Monday, August 29, 2011

"Data exhaust" and predictive analytics

There is some new technology coming. It's beyond simple "data exhaust" analysis, where you can get a forensic report answering questions like:
  1. Which bank transactions are money laundering?
  2. Which of your customers are behaving like terrorists?
  3. Who really launched the DDoS attack on your system?
Predictive analytics can use "data exhaust" PATTERNS to predict what's ABOUT TO HAPPEN, answering questions like:
  1. Which stocks are about to take a significant swing (see the Twitter-based hedge fund story)?
  2. Which foreign government is about to make big bucks by slowing down the "side channel" and how can we skin them at their own game (see my post on the Russians and Chinese rerouting of trade information)?
  3. Based upon telephone/banking/Internet "data exhaust," when is a terrorist action imminent (see my ThinThread story)?
Suppose that there is an analytics company that has delivered over $30 million in off-the-charts-spooky analytical products to the federal government. Suppose they're about to give away a free analytics product allows you to do some pretty freaky Twitter-feed analytics? And like back-alley crack dealers who hook you by giving you a free sample, suppose they will sell you their full-blown products for less than the cost of a Salesforce.com seat?

I'm playing with just such a full-blown product right now. Stay tuned for some serious flights of fancy.

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Implementation suggestions for THE MORGAN DOCTRINE are most welcome. What are the "Got'chas!"? What questions would some future Cyber Privateering Czar have to answer about this in a Senate confirmation hearing?