🌐 Why YouTube is an OSINT Goldmine

YouTube videos often leak valuable data without organizations realizing it. By analyzing videos carefully, you can extract:

  • 🧑 Employee identities (via intros or ID cards)
  • 🖥️ Internal systems or credentials visible on screens
  • 🌍 Location data (GPS tags or visible environments)
  • 🗂️ Metadata (upload date, location, camera info)
  • 📽️ Deleted or private content (recovered via thumbnails or third-party sources)

⚠️ Disclaimer: This blog is for educational and ethical hacking purposes only. Always ensure you have permission when conducting OSINT investigations.

🧭 Step-by-Step Guide to YouTube OSINT

🔎 Step 1: Identify Target Organization and Videos

Use Google Dorks to search for YouTube content related to a company.

site:youtube.com intitle:"YourTargetCompany"

🔹 Example: site:youtube.com intitle:"EC-Council" This will show both official and employee-uploaded content.

🛠️ Step 2: Visit Target Videos and Channel

  1. Open YouTube

  2. Search for the organization (e.g., ec-council)

  3. Explore:

    • Official channel
    • Tech talks or webinars
    • Behind-the-scenes vlogs
    • Conference recordings

📌 Tip: Employee-uploaded videos often reveal more than official ones.

🧾 Step 3: Copy Video Link for Metadata Analysis

Right-click on a video and choose:

Copy Link

Use this URL in the next step.

🧬 Step 4: Extract Metadata

Use the YouTube Metadata Viewer to analyze the video URL.

Example metadata:

{
  "uploadDate": "2024-03-05T12:10:00Z",
  "location": "Noida Office - 5th Floor",
  "description": "Beta test walkthrough for new product launch"
}

📌 Look for:

  • Office location
  • Tool names
  • Version numbers
  • Date of recording (helps in timeline mapping)

🔍 Step 5: Perform Reverse Image Search

Take a screenshot of the video or use the thumbnail and search using:

👁️‍🗨️ You may discover:

  • Duplicate uploads
  • Screens from deleted videos
  • Employee social media profiles
  • Company infrastructure

📦 Step 6: Use OSINT Tools for Deeper Insights

Tool Purpose
ExifTool Extract metadata from downloaded video/images
TubeArchivist Archive YouTube videos locally
InVID Project Analyze video content and metadata

🛡️ Step 7: Organizational Defense Checklist

✅ Awareness Training:

- Don't reveal sensitive screens during recordings
- Hide name tags, internal dashboards, and calendars
- Use virtual backgrounds when possible

🧪 Step 8: Practice Lab (Legal and Safe)

1. Open YouTube and search for "Startup XYZ Office Tour"
2. Choose one video and analyze:
   - Find 1 employee name or badge
   - Identify 1 internal tool
   - Extract metadata using mattw.io tool
3. Document findings as if preparing a pentest report

📚 Extra Resources

🧠 Want to contribute more tools or examples? 🛠️ Edit this post on GitHub 👉 Cyber Blog Repo

💬 Let’s discuss! Drop your findings or favorite OSINT tools in the comments.

#OSINT #YouTubeIntel #MetadataExtraction #EthicalHacking #Cybersecurity #InfoSec #RajkumarBlogs