Conventional wisdom dictates it’s not what you know, but who you know that matters. In the world of identity  resolution software, that adage is particularly relevant.

Identity resolution software finds relationships between individuals - demonstrating obscure links between people who could be in cahoots, or discovering that two or more individuals thought to be separate people are in fact the same person. It’s a market that’s gotten a lot of attention since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks of 2001.

Most recently, IBM made its interest clear in the technology by acquiring SRD for an undisclosed amount.

SRD developed analytics software that specializes in gleaning information about individuals’ identities and discovering obscure associations - such as if someone is bouncing checks at five banks using five different names or identities.

The software can sift through and identify multiple records that might appear to describe different people, but in reality are related to a single person. The software also detects suspicious relationships - such as a hazardous material licensee sharing an address with a suspected terrorist.

“We’re talking about discovering the [Drug Enforcement Agency] agent’s college roommate’s ex-wife’s current husband is the drug lord kind of connection,“ says Jeff Jonas, SRD’s founder and now IBM employee.

SRD originally built its software in the late 1980s to help credit and collections agencies figure out how to find bill evaders. “There was a problem with people who would go to a hospital and intentionally use their middle name, or change one or two digits of their Social Security number to avoid being billed,“ Jonas says.

In response, SRD’s software was designed to work through unintentional data discrepancies, as well as efforts to intentionally obfuscate identities, Jonas says. The technology later found a place in the casino gaming industry, which is obligated to make sure certain criminals aren’t employed by, or doing business with, casinos.

Today, businesses can use the technology to get an accurate view of individuals and relationships in real-time, seeing associations that previously were nearly impossible to discover, IBM says.