Tryhackme – Searchlight (IMINT)

In this walk through, we will be going through the Searchlight – IMINT room from Tryhackme. In this room we will be exploring the discipline of IMINT/GEOINT, which is short for Image intelligence and geospatial intelligence. This room is suited for those of you who are just beginning your OSINT journey or those who are brand new to the field of IMINT/GEOINT. On that note, let’s get started.

Task 1 – Welcome to the Searchlight IMINT room!

Question 1 – Did you understand the flag format?

sl{ready}

Task 2 – Your first challenge!

Question 1 – What is the name of the street where this image was taken?

sl{Carnaby Street}

Task 3 – Just Google it!

The next few challenges will ask multiple questions that you need to answer based on the information you extract from the image.

• Google – Circus underground subway

Question 1 – Which city is the tube station located in?

sl{London}

Question 2 – Which tube station do these stairs lead to?

 sl{Piccadilly Circus}

Question 3 – Which year did this station open?

• Source – Wikipedia

sl{1906} 

Question 4 – How many platforms are there in this station?

• Source – Wikipedia

sl{4}

Task 4 – Keep at it!

Scan the image for data and remember the questions from the introduction – Do you see anything in the image that can be used in a search query or help you narrow down the potential location?

• Google – yvr.ca

Question 1 – Which building is this photo taken in?

sl{Vancouver International Airport}

Question 2 – Which country is this building located in?

sl{Canada}

Question 3 – Which city is this building located in?

sl{Richmond}

Task 5 – Coffee and a light lunch

Now that you’ve started to learn some techniques. I figured, we could try and do some good while we hone our skills.

A friend of mine contacted me asking if I could help them locate a coffee shop that is supposed to serve the best lunch there is. They told me the coffee shop is somewhere in Scotland, and he sent me these two pictures. Do you think you could locate it and answer the questions below for me?

Question 1 – Which city is this coffee shop located in?

• Google – The Edinburgh Woollen mill

• Found Edinburg Woollen Mill near Scotland. Got a 360 picture.

• a little to the right.

sl{Blairgowrie}

Question 2 – Which street is this coffee shop located in?

sl{Allan Street}

Question 3 – What is their phone number?

sl{+447878 839128}

Question 4 – What is their email address?

• Visit – https://www.facebook.com/weecoffeeshop/

 sl{[email protected]}

Question 5 – What is the surname of the owners?

Visit – https://www.barba.org.uk/blairgowrie-and-rattray-businesses/the-wee-coffee-shop

sl{Cochrane}

Task 6 – Reverse your thinking

Question 1 – Which restaurant was this picture taken at?

sl{Katz's  Deli}

Question 2 – What is the name of the Bon Appétit editor that worked 24 hours at this restaurant?

• Use Keywords – “Bon Appétit editor” “Katz’s Delicatessen”

sl{Andrew Knowlton}

Task 7 – Locate this sculpture

This challenge will require you to apply some the techniques I have touched on so far: Scanning the image for visual clues, reverse image searching and Google dorking. Tools should not be your primary focus – don’t underestimate how far you can get with dorking and scrolling search results.

Question 1 – What is the name of this statue?

sl{Rudolph the chrome nosed reindeer}

Question 2 – Who took this image?

sl{Kjersti Stensrud}

Task 8 – …and justice for all

This challenge is a step up in difficulty from the previous challenges and you shouldn’t expect to solve this quickly, especially if you are new to IMINT. While you can certainly apply the techniques and tools you’ve used to so far, this challenge may force you to revise your thinking and your approach while you’re working on solving this challenge. 

Question 1 – What is the name of the character that the statue depicts?

• Blind court statue

sl{Lady Justice}

Question 2 – where is this statue located?

sl{Alexandria, Virginia}

Question 3 – What is the name of the building opposite from this statue?

sl{The Westin Alexandria Old Town}

Task 9 – The view from my hotel room

Question 1 – What is the name of the hotel that my friend stayed in a few years ago?

• Novotel singapore riverside

sl{Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay}

Also Read: Tryhackme – Reversing ELF

So that was “Searchlight – IMINT” for you. In this room, we have learned how to get into the right mindset and how to be analytical. Further, we looked into the process of extracting key data points from Video and images. At last, We completed the room by going through a series of tasks based on Image and Geolocation analysis. On that note, i will take your leave but stay tuned for the next one and till then, remember to “Hack the planet”.