated countries from different public sources (search engines, key servers) to assess the security of an email structure.
Mailspecter: A newer tool designed to find email addresses and related contact information across the web using custom search techniques, ideal for targeted social engineering assessments.
OSINT-SPY: Searches and scans for email addresses, IP addresses, and domain information using a variety of search engines and services.
Recon-ng: A full-featured Web Reconnaissance framework written in Python, designed to perform information gathering quickly and thoroughly from online sources.
SimplyEmail: Gathers and organizes email addresses from websites and search engines, allowing for an in-depth analysis of a target’s email infrastructure.
Snovio: An API-driven tool for email discovery and verification, which can be utilized for building lead pipelines and conducting cold outreach efficiently.
theHarvester: Gathers emails, subdomains, hosts, employee names, open ports, and banners from different public sources like search engines and social networks.
Network and Device Information
Angry IP Scanner: A fast and easy-to-use network scanner that scans IP addresses and ports, featuring additional capabilities like NetBIOS information, web server detection, and more.
ARP-Scan: Uses ARP packets to identify hosts on a local network segment, ideal for discovering physical devices on a LAN.
Censys CLI: Provides command-line access to query the Censys database, offering detailed information on all devices and hosts visible on the internet.
Driftnet: Monitors network traffic and extracts images from TCP streams, offering insights into the visual content being transmitted over a network.
EtherApe: A graphical network monitoring tool for Unix systems that displays network activity with color-coded protocols, operating through a command-line interface for setup and management.
hping: A command-line TCP/IP packet assembler/analyzer useful for tasks such as network testing, firewall testing, and manual path MTU discovery.
Masscan: Known as the fastest Internet port scanner, ideal for scanning entire internet subnets or the entire internet at unparalleled speeds.
Netdiscover: An ARP reconnaissance tool used for scanning networks to discover connected devices, useful during the initial phase of penetration testing or red-teaming.
Nikto: An open-source web server scanner that conducts extensive tests against web servers, checking for dangerous files and outdated software.
Nmap: The essential network scanning tool for network discovery and security auditing, capable of identifying devices, services, operating systems, and packet types.
Shodan CLI: Command-line access to the Shodan search engine, providing insights into global internet exposure and potential vulnerabilities of internet-connected devices.
tcpdump: A robust packet analyzer that captures and displays TCP/IP and other packets being transmitted or received over a network.
Wireshark CLI (Tshark): The command-line version of Wireshark for real-time packet capturing and analysis, providing detailed insights into network traffic.
ZMap: An open-source network scanner optimized for performing internet-wide scans and surveys quickly and efficiently.
Document and Metadata Analysis
Metagoofil: Extracts metadata of public documents (.pdf, .doc, .xls, etc.) available on target websites, revealing details about the software used to create them and other hidden information.
ExifTool: A robust tool to read, write, and edit meta information in a wide array of file types, particularly effective for extracting metadata from digital photographs and documents.
Binwalk: Specializes in analyzing, reverse engineering, and extracting firmware images and executable files, helping to uncover hidden metadata and compressed components.
Foremost: Originally developed for law enforcement use, Foremost can carve files based on their headers, footers, and internal data structures, making it an excellent tool for recovering hidden information from formatted or damaged media.
Pdf-parser: A tool that parses the contents of PDF files to reveal its structure, objects, and metadata, providing deeper insights into potentially manipulated documents or hidden data.
Pdfid: Scans PDF files to identify suspicious elements, such as certain keywords or obfuscated JavaScript often used in malicious documents.
Bulk Extractor: A program that scans disk images, file systems, and directories of files to extract valuable metadata such as email addresses, credit card numbers, URLs, and other types of information.
Domain and IP Analysis
Altdns: Generates permutations, alterations, and mutations of subdomains and then resolves them, crucial for uncovering hidden subdomains that are not easily detectable.
Amass: Conducts network mapping of attack surfaces and discovers external assets using both open-source information gathering and active reconnaissance techniques.
DNSdumpster: Leverages data from DNSdumpster.com to map out domain DNS data into detailed reports, providing visual insights into a domain’s DNS structure.
DNSrecon: Performs DNS enumeration to find misconfigurations and collect comprehensive information about DNS records, enhancing domain security analysis.
Dig (Domain Information Groper): A versatile DNS lookup tool that queries DNS name servers for detailed information about host addresses, mail exchanges, and name servers, widely used for DNS troubleshooting.
dnsenum: Utilizes scripts that combine tools such as whois, host, and dig to gather extensive information from a domain, enriching DNS analysis.
dnsmap: Bursts and brute-forces subdomains using wordlists to uncover additional domains and subdomains associated with a target domain, aiding in depth penetration testing.
Fierce: Scans domains to quickly discover IPs, subdomains, and other critical data necessary for network security assessments, using several tactics for effective domain probing.
