Find networks
You can find the connections and intermediaries between items of interest, discover what is linked to a specific entity, and find groups of interlinked entities. These networks might contain entities and relationships that support the activity of items of interest.
Find a network that connects specific chart items
The network that connects items of interest can identify important intermediary entities. The links between intermediaries, and between intermediaries and the entities of interest, might represent crucial interactions.Use Find Path to find a network that connects two chart items, directly or indirectly. If your chart items contain date and time information you can search for a path that contains sequential events. For example, to follow the indirect communication of information between two people.
Use Find Connecting Network to find a network that connects several entities, directly or indirectly. To omit entities that are not of interest to your investigation, or to test hypotheses, you can exclude specific types of entity and link, and specific entities, from the search.
Find the items that are linked to a specific entity
The entities that are directly connected to an entity of interest might be significant. For example, they might be accomplices. Indirectly connected entities and the wider network might contain items that form the other end of significant chains of activity. For example, the destination account for a chain of transactions used to launder funds.Use Find Linked to find the network of the selected entities. You can use a search depth of 1 to identify the directly connected entities. You can use a higher search depth to identify the wider network. Also, you can follow connections based on criteria other than path length, such as sequence. For example, if your chart items contain date and time information, you can identify sequences of events by specifying that event date and time must advance as the network expands.
Use the Linked Entities pane to explore the selected entity's network. You can view a list of the entities that the selected entity is directly connected to, then choose the most significant of them and see what that entity is linked to. The Onward Entities column in the pane can help you to identify highly connected entities.
Find groups of interlinked entities
A group of entities that interact with each other might be significant. For example, gang ringleaders might communicate with each other to coordinate activity.Use Find Clusters to find groups of interlinked entities. Each group is a local center of activity and consists of entities that have more connections to each other than to entities outside the group.
Use the K-Core measure in the Social Network Analysis feature to find groups. A k-core is a group of entities that are each connected to at least k other entities in the group. So, the two-core group consists of entities that are linked to at least two other entities in that group. As k increases, the groups become smaller and more tightly interlinked. The highest core group might identify individual groups of tightly interlinked entities.
Use the Grouped layout to visibly distinguish groups of interlinked entities. The Peacock layout and Compact Peacock layout form visible areas of activity around highly connected entities. When these areas of activity are separated on the charting surface, the direct and indirect connections between highly connected entities are visible.