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What's New?
VisuaLinks 3.0 Unveiled
This month we begin our coverage of VisuaLinks 3.0. This is a significant upgrade to VisuaLinks, with many new features. Over the next few months, we will spotlight additional features and capabilities of VisuaLinks 3.0, coming soon to a computer near you.
Please note that, although we are very close to releasing VisuaLinks 3.0, it is possible that there may be some minor changes to the user interface between now and the actual release. Don't be surprised if the version of VisuaLinks 3.0 you see varies ever-so-slightly from what you see here.
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Here are a few tips and tricks to help you use VisuaLinks quickly and more efficiently.
This month's tips focus on the upcoming 3.0 release.
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Changing Object Size
You can change the size of individual objects displayed in the View area by right-clicking an object and modifying the size settings in the pop-up menu. Change the Width and Height settings to modify the size of the objects (below).
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Adding data to a Shared folder
You can add data to a shared folder by right-clicking a data folder and selecting New / Add Data (below). You then select the file you want to add from a standard file chooser dialog.
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Add a new folder
You can add new folders in the Shared Explorer by right-clicking a folder in the list and selecting New / Add Folder (below).
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Searching ChoicePoint
If you have a ChoicePoint account, you can search ChoicePoint by right-clicking an object and choosing ChoicePoint Search in the pop-up menu (below).
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Presentation Tools
The VisuaLinks 3.0 release introduces one of our most-requested features – the ability to modify a link chart into a quality presentation product.
The VisuaLinks Presentation feature provides presentation tools to better visually present analyzed data. We crafted this suite of tools to follow the usability conventions of other popular presentation products to reduce the learning curve for our users.
The Presentation feature includes the following tools:
- Annotations
- Settings
- Group & Ungroup
- Alignment & Distribution
- Ordering
- Grid Alignment
- Copy & Paste
The Presentation Tools are available in the toolbar at the bottom of the View. These tools are shown in Figure 1, below.
Figure 1
Annotations
The Annotations tool allows you to draw lines, shapes, text boxes, connectors and insert pictures on a View to enhance and clarify analysis results.
Figure 2
Settings
After adding annotations to a link chart, the  Settings tool allows you to customize the objects. To change the characteristics of the lines, shapes, text boxes, pictures and connectors, you can double-click the object to open the Settings window.
One particularly useful setting is the Positioning setting. If the Locked position is applied to an annotation, it will not move or resize. If Persistent is applied, the annotation will continue to exist even after you reset the View.
Group/Ungroup
The  Grouping tool lets you select objects and annotations in the View to create a group. Once grouped, all of the selected items can be moved as one.
Alignment/Distribution
The  Alignment tools let you align multiple objects and annotations. Groups of objects and annotations can be aligned to the left, center, right, top, middle and bottom.
Figure 3, below, shows how four objects will appear after applying Alignment settings.
Figure 3
The  Distribute tool allows you to distribute multiple objects and annotations horizontally and vertically with equal distances between objects.
The affects of the Vertical and Horizontal Distribution are shown below.
Figure 4
Ordering
The Ordering tool allows you to set the layer order of annotations and objects. This tool defines which objects overlay others when they share space in the View. We show the effect of the ordering options in the figures that follow.
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| Initially, the text annotation is behind the phone object. |
When we apply the Bring to Front option to the text annotation, the annotation moves in front of the phone object. |
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Figure 5
Grid Alignment
Grid Alignment allows you to apply a grid to the View, customize grid intensity and grid spacing, and to turn snap to grid on or off. If Snap to Grid is on, then the objects in the View align themselves automatically to the nearest grid point, giving a more ordered appearance to the objects in the View.
Figure 6
Copy & Paste
This Presentation tool allows you to copy and paste objects and annotations in the same View and between Views. The latter capability is especially useful for interactive analysis. You can copy a portion of one View into a new View and then execute data walks and other analysis activities without affecting the original View.
Figure 7
Select the objects you wish to copy to a new View, right-click, and then choose Copy.
Right-click again and choose Paste To New View, as shown above. The objects you previously copied are copied into a new View, as shown below.
Figure 8
The Presentation feature is an important addition to VisuaLinks. These tools let you "mark-up" VisuaLinks analysis results for distribution as finished presentation products without using other presentation software.
