OSINT › Module 3 › Lesson 1
Search Operators on YOUR Name
site: and quotes on YOUR identifiers — notes on
Visual · search_ops_self
Google/Bing/DuckDuckGo operators on YOUR handle.
Opening
A search box is a copier of what you already published. Point it at you, or put it down.
site:github.com "YOURHANDLE", quotes around YOUR email, filetype:pdf with YOUR name — these operators are how you find leftovers. Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo all offer some of this. The ethical move is the query string: it must contain identifiers from scope.yaml. Querying a classmate’s full name is people-search, not this course. Original Cyberlium. GATE 192.168.0.1. Bookmark OSINT Framework / Bellingcat / IntelTechniques. You will write queries, not scrape SERPs into a dossier factory. Never nmap, hydra, or stranger names. Next: GitHub Reddit and Platform Privacy Checkups.
1. Operators are filters; the noun must still be yours
site: limits to a host. Quotes demand an exact string. Minus (-) drops noise. None of those symbols authorize a target. Write three queries using YOURHANDLE and YOUREMAIL from scope.env.
Run them in YOUR browser. Copy result titles you recognize as you — old blogs, slides, gists. Do not open result rows about other humans with similar names and “collect them anyway.”
2. Three engines, one ethics wall
Google may personalize. Bing may rank differently. DuckDuckGo may show fewer trackers. Using all three on YOUR string is literacy. Using all three on a neighbor is still a hunt.
Bellingcat’s toolkit talks about search as verification. Steal the habit of writing the query you used into notes. Do not steal a war-crimes workflow and aim it at a dorm.
Command guide
Three engines, one ethics wall
═══ INSTALL ═══
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu):
Command — copy this
sudo apt install curl
macOS: Built-in
Windows: Built-in (PowerShell: Invoke-WebRequest)
═══ COMMANDS ═══
Command — copy this
curl -sS -m 8 -I "https://duckduckgo.com/" | head -n 8
3. Record hits that are you; skip lookalikes
If a result is clearly another person with the same name, that is a collision — close it. Do not start a folder on them. Your note lists URLs that are YOUR accounts or YOUR files.
Next: privacy checkups on GitHub and Reddit for accounts you control, plus platform settings — still you.
4. What you ship: three self-queries and a list of URLs that are actually you
site:github.com "YOURHANDLE" and two more queries on Google/Bing/DuckDuckGo. Notes 600. No classmate names. DEMO GATE.
5. What you record before the next lesson
Date. Queries used. Engines. Collision count (no dossiers). File t12-m03-l01-search-ops.txt chmod 600.
6. Wrong vs right: strangers vs identifiers YOU own
Worked failure — same OSINT word, opposite target. Right never needs a classmate or a dump site.
Wrong
site:facebook.com "classmate full name". Scrape SERPs. nmap hosts that appeared in results.
Right
Query YOUR identifiers. Close lookalikes. Next: GitHub Reddit and Platform Privacy Checkups.
Mission: operator-search YOUR identifiers
1) / STOP if router. 2) Write three queries from scope.env. 3) Run them on Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo. 4) Record only URLs that are yours. Never classmate names.
Stuck? Ask Cyberlium AI Mentor
Ask Mentor how site: works — not how to dork a school directory.
Knowledge Check
APPLY: Best in-scope query?
Multiple choice
Knowledge Check
APPLY: True or False: A same-name stranger in results should become a new OSINT folder.
True or False
Knowledge Check
APPLY: curl http://192.168.0.1/ is Router Admin during search-ops. You:
Multiple choice