|
The internet provides untold riches if you know how to use
it. The problem is knowing the right keyword or
combination of keywords to locate information. Google
brought us ways to search or to drill down through the
millions (billions) of web pages with ease but there is a
special way to use Google search to "hack" down to specific
files and other archives. True hackers found a
treasure
trove of information that was simply sitting in the open on
a network that had such usable information as passwords,
login codes, and personal information such as dates of
birth, social security numbers, and even salary. For an
in depth discussion of Google searches go to
Johnny iHackstuff
. Your IT Departments should be made aware of any
potential exploits that can expose company data.
The searches
listed below can be as an excellent internet resource for
research or investigation. Simply use the
search
syntax (i.e. intitle:) and then the search type. Do
not use a space after the colon.
Additionally
all websites and their various versions are archived.
If you needed to see how a company presented itself in 2001
go to Wayback
Machine. This is an excellent tool when litigation
is involved in an event that happened several years ago.
It is amazing how things may have (or not) changed since
then.
|
intitle: |
This syntax restricts a
search to titles of Web sites; it can be effectively
combined with other syntaxes to customize a search.
An alternative syntax, allintitle: looks for
all the words in the title of a Web site;
allintitle: does not mix well with other
syntaxes. |
Example:
intitle:"counterfeit watches:rolex"
|
|
inurl: |
This syntax
restricts a search to the URLs of Web sites. It can
be an effective way to find sites from within a
domain, directory or path; it can also be
effectively combined with other syntaxes to
customize a search. |
Example: intitle:"civil liberties" terrorism
inurl:cnn
Example: intitle:police intitle:video inurl:chase
Example: inurl:trainingtechniques |
|
site:
|
This
syntax allows you to limit a search to a site or a
top level domain. It is similar to inurl: but will
not search for a site within a subdirectory (i.e.,
anything beyond the /). Some advantages to using
inurl: over site: are:
You can use inurl: by itself without using any
other search terms or syntaxes.
You can use inurl: to search subdirectories. |
Example: intitle:"hate crimes" site:gov
Example: intitle:"retail crimes" OR "loss
prevention" site:org |
|
intext: |
This
syntax searches for words in only the text of a Web
site. It ignores link text, URLs and titles which
makes it a useful syntax for finding search words
that are commonly used in URLs or links. It can be
effectively combined with other syntaxes to
customize a search. |
Example: intext:html site:edu
Example: intext:"google.com" inurl:help |
|
inanchor: |
This
syntax searches for text in a Web site's link
anchors (i.e., the text you click on get to a Web
site). Since the anchor text for a link is usually
descriptive of the page it links to, the inanchor:
syntax can be a useful way to limit a search to
relevant sites. It can be effectively combined with
other syntaxes to customize a search. |
Example: inanchor:"Google Help"
Example: inanchor:ASIS inanchor:grants site:gov
For a fun
experiment, try typing your name as a phrase with
the inanchor: syntax! |
|
link: |
This
syntax returns a list of Web sites linking to a
specific URL. The link: syntax can not be combined
with another syntax. |
Example: link:cnn.com |
|
daterange: |
This
syntax allows you to limit a search to a specific
date or range of dates that a site was indexed by
Google (this is not the same as the date the site
was created; Google may have added the site to the
search engine at a much later date). The only
drawback to this syntax is that it works with the
Julian Calendar, not the Gregorian Calendar (the one
we use). To use daterange: first go to the
Julian Date Converter at the U.S. Naval
Observatory. |
Example: intitle:"george bush"
daterange:2454247-2454247
(this would search for May 26, 2007) |
|
filetype: |
This syntax searches for
specific filename extensions. Google searches for
PowerPoint (.ppt), Excel (.xls), and Word (.doc)
documents as well as Adobe Acrobat (.pdf), Adobe
Postscript (.ps), Rich Text Format (.rtf) and
Access (.mdb) |
Example: intitle:"identity theft" filetype:pdf
Example: intitle:google filetype:doc
Example: intitle:"oxycontin"
site:gov filetype:ppt |
|
related: |
This
syntax searches for Web sites related or similar to
a specified URL. This is a good way to retrieve
categories or types of Web sites. |
Example: related:google.com
Example: related:linccweb.org |
|
info: |
This syntax
provides a page of links to more information about a
specified URL including a link to the page's cache,
a list of Web sites that link to the specified URL,
a list of Web sites related to the specified URL and
Web sites that contain the specified URL. |
Example: info:cnn.com |
Sample searches:
Google Search Statement |
|
|
credit fraud |
This is a default
Boolean AND search. Both words must be present
anywhere in a Web site to be retrieved. |
"credit fraud"
|
This search is a
phrase search; the words must be in the order
presented. |
intitle:"credit
fraud"
|
This search is a
phrase search but the phrase, date rape, must be
in the title of the Web site to be retrieved. |
|
intitle:"credit
fraud" inurl:cnn |
This search limits
the search directly above to only those Web
sites produced by CNN as cnn must be part of the
Web site address. |
|
intitle:"credit
fraud" site:gov |
This search limits
the search above (intitle:"credit fraud") to
those produced by government sites (com,
edu, gov, net, info, biz,ws org etc) |
|
intitle:"credit
fraud" retail site:gov |
This search adds
the word alcohol to the search directly
above. |
|
intitle:"credit
fraud" inurl:fbi inanchor:statistics
|
This search not
only looks for Web sites where the phrase credit
fraud is in the title and the sites are produced
by FBI, but there must be links within the sites
to statistical information. The word statistics
must be an anchor (clickable word). |
|
intitle:"credit
fraud" site:edu filetype:ppt |
This search
locates PowerPoint presentations produced by
educational institutions where the phrase credit
fraud is in the title of the Web site. |
Phonebook
Google provides listings
for both residential and commercial phone numbers. The
three syntaxes used are:
phonebook: this
searches the entire phonebook
rphonebook: this searches residential listings only
bphonebook: this searches business listings only
Boolean OR operators and
wildcards (*) do not work in the phonebook.
Example:
bphonebook:book Dallas
will retrieve listings for any business with the word
book in Dallas
Example: rphonebook:"john doe" Dallas
will retrieve listings for residential phone numbers in
Dallas for John Doe
The phonebook can also be
used as a reverse directory. Use the general syntax,
phonebook: when performing a reverse search.
Example:
phonebook:(555) 555-1212. Use this format for a phone
number to conduct a reverse search.
Call us for a
confidential consultation at 281.370.1569 or click
 to send an email describing your company's needs. |
