How To Make File Search on Google Exciting

And how to easily find unexpectedly private documents in any search engine

A search for documents in Google can bring fascinating results. Many uploaded PDFs and other documents have non-indexed content or content that is very deep in the search results. Searching directly for specific types of files can help to remove noise and find very private information. For example, in 2018, a researcher was running a search on Google and found that the United Nations accidentally exposed passwords and internal documents by uploading them to public services.

There are special Google commands that can help investigators see the exact information that they are looking for.

Filetype Command

The filetype command can show specific files in combinations of keywords. For example, filetype:pdf Linkedin can bring presentations, resume examples, and metrics for job seekers. The filetype command will work with any file - PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, TXT, PPT, PPTX, and others, and can be used to search for multiple files in a command like filetype:pdf OR filetype:xls linkedin. The commands work in most of the browsers.

To help with noise, it’s a good idea to use quotes around the keyword (“linkedin”) to avoid phrases that include it and other similar words, and the minus sign (-linkedin) to exclude a specific keyword or mix both quotes and the minus signs to exclude a full sentence -“linkedin news”.

Site Command

A great solution for websites that don’t have a search function on them is to use the site command. For example site:linkedin.com keyword. It also works with the filetype command, if you need to find downloadable files from a specific website. There is also a way to use this command to remove a specific website from the search with the minus sign -site:linkedin.com.

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Find more about fraud and investigations in the Investigator Blog