bulk_extractor

A next-generation crawling and spidering framework for extracting data from websites

bulk_extractor is a high-performance digital forensics exploitation tool designed to quickly scan various types of input. It extracts structured information such as email addresses, credit card numbers, JPEG images, and JSON snippets without needing to parse the file system or its structures.

The results are stored in text files that can be easily inspected, searched, or utilized as inputs for additional forensic processing. bulk_extractor also generates histograms for specific types of features it identifies, such as Google search terms and email addresses. Previous research indicates that these histograms are particularly valuable in investigative and law enforcement contexts. Unlike other digital forensics tools, bulk_extractor examines every byte of data to determine if it marks the beginning of a sequence that can be decompressed or otherwise decoded. If it does, the decoded data is then re-examined recursively. Consequently, bulk_extractor can uncover items like BASE64-encoded JPEGs and compressed JSON objects that traditional carving tools often overlook.

This is the development branch! While it is reliable, if you are looking for a thoroughly tested product, consider this in your decision.