Fergie's Tech Blog

NSA Database Report Draws Focus on 'Analysis'

An AP newswire article by Brian Bergstein, via ABC News, reports that:

If the National Security Agency is indeed amassing a colossal database of Americans' phone records, one way to use all that information is in "social network analysis," a data-mining method that aims to expose previously invisible connections among people.

Social network analysis has gained prominence in business and intelligence circles under the belief that it can yield extraordinary insights, such as the fact that people in disparate organizations have common acquaintances. Companies can buy social networking software to help determine who has the best connections for a particular sales pitch.

So it did not surprise many security analysts to learn Thursday from USA Today that the NSA is applying the technology to billions of phone records.

posted by Fergie @ 5/11/2006 03:36:00 PM