Open-source intelligence, more commonly known as OSINT, utilizes the publicly available information to help users to fulfill a particular intelligence requirement.
As the name suggests, OSINT tools are open source in nature, and hence they are mostly free of cost.
And some of them allow you to run your customized requirements on the tool also. OSINT tools even allow ethical hackers to analyze vulnerabilities and prevent breaches.
We will be looking at some of the best OSINT tools in this blog, and explaining the key features of each tool.
List of Best OSINT Tools
SpyseOSINT tool is one of the most popular cyber reconnaissance amongst ethical hackers. It is an enterprise model that helps small businesses as well as large enterprises.
Features:
- Spyse has one of the largest databases of its kind, with around 1.2 billion domains, 3.6 billion IPv4 hosts geo info, and more than 29 million SSL/TLS certifications.
- It has a simpler, all-in-one cyber reconnaissance system.
- There is no limit on scanning data and its rate.
- You get exclusive insights on various cybersecurity vendors to filter out the most suitable option for your organization.
Mode of Installation:
It is a web-based model, so you will need to sign up to access the database.
Pricing:
It comes with three different pricing methods, the first one being a free model that allows you to do basic operations like advanced search, search by site, etc.
The second model is called "Standard," and it is priced at $25 per month. It unlocks many features like exporting the data (but in a limited quantity) and vulnerability search product search, etc. along with the basic features.
The last model is called “Premium," and it is priced at $90 per month. It gives you all of the available features.
For more pricing details visit: https://spyse-dev.readme.io/
Shodan is the world’s first internet-connected device-related search engine. It is a popular OSINT tool amongst educational institutes and business corporations alike.
Features:
- Faster internet threat analysis across all the connected devices.
- Valuable insights to understand connected device purchases from the internet.
- Provides API for web browsers and hidden document scanning apps like FOCA and network scanners like Nmap.
- Monitoring IoT devices
Mode of Installation:
It offers browser extension, and it is also available through login on their website.
Pricing:
It comes in different pricing options.
The first one is a free tier, obviously but with limited features. Its "Freelancer" version costs around $60 per month with some advanced features with up to 1 million search queries per month.
Its "Small Business" plan costs around $299 per month, and it allows around 20 million queries per month, and the rest of the features are similar to the "Freelancer" version.
And its "Corporate" version costs around $299 per month and has unlimited queries access, and it offers all the advanced features as well.
SpiderFootOSINT tool also offers really valuable cyber reconnaissance and is truly an open-source solution.
Features:
- State-of-the-art vulnerability scanning.
- Ease of integration with other cyber intelligence tools.
- Ease of data vulnerability monitoring and potential breach monitoring.
- Easy-to-understand dashboard with an intuitive interface.
Mode of Installation
It is available in both the app version and the web-based version as well.
Pricing
It is open-source and free of cost.
This OSINT tool is a web reconnaissance tool that is open source and completely free tool as well. It was created by Tim Tomes.
Features
- Offers independent modules and command completion methods.
- Ease of database interaction and built-in convenience.
- Ease of integration with other intelligence tools.
- Modular framework with public APIs.
Mode of Installation:
It is a web-based solution developed in Python. You need to extract the code and run it on your systems.
Pricing:
It is open-source and free of cost.
This OSINT tool specializes in information gathering through various sources like search engines, key servers.
Its specialty lies in subdomain names, email accounts, and open banners. It is typically used in the early stages of intelligence testing.
Features:
- Ability to test out your organization’s presence on the internet.
- Integrates well with most of the search engines.
- Ease of finding emails and subdomains.
Mode of Installation:
You need to extract and download the code and run it through your system.
Pricing
It is available free of cost.
Maltego was founded in 2008, and it has been empowering businesses in intelligence insights. This OSINT tool gathers, connects, and investigates various cyber-security tasks.
Features:
- Transform Hub allows you to access 30 different data sources.
- It can connect to public, own, and commercial data sources.
- You can customize the tool with the help of APIs and mold them as per your requirements.
- It is easier to merge the data sources with this tool.
- It has easy to understand dashboard.
Mode of Installation:
It is available as a desktop client version and server hosting version as well.
Pricing:
The basic version of Maltego is free of cost. But, it has three paid versions also.
The “Classic” version costs around $999 per user per year.
While its "XL" version requires around $1999 per user per year, and its "Enterprise" version lets you explore all the features. You will need to contact the vendor for a detailed quote of this version.
Searchcode is an open-source, free OSINT tool. It has abundant data sources available and is quite easy to use.
Features:
- Ease of operations.
- Simple and intuitive search approach.
- Easy to integrate with other OSINT tools.
- Offers APIs to customize as per your requirements.
Mode of Installation:
You need to extract the code and run it on your end.
Pricing
This OSINT tool is free of cost and free of charge.
This OSINT tool specializes in reverse image searches. It is used for initial intelligence tests for image appearances. It is quite handy in finding out graphical piracy as well.
Features:
- Easy to use for basic operations.
- Integrates well with other OSINT tools.
- Easy to track if someone is using graphic properties illegally.
- Facility to automate the process.
Mode of Installation:
It is a web-based solution, and you need to visit the website and find out if your content is getting duplicated illegally.
And you can do the customizations by copying the code and extracting it on your server as well.
Pricing:
It is free of cost.
This OSINT tool specializes in information gathering that can extract metadata from public sources. Christian Martorella was the creator of this tool.
Features:
- Easily extracts data from public sources.
- Provides intuitive and valuable insights.
- Useful in the early stages of intelligence testing.
- Ability to find out leaked data like files, emails, etc.
Mode of Installation:
As an open-source tool, you can extract and run the code on your server. You can use the web version as well.
Pricing:
It is open-source and free of cost.
Key Takeaways
We have seen the various uses of OSINT tools through this blog. They can be used for early-stage intelligence testing, deeper analysis, and complete intelligence investigation purposes.
You can find out the cyber threats, leaked data, illegal use of your intellectual property, track person of interest and do much more with OSINT tools.
