A Vision of Terror

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PNNL is also continuing to enhance IN-SPIRE, its software that extracts the meaning of large datasets and allows users to pose alternative hypotheses and to see data supporting that scenario, according to director Thomas. For instance, an analyst could posit that Osama Bin Laden is planning an attack on a European nation at a given time and with a particular weapon. IN-SPIRE will look for relationships between documents validating the hypothesis; for example, the software would look for the most likely nearby locations where such a weapon could be acquired and if secondary or tertiary associates have visited those areas.

Thomas says IN-SPIRE can search documents in multiple languages simultaneously and enables the "discovery of the unexpected," says Thomas.

Visualizations generated by both of PNNL’s programs graphically depict relationships between content by displaying them in a variety of formats, such as a star cluster showing more popular topics as larger stars; topographic maps; or a river of information showing interest in a topic over time. Generating visualizations instead of relying on text-based searches "allows the human mind insight into fuzzy relationships and tries to resolve uncertainty," says Thomas.

NVAC is not the only organization developing analytical software for the federal government. The Department of Defense is using software from Intelligenxia called IxReveal to track online message threads and give "answers to questions that haven't been asked," according to Ren Mohan, co-chairman and CTO of the Jacksonville, Florida-based data analysis company.

Mohan says that, because "we often don’t know what we don't know" about terrorist activities, analysts employ the company's IxReveal to extract the topics that are being discussed most frequently rather than searching for specific items. This approach can overcome analyst bias by exposing all of the important concepts currently being discussed in chat rooms, email, or user groups, according to Mohan.

IxReveal can drill down through multiple paths simultaneously, enabling analysts to see multiple dimensions and possibilities, according to Mohan. The value of textual data is often hidden and must be extracted by automatically identifying key ideas that focus on concepts instead of the details, and do so in a timely fashion, he says.

"We are trying to address the secondary questions (about data)," Mohan says, adding that his company takes input from analysts to refine the technology. 

Not so surprisingly, the number of researchers working on visualization software will greatly increase this year. What’s more, the Department of Homeland Security is looking to create new generations of terrorism-tracking software by tapping into the "fresh ideas" of current university students, according to NVAC's Thomas.

This year, NVAC will establish five regional analytics centers to tackle specific applications for fighting terrorism. It has selected Stanford University as the first center, with a mission that includes analyzing computer networks to detect network intrusions. The regional centers will be a way to introduce both students and faculty to anti-terror efforts and the science of protecting homeland security, according to Thomas.    

Thomas said 85 people are currently working on NVAC's software development effort, and up to 500 individuals could be involved after all of the regional centers are established.

"The biggest challenge is getting a common understanding of the core science" used to analyze large volumes of data, Thomas said. "If we can clearly articulate it, then that's half the problem solved."