A visual tool for forensic analysis of mobile phone traffic

Abstract

In this paper we present our tool LogAnalysis for forensic visual statistical analysis of mobile phone traffic. LogAnalysis graphically represents the relationships among mobile phone users with a node-link layout. Its aim is to explore the structure of a large graph, measure connectivity among users and give support to visual search and automatic identification of organizations. To do so, LogAnalysis integrates graphical representation of network elements with measures typical of Social Network Analysis (SNA) in order to help detectives or forensic analysts to systematically examine relationships. The analysis of data extracted from mobile phone traffic logs has a fundamental relevance in forensic investigations since it allows to unveil the structure of relationships among individuals suspected to be part of criminal organizations together with the role they play inside the organization itself. To this purpose, the Social Network Analysis (SNA) methods were heavily employed in order to understand the importance of relationships. Interpretation and visual exploration of graphs representing phone contacts over a given time interval may become demanding, due to the presence of numerous nodes and edges. Our main contribution is an interface that enables systematic analysis of social relationships using visual different techniques and statistical information. LogAnalysis allows a deeper and clearer understanding of criminal associations while evidencing key members inside the criminal ring, and/or those working as link among different associations