Social Media Platforms 101: Twitter

While Facebook may be the most popular social media site, Twitter is perhaps the most prolific social media site in the world. Content from Twitter is constantly quoted in news articles, has had a hand in the Arab Spring and other political demonstrations, and is growing in popularity amongst teens and other heavy users of mobile technology. In many ways, Twitter is one of the most important social media sites to peruse during the course of online research and investigations.

What is Twitter?

 A screenshot of Wil Wheaton’s (@wilw) Twitter profile

Twitter is a microblogging site which allows users to tweet text and links to pictures, videos, and other content in 140 characters or less. Each user’s Twitter experience is customizable, as they select to follow only the users that are of interest to them. The tweets from the followed users appear on the Twitter homepage. Additionally, each user has a Twitter profile in which users can see the user’s last 3200 tweets, followers, followings, and photos and videos.

Another important feature of Twitter is the hashtag. The hashtag was first used on Twitter by users to communicate with one another about a specific topic and is now used on a variety of other social media sites. By clicking on a hashtag, users can execute a real-time search across Twitter to find tweets containing the same hashtag. That search can be sorted by top tweets, all tweets, or tweets from known users. It can also be saved for later use.

What Can You Learn from Twitter?

A screenshot of the JFK trending topic

Twitter allows researchers and analysts to gather a wealth of information about any individual or topic of interest. More than half of all Twitter users leverage the site to access news coverage. Similarly, many users post live coverage of events occurring around them, and Twitter is testing a breaking news feature which allows them to alert users of breaking news in their area. By utilizing hashtags and trending topics, researchers can find information on almost anything of interest.

The amount of information Twitter contains about any given user is astonishing. Using advanced search techniques, you can read every tweet made by an individual user. These tweets can contain information regarding a person’s habits, interests, general disposition, social networks, and locations. Additionally, with the amount of social media applications that push content to Twitter, it makes it easy to quickly identify other social media accounts of a person of interest.

How Can You Use Information from Twitter?

How to leverage information from Twitter is entirely dependent upon the needs of your research or investigation. If you are monitoring topics or events using Twitter, you can use a variety of free and paid tools to identify and capture Tweets using keyword or location-based searches. Many of these tools have alert features built in which will tell you when there are new posts about your topic or area of interest. Similarly, you can also use free or paid tools to monitor and capture individual user’s information.

Ultimately, Twitter is an excellent starting point for any investigation. You can do broad based topic research to identify language patterns and influencers of topics and events of interest. Once you identify your users of interest, you can map out their social networks and movements to establish patterns of behavior and identify even more sources of information. In the future, we will be giving more in-depth tips on how to conduct these investigations in another social media platforms series.

Developing PRISM: V2 is Here

For the past few weeks, the PRISM team has been diligently working to test the new version of PRISM. We are proud to announce that, after months of development, we have finally released PRISM V2. As we discussed in an earlier post, Version 1 was originally developed for internal users. In order to test our features and gain valuable feedback from external users, we launched a Pilot Program with select law enforcement agencies across the US. They found bugs, identified workflow issues, gave valuable critiques, and made feature wish lists, which allowed us to greatly approve upon PRISM in V2. Here are some of the big changes to the tool.

Faster Workflow

As analysts and investigators, we need to be able to more efficiently work throughout a project. Previously, it was cumbersome to search for usernames, scrape data, and build out user profiles. Our analysts and Pilot Program users identified ways to expedite these processes. PRISM now has additional buttons to add profiles, add usernames, edit projects, and upload documents directly from the workbench. This allows users to spend less time clicking between areas of the tool and more time reviewing content.

Improved Exporting & Authentication

Before, PRISM only exported data into Microsoft Word formatted Rich Text (.rtf), Microsoft Excel XML format spreadsheet (.xlsx), and Comma-separated Value Plain Text (.csv) formats. As many of our users have additional needs, we expanded this selection to include Microsoft Access database (.accdb) and Adobe Portable Document Format (.pdf) files. All of these files include the MD5 hash values associated with each individual result for authentication purposes.

In addition, users can now download individual search results and native files to their computer in .pdf and Flash Video (.flv) formats. When these files are downloaded, a record of each download is created in an uneditable system log. This log can then be exported into .pdf format and will include information such as the hash value for the content downloaded and which specific result it came from. We added this feature to assist law enforcement agencies with evidence gathering and authentication.

Topic Monitoring

Previously, PRISM was designed as a case management system for individual profiles and groups of individuals. Over the course of testing, we discovered that both our analysts and Pilot Program users desired the ability to search in real-time across social media sites to find information about topics pertinent to their projects. In response, we built a topic monitor. Users now have the ability to search real-time content originating from Facebook, Google Plus, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube. All of these results can be highlighted to showcase important words, filtered down by word exclusion, and saved both within PRISM and locally on the user’s device.

