July updates for SL Pro: Telegram, search in sources, SL ISE, and more
Today we’d like to let you know about the new SL Pro features that our team implemented in July. These include new transforms for Telegram, search in sources from an alias, and the updated functionality of SL ISE. As always, don't forget to update the SL Pro plugin in the Maltego Transform Hub to receive the latest features.
Explore Telegram for next-level investigations
While Telegram offers users many possibilities for configuring the privacy of their information, the sheer wealth of data available makes the platform a valuable resource for conducting open-source investigations. With this in mind, the SL Pro team has put together a powerful new add-on package for the solution: Deanonymizing Telegram. The new package provides users with unprecedented opportunities for mining Telegram as an investigative resource, boasting over fifty transforms that can extract historical data on an account, user groups and channels, message text, and much more.
As you know, the standard SL Pro package already has the ability to identify a user’s Telegram alias from the input data of the number, however we have now expanded the functionality so that the process can be accomplished in reverse: you can now identify a user’s phone number from simply inputting their alias, and this will even work for profiles set to private. This gained phone number will then of course have further utility and can be used as a starting point from which new vistas of data can be extracted.
Using the new transform
- Drag the Alias entity onto the graph, enter the subject’s nickname then run the transform [Telegram] Get Profile to generate the result of the related profile.
- From the newly generated profile entity run the transform [Telegram T4] Get Phone Number to extract the user’s phone number.
In the above example, our result of the phone number has been further unpacked to give us the connected WhatsApp account.
This new Telegram transform for SL Pro allows you to find more expansive information around your subject, and establish additional lines of inquiry stemming from the previously inaccessible phone numbers associated with these profiles. To find out more about the Deanonymizing Telegram package and how to gain access to the transforms, contact our sales department at sales@sociallinks.io.
Search in sources from an alias
In February, we launched a new transformation allowing users to search for people with the same alias across various platforms: [Alias] Search in Sources. The reach of this transform relates to the amount of platforms it can draw from, and since we are perpetually adding to this pool, the transform currently searches through over 1500 sources spanning social networks, dating apps, business and employment services, and cybercriminal platforms among others.
Since users tend to use a previously established alias when they sign up to a new platform or service (social networks, messengers, etc.), by using this transform, we can easily and quickly expand our search across different sources to determine the user's professional and personal interests.
Using the new transform
- Drag the Alias entity onto the graph, enter the subject’s nickname then run the transform [Alias] Search in Sources.
In the example above, we can see that our initial alias generated it’s parallels in a host of other services including github and bitbucket, from which we might conclude that our subject is connected with the IT sphere. Also, a profile in Tinder has come up suggesting that the individual might be currently single.
N.B. Bear in mind that the transform cannot distinguish different users with a shared alias so results may need to be cross-referenced for total verification.
Connect to the most far-reaching search engine: SL ISE
Our SL Pro clients now have access to a unique and expansive resource of public data: The SL ISE (Identity Search Engine). The database is connected to almost 2000 public resources and services, which comprise more than 10 billion data threads on web-based or real-world identities. This puts an immense amount of public data at the fingertips of SL Pro users, which can be used to enhance investigations and provide a breadth of details for cross-checking and analysis.
In July alone, we connected more than 400 million open data sources from a range of territories including India, Thailand, and Australia among others.
Using transforms for the SL ISE functionality
The database transforms are grouped under [SL ISE] and include search queries to find email addresses, aliases, phone numbers, and other details. Find out more about the features and benefits of incorporating the SL ISE into your investigative processes on this page.
That wraps up the main features we wanted to share with you this month.