Instant messaging user geolocating method based on multi-source information association

Abstract

The increased intermingling of instant messaging (IM) and the Internet of Things (IoT) puts forward higher requirements for the security, the research on IM user geolocation technology is particularly important in maintaining the security of IoT. Most of the existing IM user geolocating methods analyse the relationship between the reported and real distance of the user to geolocate, but the number of geolocating users is limited. Therefore, we propose the instant messaging user geolocating method based on multi-source information association. This method converts the geolocating problem of a single user into the association of multi-source IM user information, and solves the problem of automatic and accurate acquisition of user information. The geolocating experiments are carried out for WeChat, Momo, and QQ. The results show that the method can achieve reliable acquisition for user information, and the number of geolocating users can be much greater than the existing geolocating method.