Open Source Metadata Tool

September 12, 2009

I received an interesting question yesterday (September 11, 2009). The writer wanted to know if there was a repository of open source software which served the intelligence community. I have heard of an informal list maintained by some specialized outfits, but I could not locate my information about these sources. I suggested running a Google query. Then I received a link to a Network World story with the title “Powerful Tool to Scour Document Metadata Updated.” Although not exactly the type of software my correspondent was seeking, I found the tool interesting. The idea is that some word processing and desktop software embed user information in documents. The article asserted:

The application, called FOCA (Fingerprinting Organizations with Collected Archives), will download all documents that have been posted on a Web site and extract the metadata, or the information generated about the document itself. It often reveals who created the document, e-mail address, internal IP (Internet Protocol) addresses and much more….FOCA can also identify OS versions and application versions, making it possible to see if a particular computer or user has up-to-date patches. That information is of particular use to hackers, who could then do a spear phishing attack, where a specific user is targeted over e-mail with an attachment that contains malicious software.

Some of the information that is “code behind” what the document shows in the Word edit menu is exciting.

Stephen Arnold, September 12, 2009

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under News, Online (general), Security, Text processing

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.