Analysis of online messages for identity tracing in cybercrime investigation

Internet has provided us a much more convenient way to share information all over the world. Cyberspace also opened a new platform for criminal activities. With increased access to computers across the world, cybercrime is becoming a major challenge to law enforcement agencies. Cybercrime investigation process is in its infancy and there has been limited success in prosecuting the offenders; therefore a need to understand and strengthen the existing investigation methods and system for controlling cybercrime is greatly needed. Cybercrime is defined as Illegal computer-mediated activities that can be conducted through global electronic networks. One of the Problem in cybercrime investigation is identity tracing. It is difficult to trace identities due to the anonymity of cybercrime. Therefore tracing the identity of anonymous user has been identified as significant problems which hamper investigations. There is an increase in the number of cybercrime incidents through anonymous emails. Nowadays, government, industries and individuals rely on email for communication. Criminals make use of the anonymity in the cyber world to conduct illegitimate activities. Mostly Such activities can be conducted via E-mail. Extracting knowledge and information from e-mail text & its analysis provides evidence for cybercrime Investigation. In this paper focus is on analysis of email messages using statistical analysis, social network analysis along with their implementation, and our proposed method to identify the most plausible author of email texts.