A Collection Of Brand Protection Investigation Tools
Investigators must utilise all available applications, websites, operating systems and resources to research brand piracy. The assumption is most rightsholders will be using Microsoft Windows or Apple Mac OS. It is handy to have access to both. With this in mind, recommendations have taken into consideration compatibility. This equally applies to having access to an Android device and an iPhone. Tools and browser extensions are constantly changing, in terms of functionality, availability and price. Finding tools which suit a specific workflow assists with productivity and can mitigate against investigation fatigue by reducing burdensome repetitive tasks. The tools are divided into four broad categories of: Operating Systems; Applications; Extensions; and Websites.
| Name | Description | Type | Link |
| AdGuard | Ad block software | Extension | https://adguard.com/ |
| AdSpy | Track social media ads | Website | https://adspy.com/ |
| After Ship | Track parcels | Website | https://track.aftership.com/ |
| Allow Right-Click | Enables right-click when blocked | Extension | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/allow-right-click/hompjdfbfmmmgflfjdlnkohcplmboaeo?hl=en |
| Analyzeid | Reverse lookup website assets | Website | http://analyzeid.com/ |
| Andyroid | Android emulator | Application | https://www.andyroid.net/ |
| BAILII | UK court records | Website | https://www.bailii.org/ |
| Bulk Media Downloader | Automate downloading of files | Extension | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/bulk-media-downloader/ehfdcgbfcboceiclmjaofdannmjdeaoi?hl=en |
| Camel x3 | Amazon price tracker | Website | https://camelcamelcamel.com/ |
| Censys | Cyber security visualisation tool | Application | https://censys.io/ |
| Copy all links & images | Productivity hack | Extension | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/copy-all-links-and-image/ccddopnnikeeoogpfbnfommfoeliaidg?hl=en |
| Copy All URLs | Productivity hack | Extension | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/copy-all-urls/djdmadneanknadilpjiknlnanaolmbfk?hl=en |
| Cuniq | Access Chinese mobile number | Website | https://www.cuniq.com/ |
| Curia | EU court records | Website | https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/j_6/en/ |
| CyberGhost VPN | Commercial VPN | Application | https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/ |
| Deluge | BitTorrent client | Application | https://deluge-torrent.org/ |
| Diff Checker | Compare text | Website | https://www.diffchecker.com/ |
| Disconnect | Content block software | Extension | https://disconnect.me/ |
| DNS Dumpster | DNS lookup | Website | https://dnsdumpster.com/ |
| Dofo | Domain name and history lookup | Website | https://dofo.com/ |
| Domain Dossier | Whois lookup | Website | https://centralops.net/co/ |
| DomainHackMe | Create domain hacks | Website | https://www.domainhack.me/ |
| Europeana | European archives, libraries and museums | Website | https://www.europeana.eu/en/collections |
| ExtendsClass | Various tools including text diff checker, JSON formatter etc | Website | https://extendsclass.com/ |
| EverNote | Digital note taking app | Application | https://evernote.com/ |
| EXIF Viewer | Review photo metadata | Extension | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/exif-viewer/kbnpbnmjmgabkfemdehelbgdppngihhg |
| Fakespot | Amazon review analyzer | Website | https://www.fakespot.com/ |
| Fiddler | HTTP debugging application | Application | https://www.telerik.com/fiddler |
| FireShot Pro | Screenshot application | Application | https://getfireshot.com/ |
| Ghostery | Content block software | Extension | https://www.ghostery.com/ |
| Greenshot | Screenshot application | Application | https://getgreenshot.org/ |
| HashAtIt | Hashtag search engine | Website | https://www.hashatit.com/ |
| HTTrack | Download any website | Application | https://www.httrack.com/ |
| i2OCR | Free Optical Character Recognition software | Website | http://www.i2ocr.com/ |
| IG Audit | Checks if Instagram followers are real | Website | https://embed.igaudit.io/ |
| JSON formatter | Convert JSON | Website | https://jsonformatter.org/ |
| JSON Formatter & Validator | Convert JSON | Website | https://jsonformatter.curiousconcept.com/ |
| Jungle Scout | Amazon sales and product analytics | Application | https://www.junglescout.com/ |
| Jungle Search | Amazon advanced / deep search | Website | https://www.jungle-search.com/UK/advanced |
| Justia | US legal information | Website | https://www.justia.com/ |
| Kali Linux | Pen testing focused Linux distribution | Operating System | https://www.kali.org/ |
| LexisNexus | Legal database | Website | https://www.lexisnexis.com/ |
