UNCOVERING THE USER BEHIND THE USERNAME: TOOLS AND TRADECRAFT FOR ONLINE INVESTIGATIONS

When investigating online threats to your organization, you may need to quickly locate a user of interest or concern. Analyzing profiles or posts can be challenging if the user does not reveal their real identity. By harnessing free OSINT tools and techniques, it’s possible to identify the person or group behind an unknown or anonymous username based on indicators and breadcrumbs left behind on users’ profiles. This 90-minute pre-conference session will include real case examples demonstrating workflows to successfully reveal bad actors behind the content that is a cause of concern for your organization or client. 

Learning Objectives

  • Outline tools, techniques, and useful steps for identifying an unknown person
  • Explore case study examples
  • Introduce challenges and workarounds investigators may face throughout the work process

RACHEL KRONENFELD

Ms. Kronenfeld serves as Hetherington Group’s Director of Services. A core member of Hg’s executive leadership team, Ms. Kronenfeld leads Hg in business development, client and vendor relations, and is responsible for the management and development of all investigative work. In addition to identifying and implementing business goals and strategies, Ms. Kronenfeld also leads the internal marketing department and contributes to Hg’s blogs and thought leadership pieces.

Since joining Hg in 2016 as an investigative analyst and subsequently earning a promotion to Manager of Investigations, Ms. Kronenfeld has continuously increased her responsibilities throughout her tenure. Presently, Ms. Kronenfeld conducts trainings to investigators, security professionals, attorneys, accountants, auditors, military intelligence professionals, and federal, state, and local agencies on best practices in conducting Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) investigations and corresponding techniques. She is also a frequent presenter at national conferences, speaking on OSINT matters to an array of diverse professionals.

Prior to joining Hg, Ms. Kronenfeld worked as a paralegal, where she honed her skills in due diligence investigations, legal research, and case analysis through public record research. She interned at the Regional Operations Intelligence Center for the New Jersey State Police in their Major Crimes Unit, where she worked side-by-side with detectives to uncover threats and fraud through gathering and analyzing information. Ms. Kronenfeld holds a B.A. in Political Science (magna cum laude) from Ramapo College of New Jersey.