Subscribing to PRISM

Now that PRISM V2 is released, subscriptions are available to all organizations. To learn more about PRISM or to get a demonstration, contact Blake Haase at blake.haase@cesnb.com.

3 Key Takeaways from the SMILE Conference

It is fall, so it must be conference season. From September through October, members of the PRISM team will be in various locations across the country. Last week, three members of the PRISM team were in Omaha for the SMILE Conference. As we have a great relationship with law enforcement agencies, we thought it was pertinent to share some of the major takeaways from #smilecon.

Law Enforcement Agencies are Successfully Using Social Media

For those of you who are not familiar with SMILE, it is a conference at which law enforcement agencies network with one another and share best practices regarding the use of social media in law enforcement, from both a marketing and investigative perspective. It allows these agencies to learn new, innovative ways to harness the power of social media to build relationships with the community and combat crime. Throughout the conference, many speakers discussed how their agencies are successfully using social media to keep tabs on known offenders, curtail gang activity, monitor events, respond to disasters, and conduct undercover investigations. Officer Eric Draeger of the Milwaukee Police Department spoke about his department’s success doing a multitude of those things at once: They successfully use social media to disrupt gang activity and prevent incidents from occurring at large public gatherings.

Data Fusion is Imperative

As we wrote about from our experience at the i2 User Conference, agencies are integrating a variety of data sources into their process. With the proliferation of social media activity, law enforcement agencies now understand the fundamental need to incorporate social media data into their day-to-day operations. Social media records are now combined with traditional investigative data to conduct more thorough investigations. At SMILE, many agencies reported impressive results using social media information in their investigative processes.

Tools are a Must

In order to conduct social media monitoring and investigations, law enforcement agencies need tools. Nearly every presenter at SMILE was using some form of tool to assist them with the investigative process. The amount of readily available social media data is unfathomable and can be extremely overwhelming. Investigators and analysts must rely on tools to assist them with harvesting, processing, and analyzing social media data. Otherwise, they would be inundated with records and have difficulty making timely analyses.

Conclusion

Every time we go to a conference, we learn something new that allows us to improve our products and services for our clients. SMILE was no exception. We have been following trends of the use of social media, embracement of data fusion, and need for social media tools in law enforcement for some time now. It is one of the main reasons we developed PRISM. Both the i2 User Conference and SMILE reinforced our use of social media, data fusion, and PRISM in our investigative process.

Building a Better Tool Chest: Browser Apps & Extensions

As an organization aiming to use the best tools possible, many of our analysts rely on the power of Google Chrome. Chrome is developer friendly and has a wide variety of free apps and extensions available for use in the Chrome Web Store, which allows us to increase performance even on the browser level. In order to increase efficiency, we rely heavily on tools to block ads, quickly screen images, and capture screenshots. Here are three tools that can help increase the performance of your workflow during online investigations.

Adblock Plus

A screenshot of a Google search with ads blocked via Adblock Plus

One of the major things we have to worry about in the Internet advertising era is the browser slowdown that occurs from ads. Adblock Plus is one of the best adblockers out there. It blocks ads on sites such as Google, Facebook, and YouTube. Instead of wasting time sitting through videos and waiting for pages to load, you can quickly and easily navigate the Internet using Adblock. It is important to note that in order to block all ads, you have to set your options in Adblock Plus by unchecking the box for “Allow some non-intrusive advertising.” (Not a Chrome user? Adblock Plus is available for a variety of browsers.)

Hover Zoom

A screenshot of a Google Image search while using Hover Zoom

Hover Zoom is one of our favorites because of its ability to save time. Traditionally, whenever photos appear on websites, you have to click into them to see a larger version of the photo. Hover Zoom skips this step in the workflow process. Once you hover over the photo with your cursor, a larger view of the image will appear. This tool is perfect for going through large batches of images on photo and social media sites. (Currently, Hover Zoom is only available for Google Chrome.)

Lightshot

  

A screenshot of PRISM being captured by Lightshot

We used to be ardent Awesome Screenshot users, but lately it has only worked sporadically. Recently, we discovered Lightshot as a viable alternative. Lightshot is user friendly and has great features built in for photo editing and exporting, as well as searching for similar images on Google. So far, it is proving to be the best alternative to our old standby. (Lightshot is available for a variety of operating systems and browsers.)

Conclusion

This list is in no way inclusive of all of the tools that can save you time during online research. In the past, we wrote about the Chrome extension Image Tools and its ability to assist with image searching and examining exif data. There are a variety of other extensions for Chrome that can assist you with first-language translation, secure browsing, cache clearing, rss reading, and more. Add-ons are not exclusive to Chrome. You can often find similar tools on Firefox and Internet Explorer. No matter which browser you use, you can help ensure you are working efficiently just by building out a better browser.