| Linkclump | Incredible productivity hack extension | Extension | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/linkclump/lfpjkncokllnfokkgpkobnkbkmelfefj?hl=en |
| Lumen Database | Public DMCA removal request database | Website | https://www.lumendatabase.org/ |
| Microsoft OneNote | Digital note taking app | Application | https://products.office.com/en-gb/onenote/digital-note-taking-app |
| Moz | SEO software, guides and consultants | Website | https://moz.com/ |
| MyIP | Whois lookup | Website | https://myip.ms/ |
| NordVPN | Commercial VPN | Application | https://nordvpn.com |
| NoScript | Content block software | Extension | https://noscript.net/ |
| OBS | Open source screen capture application | Application | https://obsproject.com/ |
| Open Corporates | Company search engine | Website | https://opencorporates.com/ |
| OpenVPN | Open source VPN software | Application | https://openvpn.net/ |
| OSINT Combine | Search for TikTok users (excl Douyin) | Website | https://www.osintcombine.com/tiktok-quick-search |
| PACER | US electronic court records | Website | https://www.pacer.gov/ |
| Paterva Maltego | Cyber security visualisation tool | Application | https://www.paterva.com/ |
| qBittorrent | BitTorrent client | Application | https://www.qbittorrent.org/ |
| Reddit Investigator | Reddit account analysis | Website | https://www.redditinvestigator.com/ |
| Reddit User Analyser | Reddit account analysis | Application | https://github.com/atomiks/reddit-user-analyser |
| ReviewMeta | Amazon review analyzer | Website | https://reviewmeta.com/ |
| Sandvine | Network intelligence solutions and reports | Website | https://www.sandvine.com/ |
| ScreamingFrog | Website spider / crawler | Application | https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/ |
| Seomater | Find sitemap for a website | Website | https://seomator.com/free-tools/sitemap-test |
| SEOquake | SEO analytics | Extension | https://www.seoquake.com/index.html |
| Shodan | Cyber security visualisation tool | Application | https://www.shodan.io/ |
| SimilarWeb | Web analytics | Website | https://www.similarweb.com/ |
| Small SEO Tools | Collection of SEO and various tools | Website | https://smallseotools.com/ |
| Snapdex | Search Snapchat users | Website | https://www.snapdex.com/ |
| SpyOnWeb | Reverse lookup of Google Analytics or Pub ID | Website | http://spyonweb.com/ |
| Stories IG | Download active Instagram Stories | Website | https://storiesig.com/ |
| Tails OS | Privacy focused Linux distribution | Operating System | https://tails.boum.org/ |
| Tor Project | Tor browser to access dark web | Application | https://www.torproject.org/ |
| Transparency Report | Google report on content removals | Website | https://transparencyreport.google.com |
| Tweetbeaver | Twtitter account analysis | Website | https://tweetbeaver.com/ |
| Twipho | Reverse image search for Twitter | Website | http://twipho.net/ |
| Twtter Advanced Operators | Advanced searches for Twitter | Website | https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/tweets/rules-and-filtering/overview/standard-operators |
| uBlock Origin | Ad block software | Extension | https://ublock.org/ |
| uMatrix | Content block software | Extension | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/umatrix/ogfcmafjalglgifnmanfmnieipoejdcf?hl=en |
| User-Agent Switcher | Change user-agent | Extension | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/user-agent-switcher-for-c/djflhoibgkdhkhhcedjiklpkjnoahfmg |
| uTorrent | BitTorrent client | Application | https://www.utorrent.com/ |
| ViewDNS | Whois and various lookups | Website | https://viewdns.info/ |
| VirtualBox | Create virtual machine | Application | https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads |
| VirusTotal | Test files or URLs for malware | Website | https://www.virustotal.com/gui/home/upload |
| Visual Investigative Scenarios | Investigative data visualisation software | Website | https://vis.occrp.org/ |
| Visual Ping | Website monitoring tool | Website | https://visualping.io/ |
| VMware | Create virtual machine | Application | https://www.vmware.com/ |
| Vysor | Android screen mirroring software | Application | https://www.vysor.io/ |
| Wayback Machine | Digital archive of the world wide web | Website | https://archive.org/web/ |
| WestLaw | Legal database | Website | https://legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.co.uk/en/products-services/westlaw-uk.html |
| WIPO Case & Panel Decisions | Search WIPO cases i.e. UDRP disputes | Website | https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/ |
| Wireshark | Open source packet analyzer | Application | https://www.wireshark.org/ |
| YouTube Comment Scraper | Downloads comments from YouTube video | Website | http://ytcomments.klostermann.ca/ |
| YouTube Graph Search | YouTube video connection visualization | Website | http://yasiv.com/youtube |