Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News

      Name-Recognition Tool Used in Hunt for Al Qaeda Suspect

      By
      Lisa Vaas
      -
      March 21, 2003
      Share
      Facebook
      Twitter
      Linkedin

        To help police, banks and other business institutions search their databases as they try to track down suspected al Qaeda associate Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, a maker of smart name-recognition software is giving away a collection of over 500 linguistic name and alias variations.

        The FBI said on Thursday that El Shukrijumah is possibly involved with al Qaeda terrorist activities and may pose a threat to U.S. security. Language Analysis Systems, in Herndon, Va., responded by making public on its site about 40 of the most common name variations that may be in use by El Shukrijumah, including variations of the aliases identified by the FBI. The company also will give away a more extensive list to certain agencies.

        John Hermansen, CEO and founder of LAS, said that examples of organizations that have a demonstrated need are police departments or joint terrorism task forces. Other organizations or individuals would be deluged by the number of possible name variations, he said.

        According to LAS, its Arabic name experts believe that the aliases provided—among them, “Abu Arif” and “Jafar Al-Tayar”—could mean one of a few things. The first could translate to “father of Arif” or could be a nickname for a knowledgeable person. The word “Tayar” could be a nickname for “pilot,” which would make the second alias translate into “Jafar the pilot.”

        Police and others checking their databases for name variants would likely do a simple search on the top names, Hermansen said, whereas financial institutions or government agencies would need LAS search technology—which includes the products NameClassifier and NameHunter—to make use of the entire list.

        NameClassifier is software that identifies what cultural background a given name comes from. Names translated from Chinese, Korean, Hispanic and Arabic, for example, have distinct spelling variations that crop up when translating from a non-Roman alphabet to a Roman character set. NameHunter is software that takes the search one step further after the culture of a name is identified by using language-specific parameters. For example, “Abdul” is a common identifier in Arabic and appears in the left string of name characters, much like “Ms.” or “Mr.” in English. NameHunter would therefore place emphasis on characters that appear in characters to the right.

        The abbreviated list of name variations is available here.

        Lisa Vaas
        Lisa Vaas is News Editor/Operations for eWEEK.com and also serves as editor of the Database topic center. Since 1995, she has also been a Webcast news show anchorperson and a reporter covering the IT industry. She has focused on customer relationship management technology, IT salaries and careers, effects of the H1-B visa on the technology workforce, wireless technology, security, and, most recently, databases and the technologies that touch upon them. Her articles have appeared in eWEEK's print edition, on eWEEK.com, and in the startup IT magazine PC Connection. Prior to becoming a journalist, Vaas experienced an array of eye-opening careers, including driving a cab in Boston, photographing cranky babies in shopping malls, selling cameras, typography and computer training. She stopped a hair short of finishing an M.A. in English at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She earned a B.S. in Communications from Emerson College. She runs two open-mic reading series in Boston and currently keeps bees in her home in Mashpee, Mass.

        MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

        Cybersecurity

        Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

        James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
        I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
        Read more
        Big Data and Analytics

        Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

        James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
        I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
        Read more
        Big Data and Analytics

        GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

        James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
        I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
        Read more
        Applications

        Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

        James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
        I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
        Read more
        Cloud

        Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

        James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
        Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
        Read more
        Logo

        eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

        Facebook
        Linkedin
        RSS
        Twitter
        Youtube

        Advertisers

        Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

        Advertise with Us

        Menu

        • About eWeek
        • Subscribe to our Newsletter
        • Latest News

        Our Brands

        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms
        • About
        • Contact
        • Advertise
        • Sitemap
        • California – Do Not Sell My Information

        Property of TechnologyAdvice.
        © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

        Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

        ×