Chapter 3: Link Analysis: Visualizing Associations

3.1 How Link Analysis Works

Seeing the criminal associations hidden among all of the commercial and government databases is like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. And that is where data mining technologies like link analysis can be employed by law enforcement investigators and intelligence analysts to help them examine graphically the anomalies and inconsistencies and connect networks of relationships and contacts hidden in the data. Link analysis is the first level by which networks of people, places, organizations, vehicles, bank accounts, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and other tangible entities can be discovered, linked, assembled, examined, detected, and analyzed.

Effectively combining multiple sources of data can lead law enforcement investigators and government analysts to discover patterns to help them be more proactive in their investigations. Link analysis is a good start in mapping terrorist activity and criminal intelligence by visualizing associations between entities and events. Link analysis often involves seeing via a chart or map the associations between suspects and locations, whether physical or on a network or the Internet. The technology is often used to answer such questions as who knows whom and when and where have they been in contact?