Tests showed their method is very accurate, unlike many other methods currently in use. It can provide presentable evidence in courts of law, the journal Digital Investigation reports.
"In the past few years, we've seen an alarming increase in the number of cyber crimes involving anonymous emails," says study co-author Benjamin Fung, professor of Information Systems Engineering at Concordia University and an expert in data mining.
Data mining is extracting useful, previously unknown knowledge from a large volume of raw data. "These emails can transmit threats or child pornography, facilitate communications between criminals or carry viruses."
While police can often use the IP address to locate the house or apartment where an email originated, they may find many people at that address, according to a Concordia University statement.
