OSINT Workshop
Task 3: Student Targets Identification
Creating a realistic OSINT target is difficult and, in my opinion, not very realistic. Hence, conducting OSINT on a live target will be a better experiences. However, it is unfair to have the workshop focus on a single target. Therefore, we need another way.
Student Identified Target
If you have a target in mind, you can do this workshop on that specific target. You can select your employer, a partner organization, one of your integrators, or one of your venders.
Randomly Identified Target
Students can also query an AI tool to request a target by name and primary industrial or automation domain. The following query creates a basic array of the different industrial sectors by name. The query requests that the AI pick a sector from the array and then identifies a company, by name and primary domain, that provides products or services in that industry.
Run the following query and use the randomly identified target as the focus of your workshop’s OSINT activities. If the information gathering is producing limited results then run the query again. Most targets will work and produce interestingly unique results.
HINT: The Be succinct statement in this query helps to prevent overly verbose responses from the AI. Remove that part if you want a bit more detail about the selection from the AI tool.
For the industrial industries in the following list, pick one of the industries randomly and then find a company that provides products or services in that industry. Provide the name of the company and the primary website for that company. Be succinct. [“Aerospace and defense”,”Automotive”,”Electrical electronics and semiconductors”,”Machinery”,”Fabricated metals”,”Furniture and wood products”,”Plastics and rubber”,”Medical products “,”Electric Generation”,”Electric Transmission”,”Electric Distribution”,”Gas/Oil Exploration and production”,”Gas/Oil Pipeline”,”Gas/Oil Refining”,”Cement and glass”,”Chemical and petrochemical”,”Food and beverage”,”Metals (production)”,”Pharmaceuticals”,”Pulp and paper”,”Textiles”,”Waste and water”,”Retail”,”Wholesale”,”Logistics”,”Rail / Train”,”Maritime”,”Ports”,”Airports”]
List of Industrial Target Sectors
Where did this list of target sectors come from? In the SANS ICS410: ICS/SCADA Security Essentials course we provide the students with an understanding of the large number of industrial and automation sectors that are out there. These sectors have a variety of owners / operators, vendors, integrators, and solution providers. This is one of the reasons that industrial and automation jobs are so exciting which also makes the potential for an exciting and diverse ICS/OT cybersecurity career possible. Here is a short list of some of the industrial and automation sectors that we highlight in the course and have used here. Update your query to add more from your experience.
- Aerospace and defense
- Automotive
- Electrical electronics and semiconductors
- Machinery
- Fabricated metals
- Furniture and wood products
- Plastics and rubber
- Medical products
- Electric Generation
- Electric Transmission
- Electric Distribution
- Gas/Oil Exploration and production
- Gas/Oil Pipeline
- Gas/Oil Refining
- Cement and glass
- Chemical and petrochemical
- Food and beverage
- Metals (production)
- Pharmaceuticals
- Pulp and paper
- Textiles
- Waste and water
- Retail
- Wholesale
- Logistics
- Rail / Train
- Maritime
- Ports
- Airports
Next Step
When you are done, move onto Task 4: Initial Website Review.