Use Google's Cache Capability to Retrieve Deleted Web Pages

Look through some Cached pages and see what older versions can be found.

Background

Google's search engine offers a feature to retrieve cached web pages. A cached web page is a copy of the web page that Google has saved on its own servers. This can be useful if the original web page is no longer available, or if the website is down.

To view the cached version of a web page, simply type “cache:” followed by the web page address into the Google search bar. For example, if you wanted to view the cached version of Google's website, you would type “cache:www.google.com” into the search bar.

When conducting a cybersecurity assessment, it is important to find cached pages. Often, threat actors will try to delete content from a website that they do not want to be discovered. By finding the cached pages, you can still find the content that was deleted. This is also an important tactic in an OSINT investigation. If you are trying to find information that a malicious individual has tried to hide, finding the cached pages can be very helpful.

Story

Recently, a cyber investigator named John was called in to help solve a case involving credit card fraud. The victim had reported that someone had stolen her credit card number and used it to make several purchases online. John was able to track down the hacker using Google's cache feature. By looking at the cached pages of the websites where the transactions had taken place, he was able to see the IP address of the person who had made the purchases. He then passed this information on to the police, who were able to arrest the hacker.

Exercise:

Use Google's cache capabilities to retrieve two (2) web pages that no longer exists or that have since been modified.

Example:

Using the cache: filter allows you to view older or cached versions of the webpage.