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The following analysis was conducted based on a recent investigation involving the filing of suspicious financial transactions
(SARs) by banks located within Howard County, Maryland. Over a 2-year period, approximately 300 SARs were filed by banks
operating in this particular region. Although not a large number by any means, the SARs did provide interesting observations
regarding the movement of money within the region.
Howard County represents an affluent region within the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area that is home to a number of
corporate executives, doctors, lawyers, and other business professionals. Not only does it provide a convenient locale for
those working in either Baltimore or Washington, but it is also a hub for many employed at the National Security Agency (NSA)
and Fort Meade. Additionally, it is situated along interstates 95 and 70, which are known drug corridors.
Howard County has quite a diverse makeup including various farmlands, equestrian estates, and ever-expanding residential
areas including Columbia, one of the first planned communities in the U.S. Additionally, the historic district of
Ellicott City provides a wide range of antique stores, shopping boutiques, a brewery, and several restaurants.
The population of Howard County in 2002 was approximately 250,000 and growing strongly. Additionally, Howard County is
the wealthiest county in Maryland with an average household income of over $83,000 and a per-capita-income of almost $35,000.
Howard County is also one of the smallest counties in the state with a total of 252 square miles.
The illustration to the right shows the counts based on a Summarization performed within VisuaLinks using the Document
Control Number (DCN) to uniquely identify each SAR. The results are grouped-by the CITY/STATE for the addresses listed on
the SARs. Quickly, we see the majority of the filings occurred within Howard County since the top CITY=COLUMBIA with 87
SAR filings. The next grouping shows that there are 45 SARs without a listed CITY or STATE.
Using the VisuaLinks Mapping feature, all the SARs for this data extraction were plotted onto a geographic map. The
coordinates were derived from the ZIP CODE contained on the SAR for the address. Based on a Disambiguator function
applied to the model wizard, the "centroid" (e.g., generalized central location) for the ZIP code is returned in
latitude and longitude values. This combination of features is invaluable for quickly determining the location of
any address based on its associated ZIP code (over 45,000 ZIP codes in the U.S.). Additionally, if data were derived
from public sources such as ChoicePoint®, Accurint®, or LexisNexis®, the specific latitude and longitude for the actual
street address are returned as part of the query. Thus, much finer resolution and detail can be presented when using these
types of reference sources. For our purposes, the centroid provides the best view of the data.
Reviewing the map shows that there is a heavy concentration in and around the Baltimore / Washington corridor.
Additionally, as is clearly shown, a number of SARs were filed on people near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as well as
Dover, Delaware. These outliers are checked to determine the nature of the suspiciousness. In the 3.0 version of
VisuaLinks, attribute-to-attribute comparisons can be performed to find these types of situations by looking for the
BRANCH-STATE of the filing institution NOT-EQUAL to the ADDRESS-STATE of the subject.
At this step, the investigators wanted to look at "high-value" targets and defined the minimum value of the SAR to be
$100,000. Keep in mind that a SAR can represent numerous transactions occurring over a period of time. Thus, the resulting
SARs often depict a number of individual transactions rolled-up into a single report and their accumulated value is what
will exceed $100K. The following diagram now shows the 30 addresses that are associated with SARs meeting this condition.
Immediately, the investigators noticed that the intensity of addresses around their original target area was no longer
supported with the $100K filter condition. The concentration appears mostly along the I-95 corridor and areas south of
Howard County.
Using the Zoom feature to take a closer look at the map, the remaining addresses are viewed in the following diagram.
It becomes much clearer that the high-value transactions are being conducted within Howard County from addresses outside the immediate area. In fact, many exceed 10-25 miles.
To emphasize this pattern, the map shown below uses a red transparent highlight to emphasize the Howard County area. From this we can quickly see that only several of the 30 transactions over $100K were conducted by people living within Howard County.
The investigators find these circumstances to be of interest because several subjects crossed state lines; many traveled at least 25 miles to conduct the transactions; and most were not from as affluent communities as Howard County. Drilling down on the NARRATIVEs associated with the SARs for the Howard County addresses showed that many of the SUBJECTs involved in these transactions were foreign nationals. Additionally, the main violation-type was some type of "structuring" - where money is layered into account(s).
The patterns exposed are just one particular viewpoint of the data with respect to identifying questionable actions and behaviors. The investigators now have well-qualified leads to pursue to determine if any actual wrong-doing has occurred.
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