Scientists have compiled the geoprofil of anonymous graffiti artist Banksy
Three years ago, experts proved that it is possible to identify a specific person among 1.5 million mobile communication users by just four points in time and space. Such points (for example, house - work - shop - bar) are unique for each person, approximately like a fingerprint.
The latest victim of scientific deanonymization was the English underground artist of street art Banksy , who for twenty years managed to hide his identity and leave the police. He is called the most famous contemporary artist in the UK.
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Michelle Hauge from Queen Mary’s College, University of London, and her colleagues used the “geographic profiling” statistical technique somewhat similar to the de-anonymization technique of cellular subscribers mentioned above.
It is believed that a former police officer, Professor Kim Rossmo (Kim Rossmo), co-authored this scientific work, invented the technique of geographical profiling. Initially, it was used to search for serial killers who commit crimes around an “anchor” point — usually their home or place of work.
Subsequently, the technique adapted to study the spread of viral infections. A computer program, having received information about infected citizens, can determine the source of the epidemic in a few minutes.
Researchers studied the spatial structure of Banksy street works in Bristol and London. They were able to prove the theory that the author of a journalistic investigation from the Mail on Sunday newspaper put forward in 2008 that the artist Robin Gunningham hides under the pseudonym of Banksy.
The authors of the new study collected the exact GPS coordinates of 140 Banksy's works, known from open sources.
They recorded for comparison the coordinates of the apartments Gunningham in London and Bristol, as well as the coordinates of the apartments of his girlfriend Jamie Eastham, with whom he lived in 2004-2005, and another girl (now his wife) Joy Millward, the coordinates of the base of The Plow football club, for which played Gunningham, and two football fields where the club played.
The data were processed using the Dirichlet distribution model (Dirichlet process mixture, DPM), which is ideal for clustering with an unknown number of clusters. When processing "crime scenes" are divided into clusters. It is assumed that each cluster has its own separate source.
For the work, the software package Rgeoprofile , written in the R programming language, was used. In the clustering parameters, a radius of 900 meters was set - a typical maximum distance that a criminal travels in urban areas. With these parameters, the researchers assumed that about 95% of all Banksy work would be within 2 km around the source.
The result of the study: in London's Banksy geoprofile, two of the three alleged “anchor” places entered the top 10 geoprofile.
London geoprofile
In Bristol - two out of four.
Bristol geoprofil
In London, the peak of a geoprofile is 500 meters from the former apartment of Gunningham’s wife and close to the apartment where he lived with his girlfriend. Of course, such a result cannot be called evidence that Banksy is Gunningham, but geoprofiles definitely confirm this theory.
The authors hope that the method of statistical geoprofiling will be useful for identifying potential terrorists who are still engaged in drawing graffiti and putting up anti-government leaflets.
A scientific article on the de-anonymization of Banksy was published in the Journal of Spatial Science .
The latest victim of scientific deanonymization was the English underground artist of street art Banksy , who for twenty years managed to hide his identity and leave the police. He is called the most famous contemporary artist in the UK.
')
Michelle Hauge from Queen Mary’s College, University of London, and her colleagues used the “geographic profiling” statistical technique somewhat similar to the de-anonymization technique of cellular subscribers mentioned above.
It is believed that a former police officer, Professor Kim Rossmo (Kim Rossmo), co-authored this scientific work, invented the technique of geographical profiling. Initially, it was used to search for serial killers who commit crimes around an “anchor” point — usually their home or place of work.
Subsequently, the technique adapted to study the spread of viral infections. A computer program, having received information about infected citizens, can determine the source of the epidemic in a few minutes.
Researchers studied the spatial structure of Banksy street works in Bristol and London. They were able to prove the theory that the author of a journalistic investigation from the Mail on Sunday newspaper put forward in 2008 that the artist Robin Gunningham hides under the pseudonym of Banksy.
The authors of the new study collected the exact GPS coordinates of 140 Banksy's works, known from open sources.
They recorded for comparison the coordinates of the apartments Gunningham in London and Bristol, as well as the coordinates of the apartments of his girlfriend Jamie Eastham, with whom he lived in 2004-2005, and another girl (now his wife) Joy Millward, the coordinates of the base of The Plow football club, for which played Gunningham, and two football fields where the club played.
The data were processed using the Dirichlet distribution model (Dirichlet process mixture, DPM), which is ideal for clustering with an unknown number of clusters. When processing "crime scenes" are divided into clusters. It is assumed that each cluster has its own separate source.
For the work, the software package Rgeoprofile , written in the R programming language, was used. In the clustering parameters, a radius of 900 meters was set - a typical maximum distance that a criminal travels in urban areas. With these parameters, the researchers assumed that about 95% of all Banksy work would be within 2 km around the source.
The result of the study: in London's Banksy geoprofile, two of the three alleged “anchor” places entered the top 10 geoprofile.
London geoprofile
In Bristol - two out of four.
Bristol geoprofil
In London, the peak of a geoprofile is 500 meters from the former apartment of Gunningham’s wife and close to the apartment where he lived with his girlfriend. Of course, such a result cannot be called evidence that Banksy is Gunningham, but geoprofiles definitely confirm this theory.
The authors hope that the method of statistical geoprofiling will be useful for identifying potential terrorists who are still engaged in drawing graffiti and putting up anti-government leaflets.
A scientific article on the de-anonymization of Banksy was published in the Journal of Spatial Science .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/391247/
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