Situation analysis in cybersecurity, criminal intelligence and maritime security

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Illicit networks and criminal operations threaten our critical infrastructure, economy and businesses, and public safety & security more than ever: cyber attacks, money laundering, insurance fraud, smuggling of illegal goods, human trafficking and even terror attacks are becoming increasingly routine and sophisticated. Constrained by limited resources, law enforcement agencies and intelligence services as well as border control and coast guard services face growing challenges in managing a rapidly evolving threat landscape.******Linking global and local patterns of crime helps to understand how illegal activities are connected across different crime spaces as well as evolving trends such as organized crime moving more and more into the cyber arena or exploiting notorious weaknesses in maritime security. A network perspective based on evidence extracted from data can greatly enhance situational awareness in ‘connecting the dots' to help determine priorities for deciding on the best use of resources to maximize impact. This situation calls for radical advances in using cutting-edge data analytics and social network analysis methods to transform abundant data from police-reported crime, intelligence gathering and surveillance operations into actionable information and knowledge. Early intervention in illicit activities is evidently more economical and more effective than lengthy investigations after the fact.******This research program aims at innovative methodologies and formal analytic frameworks for advancing design, integration, validation and evaluation of data mining and social network analysis algorithms and supporting tools for situation analysis and intelligence gathering related to illicit networks and criminal operations. The scope of the research program spans cybersecurity, criminal intelligence and maritime security. Building on existing expertise and experience, current and expected future collaborations with government agencies, domain experts, industry partners and academic researchers as well as the existing Public Safety and Security secure-High Performance Computing Laboratory infrastructure to carry out the research, the long-term objective of this research program is to establish a centre of excellence and interdisciplinary research institute for ‘big data intelligence' to serve growing demand for advanced research and HQP training in these fields. Beyond answering pressing research questions, the program offers cutting-edge HQP training for government sectors (law enforcement, intelligence services, National Defence), Canada's ICT and satellite industry sectors.********