In one of our previous articles, we discussed one Python-based tool that can be used to investigate Telegram users and search through group members. In this OSINT Tool Review article, we will go further and present Genisys – a very effective Python-based tool that comes with wide-ranging capabilities for OSINT activity and Digital Investigations on Telegram. According to the Genisys Github repository, the tool has several functionalities – some of use to us as Digital Investigators, others not so much. The functionalities which are of most use to us include:

• It can scrape public group members
• It can scrape from private groups provided that the Investigator has the group invite link
• It can identify and scrape active users (those who have seen the group recently)
• Output public group lists to a CSV file
• Provide essential information from public group lists including user ID, usernames and group IDs
• Enable the use of multiple accounts for scraping purposes, thus reducing the risk of an account ban

Unlike previous tools reviewed by us at OS2INT, Genisys does not require access to the Telegram API. It is an incredibly easy to install and easy to use tool that provides at least most of the functionalities required for OSINT investigations on Telegram. The tool’s output – group lists in CSV format – is very useful and can certainly make way for the Digital Investigator or OSINT Analyst to visually process that data in Gephi (for example).

For the most part, Genisys’ capability to auto add members to groups etc is not altogether very useful for Digital Investigators. That said, it’s capability to auto-add accounts to groups is very useful, especially when there is a requirement to maintain an active presence on nefarious groups as soon as they are created.

All-in-all, Genisys is quite a worthwhile OSINT tool to consider based on it’s functionality and its capability to output data that can be used for intelligence and / or investigatory purposes.