Welcome back, aspiring cyberwarriors!
A vehicle is more than just a machine; it serves as a moving record. Its license plate, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), history, and position in traffic all represent valuable information that can be collected by anyone equipped with the right tools and asking the right questions.
In this article, we will continue our series on car OSINT and further explore tools and techniques for gathering information about vehicles. Let’s get rolling!
Step #1: Automatic License Plate Recognition
In a previous article, we discussed the importance of license plates in OSINT and how to research them. However, one major challenge we didn’t address is the lack of high-quality vehicle images, which makes manual analysis difficult. To ease this process, we will explore the Plate Recognizer platform.
Plate Recognizer is an Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) platform that employs two separate neural networks to detect and decode license plates from photographs and video frames. The first network identifies every license plate visible in an image, even if the plates are blurry, partially obscured, angled, or captured in low-light conditions. The second network decodes each character on the detected plate. This results in a system capable of extracting license plate text from photographs taken in real-world conditions.
The service supports over 90 countries and is specifically tuned to accommodate the formatting conventions of each region.
To begin using the platform, simply open https://platerecognizer.com/ in your browser and upload an image.
After the analysis is complete, the platform will identify and mark all detected cars and license plates.
By moving the mouse over the marked license plate, we can see the platform result, which displays the plate, region, and confidence level.
Additionally, the platform provides information on market cars, including type, model, and approximate age. You can access all this information by clicking “show JSON results.”
Step #2: Crowdsourced Real-Time Traffic Intelligence
One of the most popular crowdsourced real-time traffic map applications is Waze. Owned by Google since 2013, Waze is a community-driven navigation app. Unlike conventional mapping services that primarily use GPS speed measurements to gather traffic data, Waze operates as a social platform. Its millions of active users continuously report incidents such as hazards, police presence, road closures, and other conditions while they drive. These updates are displayed in near real time on both the Waze app and the Waze Live Map, which is a publicly accessible browser-based version available at waze.com.
To get started, users need to enter their starting point and destination. The Live Map requires no account or installation. Any analyst can access it via a browser and navigate to any location with Waze coverage to view current traffic conditions, including every reported incident, traffic jam, hazard, and police sighting. This information is continuously updated based on user reports.
Step #3: VIN Decoding
The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is a 17-character alphanumeric code assigned to every road-legal motor vehicle manufactured since 1981. This number is permanently stamped into the vehicle’s structure and is most commonly found on the dashboard, visible through the windshield on the driver’s side, on the door jamb sticker, and on the engine block. It is also represented on the vehicle’s registration documents, insurance policy, and title. Since no two vehicles share the same VIN, it serves as the definitive fingerprint of a specific vehicle and remains unchanged throughout its life.
Because each VIN is unique and contains manufacturer-encoded information, decoding it provides an accurate representation of the vehicle as it left the factory. This information remains valid regardless of any claims made by subsequent owners, repair shops, or fraudulent sellers. Therefore, VIN analysis is one of the most reliable methods in any vehicle investigation.
Each of the 17 characters in a VIN has a defined meaning, and understanding the structure allows analysts to interpret VINs without a decoder tool for the most critical fields:
| VIN Characters | Intelligence Value |
| Characters 1–3: World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI) | Country of manufacture and manufacturer identity. The first character is the country code (1/4/5 = USA, W = Germany, J = Japan, S = UK, V = France, etc.). The second and third narrow to the specific manufacturer and division. |
| Characters 4–8: Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS) | Body style, restraint systems, engine type, and vehicle line. These five characters are manufacturer-defined but allow decoding the specific trim level, engine code, and body configuration. |
| Character 9: Check Digit | A mathematically derived value used to verify the VIN’s validity. If the check digit does not match when calculated, the VIN is either misread or fraudulent. |
| Character 10: Model Year | Encoded using a standardised letter/number key. Analysts can decode any vehicle year from 1980 to 2035 from this single character alone. |
| Character 11: Plant Code | The specific factory where the vehicle was assembled. Decoding this reveals the actual build plant, which may differ from the country suggested by the WMI. |
| Characters 12–17: Production Sequence Number | The vehicle’s unique serial number within the manufacturing run. Lower numbers indicate early production of that model year, useful for identifying pre-production or early-build vehicles. |
Today, we no longer need to decode the VIN manually. Websites like driving-tests.org/vin-decoder let us enter the VIN and get results.
Summary
Cars drive in public areas with license plates that are easy to see and read because that is their main purpose. Vehicle OSINT uses these visible identifiers, along with information from the platforms we explored today, to create a clear understanding of any vehicle that stands out.
If you’re looking to enhance your OSINT skills, consider exploring our OSINT training. If you need assistance in uncovering the truth, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected], and we’ll conduct a comprehensive OSINT investigation for you.
Source: HackersArise
Source Link: https://hackers-arise.com/open-source-intelligence-osint-tools-and-techniques-for-vehicle-investigation-part-2/