TryHackMe: Searchlight IMINT writeup/walk-through
Write-up for the room ‘Searchlight - IMINT’ on TryHackMe
As per THM rules, write-ups shouldn't include passwords/cracked hashes/flags. I can only help you find out how to get the answer, not give you the answer.
Task 2: Your first challenge!
#1. What is the name of the street where this image was taken?
This is a very straightforward answer. You should be able to find it very easily just by looking at the image..
Task 3: Just Google it!
#1. Which city is the tube station located in?
If you zoom in on the picture, the stations name that we can make out is ‘…LLY CIRCUS STATION’. Search it on Google and you should be able to find the city the station is in as well as the name of the tube station which is the answer for the next question.
#2. Which tube station do these stairs lead to?
Check the previous answer for this question’s answer.
#3. Which year did this station open?
If you search the name of the tube station with the words ‘open year’, you should find the answer very easily.
#4. How many platforms are there in this station?
If you search the name of the tube station with the word ‘platform’, you will find the number of the platforms as shown below.
Task 4: Keep at it!
#1. Which building is this photo taken in?
I normally start looking for any text and here it says, YVR CONNECTS in the image, so we can search that online.
Just type in the name of the building with the spaces in between and it should work.
#2. Which country is this building located in?
I assume most of you will be able to know which country it is located in once you find out the building name. For those that aren’t familiar, this should help.
#3. Which city is this building located in?
If you search the name of the building and add city to it on Google, it will give you a different answer. The answer for this question is actually in the building name itself.
Task 5: Coffee and a light lunch
#1. Which city is this coffee shop located in?
From reading the text in the image, I can make out that the building across it is, ‘The Edinburgh Woollen M…’ and if you search it on Google, Google will automatically suggest ‘The Edinburgh Woollen Mill’ so let’s go with that. If you search the following on Google Images including the quotations:
“Edinburgh Woollen Mill” street “corner”
You should eventually come across the following image which should look familiar to the one from the task.
The name of the city is in the images title.
#2. Which street is this coffee shop located in?
If you search The Edinburg Woollen Mill along with the name of the city from the previous answer, you should find a google maps link. Once you go there, you should see something familiar.
Try to image where the image was taken from in such a way that Edinburgh Woollen Mill can be see so you can work out where the person taking a picture was and as shown above, “The Wee Coffee Shop”. You can then go on to identify the street name near that Coffee Shop.
#3. What is their phone number?
If you click on the “The Wee Coffee Shop” icon on the map, their phone number should be on this page as shown here. You might have to remove some white space to fit the format on TryHackMe as shown by the asterisk signs in the input box.
#4. What is their email address?
If you search The Wee Coffee Shop on Google, their Facebook page should appear. The About or Contact page usually have the contact details for the business, so try the About page on Facebook since that is only page available there and you’ll see their email there.
#5. What is the surname of the owners?
Search the following on Google with the quotation marks:
“the wee coffee shop” “owner”
Task 6: Reverse your thinking
#1. Which restaurant was this picture taken at?
If you upload this image to Google Image search, Google should easily be able to identify the image for you and you should have the answer. The answer might seem too long and will not work so think of a short name for it.
#2. What is the name of the Bon Appétit editor that worked 24 hours at this restaurant?
You can find the answer for this question by searching the answer from before along with bon appetit editor. The first link should have the answer.
Task 7: Locate this sculpture
This was a very difficult one!
#1. What is the name of this statue?
If you reverse search this image on Yandex, and scroll down, you should find a wiki site saying that this statue is in ‘Astrup Fearnley Museet’ in Oslo, Norway.
You can also see that the link says Motor Deer sculpture so if you search for deer statue in oslo, you can find the answer.
#2. Who took this image?
If you go to the same link as the last picture, visitoslo.com…, there should be a map full of outdoor structures in the area. This particular sculpture should be on the bottom left if you zoom out on the map. The name of the person who took this picture should be there where I have drawn an arrow.
Task 8: …and justice for all
#1. What is the name of the character that the statue depicts?
Reverse searching the image should easily help you find this answer.
#2. Where is this statue located?
If you reverse search the provided image on Yandex, after scrolling down and finding some similar images, you should find a similar one like this which mention ‘United States Courthouse’.
It should also show more related images and you should see the image I circled. Click on that.
Searching ALBERT V. BRYAN UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE on Google should help in identifying the location of this courthouse. I found a Wikipedia page on this courthouse which reveals it’s location.
#3. What is the name of the building opposite from this statue?
Go back to the Google search page and click on the maps tab. If you use the street view feature (the yellow person icon at the bottom right corner) and place in near the arrow and look back and forth, you’ll see something similar to the statue image we found on Yandex where it says the courthouse’s name. So the building opposite to it would be the one as shown below.
Task 9: The view from my hotel room
Going through the provided video, I took a few images that I think should be enough in helping find the name of the hotel. Notice the roof cover design on the first 2 images and the RIVERSIDE POINT sign in the 3rd image.
#1. What is the name of the hotel that my friend is staying in?
When you search Riverside point on Google image search, you should find a lot of images that resemble the sign in the 3rd image I shared above. After seeing some of these, you will learn that Riverside Point is in Singapore.
Now we can search Riverside point Singapore and go to Maps tab on Google. We can switch to satellite mode and take note of a few things, the Riverside Point restaurant as well as the roof design we saw earlier. We can then map out where the camera man shot the video from.
After knowing where the person was videotaping from, we can use the street view tool and look around to find the name of the hotel.
That’s all for this room. Follow me for more write-ups!