9 of 10 Is Low Hanging Link Analysis Follow Up Fruit

Link Analysis Part 2

It took less than one day to realize I needed to say more on Link Analysis. I left it here:

Link analysis and its value in finding people connected to companies was tossed out the other day. So I figured I at least had to give the basics by explaining the process of link analysis and the likelihood that it can go awfully wrong. Should be enough for the challenge.

Then, in the afternoon, I was going through my various Google Alerts. One of these alerts, not surprising to you, is for “link analysis”. I am forever on the lookout for articles that talk about the value of link analysis in research or examples of link analysis. Maybe to your surprise, the majority of articles this alert sucks up relate to “SEO” or search engine optimization, and link in this context refers to links to a website. Yesterday the alert alerted me to a Washington Post article. The words “link analysis” did not actually appear in the article, but they must have been in the SEO (!). The article is not about the process of link analysis but rather a series of charts OF link analysis charts. It made me realize that I skipped an important role for link analysis.

As I explained yesterday, link analysis is a tool for finding information where it may otherwise be vague. How do we know Joe Fraudster runs Scamco even though he is not listed as an officer? Link analysis. What I did not explain yesterday, is that link analysis is also a tool for presenting information. It is not just a way of finding connections, but a way of showing connections. In the Washington Post article cited above, link analysis is used to show connections between Rudy Giuliani and various other individuals. The point of the chart is two-fold. First, it is to show that certain people, especially a notorious Ukrainian oligarch named Dmitry Firtash, were tied to Giuliani, and second to show how all these people and all these people includes the President of the United States, were associated with each other. I know I cautioned yesterday about charts that linked too many people to each other, and I am not specifically weighing in the accuracy of these charts. I am just using these charts to show what can be done with link analysis.

Showing the connection between people or people and companies is a common use for link analysis charts. In the business research and investigation business, link analysis charts are frequently also used in these areas:

• Business Structure

• Flow of events

• Tracing assets/cash

Business Structure - I have used link analysis charts a few ways to show business structure. One way I have used them is to show the ownership of companies, like in contexts where there are multiple layers of ownership or direct and indirect owners of a company. Another way I have used them is to show relationships between companies. Like in a particular asset search, the target was using a structure where a management company was being used to siphon off cash from other properties. We used link analysis charts to explain this in a battle to pierce corporate veils.

Flow of Events - Then, then, then. Do we want our reports to read like a third grader telling a story (said by someone who tends to have at least one then per blog). We can condense a lot of events into charts, making it easier to see what has happened over time. Link analysis charts help a lot when you are trying to show consequence or how one thing led to another. When timing matters, it often makes sense to use a link analysis chart to show it.

Tracing Money - Here’s another one where link analysis can show the if/then or how something happened. In many fraud cases, showing the flow, how money went from someone to someone else, shows the fraud. So, a link analysis chart can be a simple way explaining a crime. Link analysis can also show how an asset was acquired and the money used to obtain that asset.

The ink was barely dry on blog post eight when I realized there was more to say on link analysis. If link analysis is a process for finding what is not apparent, it is also process of laying out what is not clear. We use link analysis in many areas of business and investigative research including showing business structure, the flow of events and tracing money. I appreciate that I had such low hanging fruit for post nine.