Intake Hygiene & Chain of Custody

Cryptographic Fingerprinting & Container Integrity

0/3 Verified

Lock evidence immediately upon receipt. Establish an immutable chain of custody before opening the file in consumer software that could modify access timestamps.

Cryptographic SHA-256 Checksum Logged +10 Pts

Generate and record a 64-character SHA-256 fingerprint in the case docket before any analysis to ensure evidentiary non-alteration.

Compute SHA-256 in Navigator →

Native Raw Container Preserved (Uncompressed) +10 Pts

Verify whether file was acquired as an uncompressed document or social upload. Check for MP4 container encoder strings (Lavf, HandBrake vs. Apple/Samsung).

Read Intake Hygiene Protocol →

Acquisition Provenance & Transmission Channel Logged +5 Pts

Document how the file reached your desk (Signal dead drop, Telegram channel ID, direct bystander contact, whistleblower link).

02

Chronolocation & Temporal Anchors

Solar Azimuth, Shadow Ratios & Platform Upload Ceilings

0/3 Verified

Establish the exact hour and date of recording. Prove whether the media could have occurred at the claimed moment or represents recycled historical footage.

Earliest UTC Upload Timestamp Established +10 Pts

Extract the exact UTC upload timestamp from YouTube API, X API, or Telegram server headers to fix the outer temporal ceiling of the media.

Solar Azimuth & Shadow Vector Math Corroborated +15 Pts

Measure vertical structure shadows against True North and calculate solar elevation angle to verify local time within a 15-minute margin.

Launch Solar Shadow Chronolocator →

Meteorological Conditions Cross-Referenced (METAR) +5 Pts

Cross-reference airfield METAR weather logs, cloud coverage, snow levels, and seasonal tree foliage with historical weather records on that date.

03

Geospatial Ground Truth & Triangulation

Satellite Passes, Landmark Triangulation & Horizon Profiles

0/3 Verified

Anchor the scene to exact coordinate ground truth. Definitively disprove claims that an event occurred in City A when geometry matches City B.

Three Distinct Physical Landmarks Triangulated +10 Pts

Identify at least 3 static landmarks (transmission towers, minarets, road curvature, storefront signs) on satellite imagery or street views.

Satellite Passes Matched (Google Earth Pro / Sentinel-2) +10 Pts

Verify building footprints, construction zones, or damage scars via Copernicus Sentinel-2 or Google Earth historical aerial imagery.

Open Sentinel Hub EO Browser ↗

Mountain Horizon or Elevation Model Aligned +5 Pts

In rural or mountainous terrain, generate a 360° panoramic horizon wireframe (PeakFinder) to match distant mountain silhouettes.

04

Pixel & Container Tampering Forensics

Error Level Analysis (ELA), Surface Luminance & EXIF Serials

0/3 Verified

Probe the binary structure of the file for digital photo splicing, copy-paste cloning, inconsistent lighting angles, and editing histories.

Binary EXIF / IPTC / XMP Headers Audited +10 Pts

Inspect camera make/model, shutter speed, lens focal length, and software history tags for Photoshop or Canva edit traces.

Launch Deep Metadata Inspector →

Error Level Analysis (ELA) Compression Gradient Checked +10 Pts

Recompress image across discrete DCT levels. Verify whether high-contrast error halos exist around suspicious objects or spliced bodies.

Launch Image Forensics Suite →

Sobel Surface Luminance & Light Vector Consistency +5 Pts

Evaluate light source directionality across foreground subjects and background architecture using 3D Sobel surface gradient mapping.

05

Multi-Engine Reverse Visual Search & Context

Perceptual Hashing, Isolated Crop Queries & Video Slicing

0/3 Verified

Search global web indexes to unmask recycled media. Ensure images or keyframes have not appeared previously in other historical events.

Searched Across Multiple Independent Engines +10 Pts

Query Google Lens (entities), TinEye (oldest appearance), and Yandex (regional and facial indexing) to establish historical baseline.

Launch Reverse Search Hub →

Isolated Background Crop Searched +5 Pts

Crop a 200x200 pixel background architectural tile to defeat mirroring, color tinting, and evasive cropping tactics.

Video Keyframes Extracted & Queried (If Video Media) +10 Pts

Deconstruct footage at 30fps, isolate uncompressed keyframe stills, and check opening panoramic frames against reverse indexes.

Launch Video Keyframe Verifier →

DAWAT FREE MEDIA

Verification Decision Tree & Triage Checklist

Intake Hygiene & Chain of Custody

Chronolocation & Temporal Anchors

Geospatial Ground Truth & Triangulation

Pixel & Container Tampering Forensics

Multi-Engine Reverse Visual Search & Context

The Investigative Researcher’s OSINT Handbook