For context if you’re coming to this late: I dabble in the Dark Arts of Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT). Kase Scenarios is a phenomenal company bringing affordable and realistic experiential training to the masses through scenario-based learning. Their most recent scenario, “Orkla – Bounty Hunt,” puts the “player” in the shoes of an OSINT analyst exploring various real-world online and corporate entities.
I’m only writing about one flag tonight, because…I make bad choices and spent too long on one problem.
This should be easy…right? Ha. Joke’s on me.
…RIGHT?!?!
Guys, I went way down the rabbit hole on this one. Paul Atreides pushed me through the looking glass to Narnia, straight into a horde of orcs. It was a losing battle until Dumbledore and the Ais Sedai showed up to fight alongside me before I finally found the answer. This. Was. Rough.
I spent two hours digging on Open Corporates and proff.no (a Norwegian business information portal). I downloaded Maltego. I installed Java so I could run Maltego. (How did I not already have Java?!) I made a beautiful little chart in Maltego, mapping owners to companies.
I’ve never been accused of being an artist, but…this is neat, no? Kind of looks like a little garden. I scrubbed the company names — you get to suffer just like I did.
Orkla didn’t care about my chart. Just like you don’t. None of these were the flag. Other than re-familiarizing myself with Maltego, this was an exercise in futility. What next, then? Beer, obviously.
I opened a beer, walked around the house a bit, came back with half a beer, and re-read the question. Lightbulb; what if I Google “Gigahost AS” and “sister company,” since Orkla used that phrase. That…that was it. I am angry. Can I go back to Narnia now?
It can’t be that easy, right? Seriously?!
Lessons Learned: Ok, this is something I should address in each of these posts, and I’ll try to to better. What did I learn today?
- Start simple, then go complex. That could have saved me a lot of time and frustration today.
- Use Google Chrome for investigating foreign companies/entities. Chrome has, in my opinion, the best-integrated translation feature.
- Drink a beer. Make some tea. Do a quick yoga flow. If you’re stuck, walk away from the
anxiety boxcomputer and do something relaxing to clear your mind.
As always, if you bother to read this and have feedback or questions, feel free to drop a comment here, or email me at [email protected].
Stay hungry. Stay humble.