Investigation Methodology
Verified Association
A verified association is a relationship between an investigation subject and a record, profile, identifier or other entity that is supported by inspectable evidence from public sources, not by similarity alone. A profile becomes a verified association when independent signals — a biography, cross-links between accounts, published contact details or a consistent professional history — corroborate the link and no contradicting evidence outweighs them. A verified association is stronger than a possible match, but it still describes only what the public record supports: it does not by itself establish legal ownership, control or wrongdoing. Nexus records the evidence behind each verified association so that a reviewer, client or court can trace the conclusion back to its sources.
Related OSINT terms
- Possible MatchA possible match is a candidate record, profile, name or identifier that shares attributes with the subject of an investigation…
- Evidence RecordAn evidence record is a preserved, attributable item of source material captured during an investigation — the page, document, listing…
- Provenance (Evidence)Provenance is the documented origin and history of a piece of evidence: where it was found, when it was retrieved…
- Entity CorrelationEntity correlation is the OSINT technique of identifying and mapping relationships between different entities such as people, organizations, domains, IP…
- Relationship GraphA relationship graph is a visual map of the entities in an investigation — people, organizations, domains, accounts, wallets and…
- Web3 IdentityWeb3 identity is the set of public, blockchain-based identifiers through which a person or organization is represented on-chain: wallet addresses…
Related Skills
Investigative Skills in Nexus that apply Verified Association to a live case.
- Public Profile DiscoveryFind public profiles potentially associated with a person or username and distinguish supported associations from possible matches.Pro & Agency
- Public Social-Profile EnrichmentCompare known profile candidates using biographies, usernames, public links, professional details and conflicting signals.Pro & Agency
- Business and Place IntelligenceResearch advertised business locations, websites, phone numbers, categories and branch information.Pro & Agency
- Academic and Publication FootprintDiscover publication candidates and assess authorship using affiliations, research topics, co-authors and other identifying context.Pro & Agency
- App and Developer IntelligenceExplore public mobile applications and developer profiles, including linked websites, releases and support information.Pro & Agency
- Advertising TransparencyExamine public advertising records and assess evidence connecting campaigns, advertisers, domains and claimed companies.Pro & Agency