The data challenge 

With over five billion social media users generating content every day, gathering open-source intelligence is a time-consuming, arduous process that requires substantial human power to do right. Threat actors are everywhere, communicating on various online channels, and creating massive volumes of data. Even though every piece of publicly available information is capable of holding incredible value, it’s simply impossible for intelligence analysts to capture it all.

While every organization is unique, intelligence analysts around the world are facing the same challenges of: 

• Being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of publicly available information
• Struggling to evaluate situations when there are thousands of results to sift through
• Finding answers with the data quickly to move investigations forward 
• Creating timely and accurate threat assessments

Security organizations need to access and analyze open-source data to generate actionable intelligence allowing them to safeguard their people, places and assets. Sorting through vast amounts of information makes this difficult to do promptly in a world where every second counts. AI is a force multiplier for teams in virtually every industry, and security is no exception.

“AI isn’t just a buzzword to us, it’s a tool used to drive impact at a scale never before seen. With tools such as our search term recommendation, you can quickly find like-minded locations and keywords relevant to your investigation. Developing a full picture of an ongoing event is simple, allowing you to focus on the aspects of your mission that matter most.”

Zachary O’Dell, Echosec Product Manager

AI is a clear force multiplier for security practitioners

The newest AI enhancements in Echosec aim to optimize time efficiency for users by rapidly processing and comprehending vast amounts of information, while seamlessly integrating into analyst workflows. These capabilities enable users to summarize results, analyze sentiment, and generate search term recommendations in seconds. Organizations will derive meaningful insights, filter out extraneous information, and bring critical insights to the forefront.

How analysts can use the latest AI enhancements:

• Leverage the summaries as additional data points alongside a manual review of the results
• Instantly see the positive and negative sentiment related to a location, person, topic, or other query
• Compare the results across various time frames to see how the sentiment has changed over time
• Seamlessly pivot into related searches using the search recommendations

Example

A user sought to learn more about the recent uptick in car thefts in the US related to Hyundai and Kia. The user ran a search in Echosec with the query: (Hyundai AND theft) OR (Kia AND theft). 

After returning ~1700 results from social media and messaging apps, the user opted to analyze the results with the integrated AI function. 

The AI summary gave the user a more comprehensive picture of the situation, learning about the causes, implications, and actions being taken by the car brands to repair their reputations. 

The user then used the AI-generated search recommendations to pivot their research by clicking on the search term “Hyundai lawsuit”. After analyzing the consequent results, the user quickly learned about the multiple class-action lawsuits against the company alleging engine issues, oil consumption problems, and security flaws that have led to increased vehicle thefts.

Thanks to the AI integration, the analyst was able to process thousands of results to extract key insights and improve their search terms in seconds.

These search queries are also compelling when compared to the same query from a different time frame. Organizations can see how the sentiment around their brand, executives, or campaigns has evolved over time.

“Time to insight is everything when it comes to intelligence, that is why I am so excited about the potential capabilities that AI can offer. With our integrated workflows, you can summarize and review large swathes of data in a fraction of the time it would normally take.  Understanding the situation at a high level, reviewing underlying sentiment, and getting to what matters most has never been easier.”

Zachary O’Dell, Echosec Product Manager

Operational efficiency and reduced risk

The deepened integration of AI in Flashpoint solutions aims to significantly enhance security by giving analysts and security practitioners a comprehensive and timely understanding of the threat landscape. By leveraging AI’s rapid processing capabilities, we minimize delays in identifying and responding to security threats, enabling more efficient investigations and proactive risk mitigation. This approach not only strengthens situational awareness but also empowers security professionals to focus on strategic decision-making, ultimately reducing overall risk.

The desired outcome is a security framework that goes beyond reactive measures, offering efficient resource utilization to effectively stay ahead of adversaries. Through the synergy of threat intelligence and AI, organizations can anticipate and address potential threats, foster resilience, and ensure the safety of individuals, communities, assets, and critical infrastructure.

About Echosec

Echosec, by Flashpoint, delivers geo-enriched data and expert finished intelligence from an extensive, global range of open sources like social media, messaging apps, defense forums, and illicit communities. It enables customers to translate, analyze, and monitor the data to understand critical events, geopolitical situations, and executive threats. Echosec is available in Flashpoint’s Physical Security Intelligence and National Security Intelligence packages. To see the new AI integration in action, book a demo with our team.