Factors that range from migration surges to political polarization contribute to geopolitical instability that may lead to sustained outbreaks of violence and mayhem. The recent breakdown of law and order in Haiti, fueled by criminal gangs, is but one example of such chaos. Instability may be the direct cause of civil unrest and violence, or it may simply create the opportunity for groups of bad actors to illicitly seize money or power. In either case, lawful intelligence must rapidly assemble and analyze historical and emerging data from widespread sources for large numbers of people.
Accurately identifying connections between individuals and gangs or other groups is critical, including both central figures and those operating on the periphery. During spontaneously emerging events, investigators can associate these connections with shared ideologies or political views rather than direct personal interactions or formal affiliations. If an investigator were to connect such ideologies by common, abstract goals, the relationships would be less apparent and harder to discern.
Investigations of this nature typically begin with a small piece of intelligence, gradually expanding as analysts identify persons of interest and their networks. Investigators draw the raw data, driving these investigations, from numerous sources: criminal records, intelligence databases, prison records, informants, the public, social media networks, and open-source information. As investigations progress, integrating geo-location information, cryptocurrency transactions, call logs, social media activity, messaging data, and real-time surveillance becomes essential for mapping out and understanding the networks that define these organizations.
Correlating this incoming information with the raw intelligence is crucial, as it allows for the verification and enrichment of existing data, helping to uncover hidden connections and patterns. This systematic correlation not only enhances the accuracy of the intelligence but also streamlines the investigative process, enabling law enforcement to make faster, more informed decisions and respond proactively to emerging threats.
Profiling Individuals of Interest
To advance investigations, insights whether large or small, must be transformed into actionable intelligence. Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) can create identity profiles on the SS8 lawful intelligence platform using iDossier. SS8 has designed iDossier to automate the search and retrieval of data from disparate databases and other sources, providing investigators with a comprehensive understanding of the individual and the potential criminal network. For example, an iDossier profile could ascertain a subject’s detailed pattern of life, including information on locations an individual frequents, their schedules, and communication patterns such as phone numbers and account names (including the ability to handle burner accounts). What’s more, photos, images and voice samples from trusted sources (such as wiretaps) can be provided to downstream applications like facial recognition and voice identification, enhancing the accuracy of such tools.
An iDossier profile may also include affiliations with militias, political causes, or criminal organizations, as well as details about events attended or common meeting places. Beyond individuals, iDossier is also capable of profiling organizations. For example, an analyst can link an individual iDossiers to an organization’s profile, allowing LEAs to establish hierarchies and map out affiliations. The information on an organization may include key addresses or geo-locations or relevant photos and criminal intelligence.
The sources of information relevant to iDossier profiles are broad and may range from open source and human intelligence to privileged data such as vehicle and criminal records. Lawfully intercepted communications and location intelligence can feed into an iDossier. Integrating these data points, iDossier profiles offer a long-term view of subjects, including communication patterns and associations among individuals and groups. Historical records and live information feeds are enhanced with this information in SS8 Intellego® XT, supporting the investigation of rapidly evolving threats. Additionally, an iDossier can be exported, allowing the intelligence to be shared with third-party applications for deeper analysis.
In practical terms, an analyst can leverage an iDossier profile in a briefing to consolidate all known information about a subject or organization of interest, providing decision-makers with a unified view. iDossier profiles can also be tailored for specific investigative needs, such as identifying individuals known by a particular alias or having distinctive tattoos. iDossier aids in locating subjects and advancing investigations by recommending associates for confidential informants for questioning. By leveraging Intellego XT in conjunction with iDossier, LEAs can overcome data silos across various formal and informal sources, creating a unified intelligence environment where the integration of diverse data enhances investigative capabilities and efficiency.
Refining Identities and Associations
The broad range of data collected to support these investigations often will inevitably have incomplete, inaccurate, or duplicate entries. The quality issues can result in fragmented iDossier profiles, lowering the clarity and insights available to analysts. To address this, data must be de-duplicated, cross-validated, and correlated; and, multiple profiles for the same individual may need to be combined. The SS8 platform helps analysts make such connections and dynamically set the level of confidence in those conclusions.
Automating the process of collecting and integrating data at a scale beyond human capacity, is critical to the efficiency and scalability of investigations. SS8, along with its integration partners, provides the infrastructure needed for the back-end processes of scrubbing and verification. Analysts can enhance the data ingested into Intellego XT – whether wiretaps, structured, semi-structured or unstructured – by linking relevant phone numbers or usernames from an iDossier. This integration allows iDossiers to be accessed and utilized across the Intellego XT suite of tools, ensuring investigators have consistent and comprehensive information at their fingertips.
The SS8 platform offers tools to build a deep understanding of the complex factors underlying incidents like political violence, riots, or human-caused, mass-casualty events. Intuitive dashboards provide intuitive data visualizations, mapping subjects’ behaviors and relationships over time, location intelligence, and event correlations. These visualizations aid in understanding patterns and connections as they emerge, providing investigators with critical insights precisely when they are needed. Seamless data integration and unified analysis across the platform enable efficient and rapid generation of actionable intelligence on individuals and groups, helping to preempt and mitigate outbreaks of violence and unrest, thereby enhancing public safety.
About Kevin McTiernan
Kevin has over 20 years of extensive experience in the telecommunications and network security industries. At SS8, Kevin is the VP of Government Solutions and is responsible for leading the vision, design, and delivery of SS8’s government solutions, including the Xcipio® compliance portfolio. You can learn more about Kevin on his LinkedIn profile by clicking here.
About SS8 Networks
As a leader in Lawful and Location Intelligence, SS8 helps make societies safer. Our commitment is to extract, analyze, and visualize the critical intelligence that gives law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and emergency services the real-time insights that help save lives. Our high performance, flexible, and future-proof solutions also enable mobile network operators to achieve regulatory compliance with minimum disruption, time, and cost. SS8 is trusted by the largest government agencies, communications providers, and systems integrators globally.
Intellego® XT monitoring and data analytics portfolio is optimized for Law Enforcement Agencies to capture, analyze, and visualize complex data sets for real-time investigative intelligence.
LocationWise delivers the highest audited network location accuracy worldwide, providing active and passive location intelligence for emergency services, law enforcement, and mobile network operators.
Xcipio® mediation platform meets the demands of lawful intercept in any network type and provides the ability to transcode (convert) between lawful intercept handover versions and standard families.
To learn more, contact us at info@ss8.com.
