We are pleased to welcome Julie Tillotson as the newest member of the TII team. 

With over two decades service within the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Julie began her career as an Intelligence Analyst in 2002. 

Continuing to maintain operational expertise in complex criminal investigations that includes serial murder, missing persons, financial and organized crime on a strategic and tactical level, Julie is also experienced in the delivery of services to the private sector including critical thinking and investigative techniques, corporate intelligence, brand protection and online reputation management.

While working towards her PhD, Julie taught Criminology and Sociology at the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba. She has also taught Tactical Intelligence Analysis and Strategic Intelligence Analysis at the Canadian Police College, and has delivered Operational Intelligence Analysis training in South Asia on behalf of the Canadian Government.

Among other commendations, Julie has been awarded the Intelligence Program Professional Service Award for her contributions to the national intelligence program in the RCMP, and is a regular guest speaker at numerous private and public sector conferences throughout North America.
 

 

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• Privanka Sharma
• Andrew Sandoval
• Lindsey Potvin
• Alyssa Aitken
• Ryan Jessop
• John Ready
• Rebecca Jaehnke
• Blair Mangan
• Matt Fadden
• Elizabeth Drew
• Corey Clarysse
• Johnathan Ryslop
• Becky Baraclough
• Bruce Bailey
• Randy Collingwood
• Danielle Wycroft
• Barry Turnbull
• John Wade
• Mary-Ellen Pratt
• Ellen Brown
• Cristopher Ford
• James Bardin
• Joy Kenny
• Jocelyn Skaggs

By Norm Wilhelm
Head of Investigations, Toddington International Inc.

At a conference I presented at recently, one of the topics I discussed was how much the Internet and the World Wide Web has changed for investigators over the past ten years. 

In nearly every respect, everything about the Internet and the World Wide Web has changed over the past ten years: the technology, the devices, the information, the websites, the tools, the cost, the rules, the demographics, and the way we use it.  Most of these changes have not had a significant impact on research, investigation or intelligence processes, while other seemingly small changes have had a very great impact. 

In the following paragraphs I have listed in chronological order what I think have been some of the most significant changes between 2008 and 2017:  
 

1) Nov 2008 - Knight v Barrett 2008 NBQB: Prior to this Canadian civil court case, many investigators disagreed on whether an investigator should show in their investigation report where they found their information.  One side said you had to show where information was found to prove it was publicly gained and where it was posted; the other side said they didnt want to give away their sources or trade secrets. This court case (and others since then) did away with the entire argument by setting the standard that all must follow: all investigators must show where they found their online information, the most common method being by documenting the URL where the information was found.

2) Jan 2009 - First Publicly Recognized Bitcoin Transaction: Bitcoin, and other e-currencies in general, were invented several years earlier, but this date signifies one of the first transactions that lent legitimacy to the Bitcoin as a valid method of payment.  Ten years later, this e-currency that many in the past forecast as a waste of effort and a tool of criminals is now making a significant impact in the investment industry.

3) May 2009 - Facebook Privacy Controls: Many investigators complain about the expanding use of privacy controls on social networking accounts, but we should all remember that these same tools can be used to protect the privacy and security of law enforcement and security members, and their families.

4) Aug 2010 - EXIF Data Incident: At this time, a celebrity host from the TV show 'Mythbusters' posted a photo online of a car that he was selling.  A thoughtful respondant informed the celebrity that his photo contained EXIF information on it, including camera information, the date, the time, and the geolocation that identified where the car (and the celebrity's house) was located.  This became a major news story, and although the celebrity laughed it off the incident as unimportant, he moved soon after.  The resulting public outcry for (more) privacy of imagery data led to most social websites removing the EXIF data from any image uploaded to their accounts.

5) Oct 2010 - Instagram Website Launched: Since it was created, Instagram has become what I consider to be one of the top five social networking websites in the world, and currently the most popular website that focuses on uploaded imagery content, making it a go-to destination for any investigation process.

6) Apr 2011 - iOS4 Location File Incident: This listing related to Apple’s ‘cpnsolidate.db’ file isn’t about the file itself and its potential vulnerabilities; it is about the reaction that followed with the general public becoming increasingly aware of how location information on their devices can be used and the impact on their privacy.  Over the past few years, it has been noticed that a significant percentage of people do not identify their location on their social networking accounts, which presents a challenge to investigators. 

7) Sep 2011 - Snapchat V2 App Released: Not the original version, but rather the improved second version, this mobile device app was embraced by hundreds of thousands of teenagers who wanted to prevent their parents from being able to see what they were posting to each other. It is not as popular as it was six years ago, but it is still in common use, as are many imitators and competitors. 

