Sofia Santo’s OSINT Exercise #004

OSINT Exercise #004

I started my research by doing a reverse image search on Google. Almost immediately, I found a picture of a similar island with OAN Resort written in the caption. I clicked on the post and started looking through the rest of the pictures. I could not find the exact image from the challenge but found a very similar one.

I went to Google Earth and searched for OAN Resort, and it took me to the island shown in the picture from the challenge. You can see in the screenshot above four landmarks that I used to match with the original image to confirm I had the right place.

With the location aligned to the original image on Google Earth to the best of my ability, I was able to use the compass in the bottom right corner to get a sense of direction. I believe the camera is facing northwest.

Tasks:

a. What is the name of the resort?
b. What are the coordinates of the island?
c. In which cardinal direction was the camera facing when the photo was taken?

Solutions:

a. OAN Resort
b. Island coordinates are: 7°21’46″N 151°45’21″E
c. As you can see on the last screenshot above the compass is pointing towards NW.

Not a very long exercise but still an interesting one. At first, I thought it would be very difficult since there are no roads, signs, buildings, or any distinguishing structure that could help us pinpoint an approximate location or be our guide.

Sometimes it’s better to keep things simple. By doing a simple reverse image search, I found the biggest lead I could have hoped for that took me straight to the right location. I hope you enjoyed it and am looking forward to our next exercise. Stay tuned!