Gobuster: Brute-forces URIs (directories and files) in web applications and DNS subdomains using a wordlist, essential for discovering hidden resources during security assessments.
MassDNS: A high-performance DNS resolver designed for bulk lookups and reconnaissance, particularly useful in large-scale DNS enumeration tasks.
Nmap Scripting Engine (NSE) for DNS: Utilizes Nmap’s scripting capabilities to query DNS servers about hostnames and gather detailed domain information, adding depth to network security assessments.
Sn1per: Integrates various CLI OSINT tools to automate detailed reconnaissance of domains, enhancing penetration testing efforts with automated scanning.
SSLScan: Tests SSL/TLS configurations of web servers to quickly identify supported SSL/TLS versions and cipher suites, assessing vulnerabilities in encrypted data transmissions.
Sublist3r: Enumerates subdomains of websites using OSINT techniques to aid in the reconnaissance phase of security assessments, identifying potential targets within a domain’s structure.
Website Downloading
Aria2: A lightweight multi-protocol & multi-source command-line download utility. It supports HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, SFTP, and can handle multiple downloads simultaneously.
Cliget: A command-line tool that generates curl/wget commands for downloading files from the browser, capturing download operations for reuse in the command line.
cURL: Transfers data with URL syntax, supporting a wide variety of protocols including HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, and more, making it a versatile tool for downloading and uploading files.
HTTrack (Command Line Version): Downloads entire websites to a local directory, recursively capturing HTML, images, and other files, preserving the original site structure and links.
Lynx: A highly configurable text-based web browser used in the command line to access websites, which can be scripted to download text content from websites.
Wget: A non-interactive network downloader that supports HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP protocols, often used for downloading large files and complete websites.
WebHTTrack: The command-line counterpart of HTTrack that also features a web interface; it allows for comprehensive website downloads and offline browsing.
Wpull: A wget-compatible downloader that supports modern web standards and compression formats, aimed at being a powerful tool for content archiving.
User Search Tools
Blackbird: An OSINT tool designed to gather detailed information about email addresses, phone numbers, and names from different public sources and social networks. It can be useful for detailed background checks and identity verification.
CheckUsernames: Searches for the use of a specific username across over 170 websites, helping determine the user’s online presence on different platforms.
Maigret: Collects a dossier on a person by username only, querying a large number of websites for public information as well as checking for data leaks.
Namechk: Utilizes a command-line interface to verify the availability of a specific username across hundreds of websites, helping to identify a user’s potential digital footprint.
sherlock: Searches for usernames across many social networks and finds accounts registered with that username, providing quick insights into user presence across the web.
SpiderFoot: An automation tool that uses hundreds of OSINT sources to collect comprehensive information about any username, alongside IP addresses, domain names, and more, making it invaluable for extensive user search and reconnaissance.
UserRecon: Finds and collects usernames across various social networks, allowing for a comprehensive search of a person’s online presence based on a single username.
Breach Lookups
Breach-Miner: A tool designed to parse through various public data breach databases, identifying exposure of specific credentials or sensitive information which aids in vulnerability assessment and security enhancement.
DeHashed CLI: Provides a command-line interface to search across multiple data breach sources to find if personal details such as emails, names, or phone numbers have been compromised, facilitating proactive security measures.
Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) CLI: A command-line interface for the Have I Been Pwned service that checks if an email address has been part of a data breach. This tool is essential for monitoring and safeguarding personal or organizational email addresses against exposure in public breaches.
h8mail: Targets email addresses to check for breaches and available social media profiles, passwords, and leaks. It also supports API usage for enhanced searching capabilities.
PwnDB: A command-line tool that searches for credentials leaks on public databases, enabling users to find if their data has been exposed in past data breaches and understand the specifics of the exposure.
Many more tools can be used for OSINT and reconnaissance not listed here.
As we come to the end of our exploration, it’s abundantly clear that the tools we’ve discussed merely scratch the surface of the expansive universe of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). Think of them as specialized instruments, finely crafted to unearth specific nuggets of data buried within the vast expanse of the internet. Whether you’re safeguarding a network fortress, unraveling the threads of a personal mystery, or charting the terrain of market landscapes, these command-line marvels stand ready to empower your journey through the ever-expanding ocean of public information.
So, armed with these digital compasses and fueled by a spark of curiosity, you’re poised to embark on your very own OSINT odyssey. Prepare to navigate through the shadows, uncovering hidden treasures and illuminating the darkest corners of the digital realm. With each keystroke, you’ll unravel new insights, forge new paths, and redefine what it means to explore the boundless depths of knowledge that await in the digital age. Let these tools be your guiding stars as you chart a course through the uncharted territories of cyberspace, transforming data into wisdom and unlocking the mysteries that lie beyond.
