Identifying 'anonymous' email authors (digital, password, Word, print)

[Brian.Pearson]

Montreal, March 8, 2011 – A team of researchers from Concordia University has developed an effective new technique to determine the authorship of anonymous emails. Tests showed their method has a high level of accuracy – and unlike many other methods of ascertaining authorship, it can provide presentable evidence in courts of law. Findings on the new technique are published in the journal Digital Investigation.

[plwhit]

Figures, this might fly in Canada but here in the US the constitution stops the government and police from gathering data like this method requires.

[jtur88]

I had thought that system was already pretty well perfected, and was used even in the days of the manual typewriter, and even the quill pen, for that natter, which is why kidnappers cut out words from magazines and pasted them on ransom notes.

The US Constitution doesn't impede any investigation for which a warrant is issued, and warrants are readily issued when there is reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed. If there is no suspicion of a crime---surprise--- the police don't care who wrote it. But the software developed in the citation can readily be made to the general public (and almost certainly will be), so you and I can find out who send us emails.

[harry chickpea]

"The remaining frequent patterns are unique to the author of the emails being analyzed. They constitute the suspect's 'write-print,' a distinctive identifier like a fingerprint. "Let's say the anonymous email contains typos or grammatical mistakes, or is written entirely in lowercase letters," says Fung. "We use those special characteristics to create a write-print. Using this method, we can even determine with a high degree of accuracy who wrote a given email, and infer the gender, nationality and education level of the author."

Windows spell-check and grammar check got a lot of 'splainin to do, Lucy.

[juggler]

This is why I always send my threatening emails from the local public library computers.

Problem solved.

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by juggler

This is why I always send my threatening emails from the local public library computers.

Problem solved.

Some nazi libraries make you log in with your library card and password. Gotcha.