Digital Forensics Tips

  Favicons (short for favorite icons) are the cute little pixelated images that appear next to the site name in web browser tabs, bookmarks, etc. In the image below we can see the iconic GitHub logo on their site and the KFC logo on a bucket of chicken on their site. Originally, favicons were designed to add a touch of professionalism and branding, but for anyone who is like me and has over a dozen tabs open at any time, favicons are the only thing displayed and how I navigate tabs. Most of us rely on favicons on a daily basis but many never think of them as a tool we can use in OSINT and CTI investigations. That’s what we’re doing to talk about here as well as introduce a new tool. In addition to branding and aiding in navigation between tabs, favicons can serve as unique identifiers for websites. These unique identifiers can help us: Trace the online presence of organizations and discover obscure digital assets Map the online infrastructure of potential threats Potentially de-ano