Guides, Tool Deep-Dives & OSINT Industry Coverage
Investigative methodology, tool breakdowns, and analysis from the OSINTPanel research team — written by people who run these tools, not summarize press releases.
ExifTool: Reading the Metadata a File Doesn't Show You
GPS coordinates, device fingerprints, editing history, hidden and duplicate tags that most viewers never surface — ExifTool reads all of it. Here's how to install it, the commands worth memorizing, and why every field it reports still needs independent verification.
The Wayback Machine's CDX API Is the Real Tool, Not the Calendar UI
Clicking through a calendar of snapshot dates works for one URL. When you need every page a domain ever had, the Internet Archive's CDX API answers in one request what the web UI would take an afternoon to click through.
Have I Been Pwned, Used Properly: Breach Lookups Without the Guesswork
HIBP's single search box hides a lot: domain monitoring, a password-checking API that never sees your actual password, and a deliberate refusal to show you what got leaked. Here's how to use it as an investigative starting point rather than a verdict.
Shodan for Investigators: Searching What's Actually Listening on the Internet
Shodan doesn't index web pages — it indexes what answers when you knock on a port. Here's how to query it, what its free tier actually gives you, and where its snapshot-in-time data can mislead you.
Sherlock in Practice: Fast Username Sweeps Without the Noise
Sherlock trades depth for speed — it checks hundreds of sites for a handle in seconds by reading HTTP status codes, not page content. Here's how to install it, run it well, and avoid its most common false-positive trap.
Running Maigret: Turning a Username Into a Full Profile Map
Maigret pushes past the simple availability-check model of most username tools, actually reading each hit's profile page to pull bios, avatars, and linked accounts. Here's how to run it, read its output, and avoid the pitfalls.