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Social Graph
Social Graph
Social Graph represents the connections between individuals, devices and entities within a social network, visualizing the relationships and interactions that bind various subjects. In the context of Digital Forensics, the analysis of these connections is crucial to reconstruct complex scenarios, identify suspicious activities and map relationships between people, places and events. The use of Social Graphs helps investigators to discover hidden patterns and trace the evolution of a network of contacts, essential for solving digital crimes and collecting evidence.
Social Graph Analysis Phases
Data Collection
The first phase involves collecting data from various sources such as phone records, extractions from mobile devices, social media, and network logs. Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) tools and cell tower analysis are crucial for this step.
Graph Creation
The collected data is organized into nodes (people, devices, cell towers) and edges (calls, messages, interactions). Each connection is weighted based on its intensity, such as the frequency of communications or the duration of calls.
Pattern Identification
The analysis focuses on studying central nodes, connection clusters, and weak links. Sudden changes in communication behavior can indicate suspicious activities or the emergence of new relationships.
Correlation with Other Forensic Data
The Social Graph data is cross-referenced with other information, such as GPS positioning, financial transactions, and mobile device activities, to provide a comprehensive view of the case.
Social Graph Applications in Digital Forensics
Analysis of telephone records
Study of connections between users through calls, SMS and other communications. The analysis of telephone cells, for example, allows to reconstruct the physical proximity between subjects.
Chat Analysis
Monitoring conversations on platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, and Facebook Messenger to identify suspicious interactions or involvement in criminal activity.
Cell Phone Analysis
Using hooked cell information to track an individual's movements and correlate this data with other forensic information.
Social Network Forensics
Examining networks of connections on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and others to detect anomalous behavior and possible crimes.
Cybercrime Investigations
Identifying criminal groups, online scams, paedophilia, terrorism and deep web traffic, through the analysis of digital connections.
Tools Used for Social Graph Analysis
Graph Visualization & Analysis
IBM i2 Analyst's Notebook: Forensic social network analysis software used to visualize and understand connections between subjects.
Maltego: OSINT tool for visualizing and mapping connections between individuals and public data.
Gephi: Open-source software for network analysis and visualization of complex social graphs.
Analysis of Telephone Lists & Cells
Cell Site Analysis Tool (CSAT): A tool for correlating phone records with geolocation and mapping user movements.
Palantir Gotham: Advanced software for analyzing big data forensics, useful for managing large volumes of information from different sources.
Social Media & OSINT
SpiderFoot: A tool for collecting public data from online sources about people and social networks.
SocialNet (for Maltego): Advanced analysis of social media and connections between users.