De-anonymization through Username
What is the most important thing about a username for an anonymous person?
Uniqueness! It is uniqueness, not the meaninglessness of the username. Any complex unique username is just a gift for cyber detectives, and soon you will see this for yourself. It seems that everyone understands why a unique username is bad for anonymity, but not everyone can appreciate how bad it is until they start using the solutions described below.
Maigret is a modernized version of the popular service Sherlock. It checks a user's username against 2,000 sources in 15 seconds: social networks, forums, messengers, etc.
The current link to the Maigret Telegram bot is available in our catalog Cyber Detective Library (Tools for username checks section). The addresses of such bots change from time to time.
Maigret not only finds accounts but also analyzes them: the report includes presumed name, geolocation, activities, hobbies, and more. The developers constantly update Maigret: adding new sources and improving search algorithms.
How it differs from other services
There are tools like Namechk, InstantUsername, Checkusernames. What is their problem? They do not search for a person's profiles; they check if the name is taken.
And KnowEm, for example, offers to register the desired nickname on 300 platforms for a fee. Do you think it is profitable for them to find accounts by nickname? They earn money on unused usernames, although if you are a businessman with your brand, you should consider their services.
In Maigret, there are no false results: for example, when an account is found on a site, but it is not there. The service's database of sites is updated promptly, and it does not require manually extracting files from the repository: updates are automatically pulled in upon launch.
Examples of use
Suppose you were deceived by a "crypto investor." Meanwhile, the IP address is hidden: the attacker uses a VPN. We check their nickname through Maigret — we find profiles on websites. If a user with that nickname exists, for example, on the cryptocurrency forum Bitalk, it is likely that this is our subject: the interests are similar.
Additionally, we can analyze the writing style: how they communicate, whether they use emojis, and how they punctuate. The language is the same, but almost everyone has their unique "handwriting" that can be recognized. If the texts of the "crypto investor" and the Bitalk user have the same linguistic structure, then with a 95% probability, it is the same person.