Research Clinic
supporting open source investigation
 
 

 
Firefox add-ons
Adblock Plus
Stops many of the ads that pop up and around the pages you are viewing.
Reverse image search
with Google Images. Right click on an image and see if it appears anywhere else on the web. See also Tineye.
Flagfox
Displays a national flag with the current server's, next to its url. Allows you to identify and visually trace a server.
Resurrect Pages
Bring back deleted or changed pages from the Wayback Machine, Google Cache and other sources.
Pilfer
Right click on an image and if it has a numerically guessable address, Pilfer can scan the server for related images.
Image zoom
Right click on an image to zoom into it
No Script
A vital resource! Stops malicious code. Allows you to pre-approve any automated features on a webpage.
Screengrab
Saves entire webpages as images. See also the amazing Pixlr Grabberwhich gives extended editing.
Youtube Downloader
adds a box to every youtube page allowing you to download the videos to your computer.
Right to Click
Overrides the "no right click" javascript annoyance.
Domaintools Whois
Add a domain lookup (whois search) button to your Firefox.
Exif Viewer
Reveal hidden details in images on the web.
 

Find more Firefox add-ons

Chrome extensions
Adblock
Stops adverts and other annoying scripts.
Fusker
Reveal numerically named images hiding on a server.
Hidemyass
Hides your IP address from many (but not all) websites.
Jeffrey's EXIF viewer
See hidden data in images
Domaintools WHOIS
See who owns a domain name
Awesome screenshot
Allows you to grab a screenshot on an entire webpage and save it to your computer.
Google reverse image
Right click on an image to search for it on Google. See also, Tineye.
View image
Right click on an image as view it on its own.
Time travel
View previous incarnations of a webpage
Zoom
Let's you zoon into a webpage
Wayback Chrome
Finds earlier versions of a page, using the Wayback Machine
Hola
Let's you unblock region-restricted websites.
 

Find more Chrome extensions

Software (mostly Windows, but some have Mac & Linux alternatives)
Creepy
Software that plots geotagged Tweets, Flickr and Instagram posts onto maps. Tip: post clusters indicate significant locations.
Snaggit
One of my favourite tools. An advanced screen capture / presentation tools.
True Crypt
Create an encrypted virtual drive on your computer or memory stick.
Win HT Track
Copy and save the contents of a website.
Foca
Investigate a domain name, scan its metadata and build its profile into a project file on your computer.
Intellitamper
Another one of my favourites. It scans a website looking for linked and hidden folders and files.
Foca
Investigate a domain name, scan its metadata and build its profile into a project file on your computer.
Tails
is a secure, anonymous unix operating system that can be booted on your PC from a DVD.
Wireshark
Reveals the data flying around the network you are connected up to.
Total Recorder
Captures any audio & video. Pauses during periods of silence. Great for recording streaming media, chatrooms, skype, videos.
i2's Analyst Notebook
Allows you to audit and visualise your investigation. As amazing tool.
Docscrubber
A free program that reveals the "meta information" hidden in .doc format Word documents.
Restore erased files
Turbo File Uneraser is a free tool that searches disks and flashcards for remnants of data files that have been erased.
Computer Forensics
Law enforcement agencies often use software like Encase and FRED to recover data files.
Process Explorer
goes beyond Task Manager in Windows, to show you exactly what is going on under the hood of your computer.
Navnet
A Fusker engine that can be programmed to scan a server for guessable image names.
Maltego
grabs & organises your investigation
Jondo - anonymous web surfing
A free, anonymized and portable IP proxy and security enhanced browser. See also Tor
PGP 
Create a password "key" that lets you encrypt data files and text. Swap keys with friends to exchange encrypted emails. 
 
Online tools
Sourceforge 
has great free open source software.
Old Version
Earlier versions of popular free software (e.g. winzip, zone alarm)
Portableapps 
has free software that installs without administrator permission.
MyGeoposition
Find geo-coordinates, copy them and use with Twitter's geocode: search term to find Tweets from that location.
Track live flights Clip Converter
Allows you to grab and save videos from web pages
iPhone apps
Silent Circle
Scrambled phone calls and encrypted text messages
Wickr
Encrypted messaging, video and images
Domaintools
iPhone sized whois lookups
 

 


(c) Paul Myers 2014. The views expressed on this site are the author's own. The links do not represent an endorsement.
altered banner image (c) Jan Krömer, used with gratitude via creative commons license