Social Media Platforms 101: Reddit

At the i2 User Conference we realized that people have started gaining a better appreciation for comprehensive societal knowledge. There is no website in the United States that can provide domestic cultural knowledge on a greater level than reddit.

What Is Reddit?

Reddit is a social media platform that allows redditors (users) to share content with one another. The structure and the language patterns of reddit are similar to that of a traditional online forum. Redditors customize their reddit experience by subscribing to subreddits (essentially subforums) about topics of interest. The content is shared on reddit as links and text (“self”) posts on subreddits, and redditors upvote and downvote content based upon their personal preferences. These votes influence what individual users see on their reddit front (feed/homepage).

What Can You Learn From Reddit?

Unlike more traditional social media sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn, reddit is not typically a site in which you learn about an individual user. Most redditors are anonymous and make it difficult to ascertain their true identity. Reddit is typically used more to share and identify online content. There are four major types of information redditors can access: breaking news, general cultural trends, topical knowledge, and subculture familiarity.

Many times, we have identified breaking events on reddit before they hit major news outlets, which allowed us to have better situational awareness than if we had relied on traditional news media. Reddit also provides us with an abundance of cultural memes on the Internet; this allows our investigators and analysts to more accurately discern the meaning of social media posts made by persons of interest.

One of the best things about reddit is that there is a subreddit for almost anything, which allows us to learn about almost any topic or subculture of interest. Want to know more about or ask questions to law enforcement officers? Subscribe to ProtectAndServe. Interested in video footage of combat? Check out CombatFootage. Need to know more about marijuana users and production? Visit Trees (not to be confused with MarijuanaEnthusiasts which is actually about trees). There is very little limit to what you can learn from reddit.

How Can You Use Information Found on Reddit?

Fundamentally, reddit makes you a better investigator by providing you with the general cultural knowledge you need to complete almost any task. No matter who or what the subject is at hand, you can learn more about it. Often, subreddits will even identify external websites associated with the content found in the subreddit. From learning about a person of interest’s subcultural groups and language patterns to keeping up with changes in information technology, reddit can provide a great starting point for your research.

3 Key Takeaways from the 2013 i2 User Conference

This week, two of our analysts attended the 2013 i2 User Conference. We were able to network with and attend sessions led by individuals working in the law enforcement, intelligence, and financial communities in the United States and Canada. Although many of us work in seemingly different fields, many of us concluded that we were ultimately doing similar tasks and face similar issues. At the end of the conference, there were three major takeaways that can relate to any investigator or analyst, regardless of their industry or what tools they use.

Data Silos are the Past and Fusion Centers are the Future

The key issue discussed by almost every speaker and attendee was the difficulty we all face gaining access to and sharing information across departments and agencies. One problem almost every agency reported was having too many data silos housing their information. Multiple storage locations fragment the information in such a way that individuals can be consumed by looking through disparate sources for data, even in their own agency. It also impedes the flow of information between both coworkers and partner organizations. This problem was stressed by multiple law enforcement agencies during their presentations, especially in the case of the Boston Marathon Bombing.

Now, these agencies are working together to tear down the walls between organizations to adapt a fusion center model. The Tucson Police Department, Massachusetts State Police, and the Miami-Dade Police Department have all reported they are working on initiatives to bring together interagency data sources to assist with investigations and prevent agencies from stepping on one another’s toes. Similar collaborations are happening in the financial industry in Canada through the Canadian Banker’s Association. It is becoming imperative that agencies share information to be effective in their day-to-day intelligence and investigative endeavors.

Nothing Exists in a Bubble

Multiple speakers discussed the need for us all as investigators, analysts, researchers, and intelligence operatives to understand the world around us. It is extremely important to understand the world around you from culture to events to societal changes. Dr. Steve Chan really drove the point home that nothing we examine exists in a vacuum, and in order to fully understand the issue at hand, we have to educate ourselves about the larger picture as a whole, including historical and present context. To be truly effective, we must keep up with items such as current events, changes in society, trends, new technology, and pop culture. In addition, we also need to ensure we are constantly engaging coworkers and individuals from other agencies to share information.

Social Media is Paramount

It was evident from the start of the i2 Conference that social media was going to take the main stage. Most of the sessions at this conference touched on the importance of social media, and the sessions specifically regarding social media were standing room only. Social media is now becoming widely regarded for its ability to give analysts and investigators new leads in cases when all internal data and public records information have been exhausted. It also is a fantastic resource for network building because we can identify underlying connections that may have been missed through other investigative means. However, there are still some issues with data normalization and legal admission of social media evidence. People are now looking for new ways to better extract, analyze, authenticate, and fuse data from the social media goldmine. As researchers, it is imperative that we stay abreast of all of the changes in the social media landscape.

Conclusion

For us, the i2 User Conference was a success. We were able to learn from individuals in related industries about the challenges they face and how they are working to conquer them. One of the only ways we can learn is to work together to create new, innovative solutions to the issues that plague our organizations.