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A Graph Database Framework For Covert Network Analysis: An Application To The Islamic State Network In Europe, Alexander Gutfraind, Michael Genkin

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper proposes a new framework based on graph database theory for encoding complex data on covert networks, mapping their structure and conducting a sensitivity analysis.The framework is then applied to reconstruct the terrorist network of the 2015-2016 attacks in Paris and Brussels, and related plots in Europe by the Islamic State group (IS). The resulting network was found to be qualitatively different from the ideologically-related Al-Qaeda network, having a lower secrecy and lower mean degree, under different network-generating assumptions.