8) Nov 2011 - Opencorporates Launched:  Haven't heard of this site?  It is one of my favourites for locating information about companies centric to North America and the United Kingdom, allowing you to search by company name and director name.  Every result shows a link back to the source website, which can be one of nine Canadian provinces, over 40 American states, or 10 other offshore countries.    

9) Nov 2012 - Twitter Advanced Search: This is one of those website evolutions that completely changed the ability to locate information on Twitter accounts (and coincidentally wiped out over 100 websites that profited from Twitter analytics).  I would have voted this as the 'most amazing new tool for 2011', and it is still a powerful tool for locating information on Twitter. 

10) May 2013 - Google 3D Maps: When Google 3D Maps finally came out I actually stood up out of my chair and yelled 'Yes!'.  Being able to match images to ground locations combined with the ability to use the 3D map function makes for a powerful tool in locating places, events, objects, and people.    

11) May 2013 - Echosec/Geofeeedia Geolocation Websites:  Combining social networking content with geolocation search capability, sites such as EchoSec (and in the past, the now defunct Geofeedia) can often offer real value to investigators. Geolocation services only work effectively when users are posting publicly with location services turned on, and as a result of some bad publicity in 2017, some social media platforms have severely restricted how their location data can be used.  Still, geolocation search services can be a gold mine of information and I believe they still have great potential in the coming few years. 

12) Mar 2014 - 123people.ca Disappears: A people search engine that found excellent Canadian results, and one that I personally considered to be one of the better search tools out there.  

13) May 2014 - Google Spain v AEPD/Costeja: This is the court case that started the 'opt-out' movement.  Type "right to be forgotten + wikipedia" into Google and you can read the whole story.  As to the impact of this case, I'm divided on it; although it gives the subjects we investigate the ability to remove results from Google, it also allows persons with legitimate security concerns (i.e. law enforcement, security members, persons under threat, etc.) the ability to remove results from Google.  You have to take the good with the bad. 

14) Apr 2015 - Iconosquare Goes Premium: A website that took Instagram account information and presented it in a different way, this website showed Instagram account images, comments, and 'likes' all on one single page that was easy to save. And, if the account holder had their location services left on, it showed where the image was uploaded from on its own mapping link.  It might still do that, but I can't confirm if it does as the website is now a premium service.  I have since shifted to a different website with less capability and no cost.  

15) Aug 2015 - Ashley Madison Data Breach: This data breach was not the first, or the most damaging to the security industry, but it was certainly the most well known.  It pushed public sensitivity regarding the privacy of their personal information to a new high that had not been reached since 2011.  It also boosted the privacy consulting sector of the security industry.      

16) Aug 2015 - Matchdeck Buys AIHIT: This is another website that many investigators either do not know about or don't use.  It is a great source of information regarding changes to domain registration, often showing changes in names and contact information going back years.  The original buy-out wasn't the problem; it was when the new owners changed AIHIT to a premium service.  You can still see up to six months of registration changes (sometimes even back one year) but you now have to pay to see the entire history of a domain.  And when I say pay, I mean an estimated $1300 per year for full access. 

17) Oct 2016 - Quanki Launched: Still unknown to many investigators, Quanki is a very useful people search engine that shows the current capabilities of what data scrapers can do with aggregated public information.  Although focused on US residents, people with links to the US (i.e. residences and business operations) are likely to show up here.  

18) Feb 2017 - Omgili Search Engine Gone: For the last five years, Omgili was one of the top three search engines for finding online content related to boards, forums, and blogs.  And then it stopped working.  It is unconfirmed whether they decided to quit, went out of business, or sold their data to another company, but its loss leaves us with fewer options for these types of searches (try Boardreader in its place).   

19) Apr 2017 - Facebook Login Search Change: Formerly one of the investigators' best kept little search tricks, Facebook made a significant change to this search capability earlier this year.  When selected in the account privacy controls, Instead of showing whether a particular phone number or email address was used in relation to an active account, it now is most likely to send a notice to the an account holder that someone is trying to enter their account (or gain information about their account). I no longer recommend this as an open source search technique.
 

Once again, a relatively short time period has resulted in numerous changes to Internet websites that affect our methods, processes, and where we go for sources of information.  These are only a few of the changes that have occurred, and are the ones I consider to have had the greatest effect on online investigations.  These examples confirm that if you don't have time to do this research yourself, you need to network frequently with a group of associates, and get refresher training at least once a year, just to keep up with the changes that are always occurring online. 

That's all for this issue.  Hope to see some of you at a future conference, and you can contact our office if you want to learn more about open or in-house training, as well as the regularly updated research resources available on our website!
A Decade of Changes in Open Source and Online Investigations