Recently, in a rapidly unfolding major terrorist incident in a large city, authorities almost immediately identified one attacker. Racing against time to prevent additional suspected attacks, investigators’ first priority was to identify and uncover the terrorist’s network. The attacker had no online profile, but analysts used an expert system to identify several of his associates within minutes of the attack.
By integrating both structured and unstructured data, the system revealed a range of overlapping connections between the attacker’s associates and known extremists, including some who had been arrested by authorities in other locations. It also uncovered a significant geographic link between individuals in the city where the attack took place and extremists in another country with a high level of terrorist activity. Most importantly, it revealed a mosaic of strong connections to previously unknown individuals, exactly the near real-time information authorities needed to identify and disrupt potential new threats and dismantle the terrorist cell and its support structures.
Go Deeper, Faster
After land, sea, air and space, warfare has entered the fifth domain: cyberspace. The global digital infrastructure has created a space where crime in all its manifestations is planned, perpetrated, and recorded. Unstructured data publicly available on the world wide web has become a major source of intelligence, one that law enforcement is bound to reckon with in order to fully exercise its power.
This vast open data landscape hides potentially millions of leads and insights: it is estimated that 80%-90% of all potentially usable information originates in unstructured form. Finding the needle in the unstructured data haystack poses huge technological and analytical challenges. Nevertheless, it is quickly becoming an essential component of any comprehensive intelligence program.
Today, expert systems employ advanced AI, deep learning and cognitive computing to analyze and model unstructured data. Leading systems allow analysts to efficiently integrate big unstructured data with other key data sources, in compliance with applicable law and with internal policies and authorizations.
Analysts use these platforms in the course of investigations to develop more detailed pictures of persons of interest, map the membership of criminal organizations, connect seemingly separate crimes, reveal geographic links in drug and human trafficking cases, chart networks of connected individuals in intelligence operations, and more. One of their main advantages over manual unstructured data analysis is the dramatic acceleration of investigation time, condensing weeks and months of data sifting into minutes. Another is the unveiling of previously unattainable insights.
Battling Crime with AI-Driven Platforms
These technological abilities are instrumental in the battle against crime, counter-terrorism, and narcotics, aiding operators both at headquarters and in the field to uncover the most accurate insights in time-sensitive investigations. They are used by public sector agencies worldwide to gather the kind of evidence that can establish probable cause, help obtain search warrants and subpoenas, and lead to arrest and prosecution.
One such technology is developed by Voyager Labs, named by Fortune as one of the 50 Companies Leading the AI Revolution, and distributed by Voyager Analytics Inc, experts on intelligence and security who make it a first priority to match cutting edge technology with the concrete needs and challenges of the US public sector.
Voyager Lab’s leading in-depth analysis platform, VoyagerAnalytics™, is an award winning, proprietary system driven by Artificial Intelligence, developed by a world-class team of researchers, data scientists and engineers with a firm background in intelligence analytics. The technology employs an array of unstructured data analysis tools, AI algorithms and models, including Natural Language Understanding, Image Recognition, Human Behavior Pattern Analysis and two-way translation in multiple languages. The algorithm is geared to enable users to interpret subjective information and affective states and to reconcile multiple identities and resolve ambiguity. It feeds on dynamic data in real time, learning as information changes and goals and requirements evolve. Its intuitive user interface and data-visualization features enable searches as wide or as granular as needed into targets, networks, topics, affiliations and trends.
Used by tier-one agencies globally, the unparalleled in-depth analysis platform empowers law enforcement to navigate the parallel universe of unstructured data with agency and efficiency, compressing painstaking investigations of weeks and months into minutes.
To learn more about Voyager Labs or request a demo, contact us.
