Pivot, Pivot! Using Open-Source Data to Support Shared Intelligence

Estimated difficulty: 💜🤍🤍🤍🤍

Introduction: The Art of the Pivot

In threat intelligence, the difference between a collection of indicators and a comprehensive threat picture often comes down to one skill: pivoting.

Pivoting is the process of following digital breadcrumbs – domains to IP addresses, hashes to infrastructure, alias to forum post, following the breadcrumbs to uncover the broader context behind an adversary’s activity. It’s the connective tissue that turns data points into insight.

If you’ve ever tried to move a sofa up a narrow stairwell while Ross screamed “PIVOT!” at you – you already understand an essence of cyber threat intelligence. Because, let’s be honest – in CTI, we’re all trying to move unwieldy chunks of data up the narrow staircase of time, hoping it doesn’t crash down on us before we reach insight (help.)

The humble pivot – an analyst superpower the helps us turn a single suspicious hash or domain into a web of connections that actually means something *ehem* dare I say actionable?

We know that threats are often fast-moving and opportunistic, so arguably mastering the pivot is essential not just for detection, but for collaboration across industry as well. When we share intelligence with peers or partners, we’re most valuable when we can say why something matters, not just what we saw.

And when you work in retail (just like me!), especially approaching the peak shopping season, mastering the art of the pivot can be the difference between spotting a campaign early and becoming the next headline.

It Started With One Suspicious Domain…

Let’s picture it: It’s November. Inboxes are overflowing with fake shipping updates, “Black Friday exclusive” phishing emails (no really, it’s an exclusive just for you), and more “urgent payment notifications” than anyone needs (quick, before your account gets deleted!).

Then it happens, a weird looking domain lands in front of you…

Rather than just blocking and forgetting it, we ✨pivot✨

A quick WHOIS lookup shows a recently registered domain using privacy protection (classic).
Passive DNS reveals a few sibling domains with swapped vowels, words, or numbers
And a sandbox run confirms the domain drops a credential-harvesting script spotted at least 10 times in the last year.

That’s three pivots later- and suddenly, what started as one sketchy domain becomes a campaign targeting multiple retailers.

And that’s when we know: it’s time to share.

💡 From Data Points to Storylines

Open-source data is our friend here – not because it’s free, but because it’s fast. When things are moving at speed, you can’t always wait for private intelligence reports.

My usual open-source toolkit looks a little bit like this…

WHOXY & Host.io for registration and hosting details.
VirusTotal & URLScan for quick infrastructure overlap.
Shodan & Censys for spotting reused certificates or misconfigured services.
Dark web monitoring feeds for chatter about new campaigns & scams.
Maltego for graphing those delicious infrastructure linkages.
Hunchly for capturing and organising web investigations.
Hunter.io for discovering email patterns linked to domains
OSINT Framework for finding niche tools when you need to dig deeper

But tools are only as good as your curiosity. Pivoting is about asking:

“What else could this be connected to?”
“Who benefits if this works?”
“And where have I seen this pattern before?”

When you can answer those questions, you move from simply collecting indicators to telling stories about adversaries.

🤝 Pivoting Together: The Joy of Shared Intel

Once we have mapped and understood the campaign, now comes the best bit… to share!

I often say intelligence isn’t worth much unless you share, whether that be within trust groups, ISACs or even with your fellow CTI friends.

Sometimes trust groups can feel like gated communities, where knowledge is locked behind membership walls. While these groups have their place, we should also explore alternative sharing models: public platforms, anonymised case studies, and collaborative open-source projects. These approaches help break down silos and ensure that defenders everywhere, not just the “in crowd”, can benefit from timely insights.

From experience, collaboration can help us:

Spot patterns and connections others might miss
Validate findings and strengthen confidence levels
Coordinate actions that reduce risk faster

That’s the real magic of shared intelligence – not hoarding shiny IOCs, but contributing context so others can act fast.

(Also, let’s be honest, few things are more satisfying than watching a malicious domain go poof right before a criminal’s big weekend sale)

🧠 The Secret Sauce: Sharing Methods, Not Just Data

But do you know what’s even more valuable than an indicator? The tradecraft behind how you found it.

Sharing your methodology – how you pivoted, what tools you used, where you stopped chasing noise can help others replicate your success.

When I share findings, I don’t just drop a list of domains.

It’s nice to include:

The analyst reasoning (“these domains share registration patterns seen in prior campaigns”).
The confidence level (because not every lead is a slam dunk, big sad).
The recommended action (“monitor for DNS requests to these domains; consider pre-emptive blocking if organisation risk appetite allows”).

That transparency not only helps others validate your findings, it helps build trust too.

❤️ Giving Back to the Intel Community

‘Tis the season for sharing – and not just cookies. CTI is a team sport, and the best analysts know how to give as well as receive.

Here’s how I try to give back when I can:

Share early, even if it is imperfect
A half-finished lead can still help someone else’s investigation.
Publish case studies or “how we found it” stories.
Strip out sensitive bits, keep the narrative – help people learn more from process than perfection.
Contribute to open datasets.
Upload samples to sandboxes, report malicious domains to public trackers, enrich the common land of data.
Be generous with feedback.
If someone’s intel helped your hunt, tell them! Recognition builds stronger collaboration, and helps makes some friends along the way
Keep it human.
Behind every indicator is a human trying to do the right thing, remember to be kind – everyone makes mistakes from time to time

🎁 Wrapping It All Up

Open-source pivoting is one of the simplest, fastest ways to supercharge your investigations (for those who know me, I had to include a car pun somewhere!)

It’s about following the thread, connecting the dots, and telling a story that helps others defend smarter. Because at the end of the day, CTI isn’t about who has the most data – it’s about who can make sense of it first… and share it well.

So, this holiday season, may your pivots be fruitful, your indicators enriched, and your discord channels full of wholesome memes.

Stay curious. Stay collaborative. And, above all – keep pivoting.