What is Variable X?

[[deleted user]]

Read pages 87-96, or the end of Chapter 2, and then comment.

[Kressel]

The story of "Ian Morley" was my favorite part of the book, along with the story of the scientist and his attempt to control hurricanes. But as to what Variable X is, my only guess is that it has to do with the frequency of withdrawals and when they occur, but I'm probably wrong.

[surfmadpig]

I don't have the book any more, but could you mean this? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_variable

[Kressel]

Specifically, the question is, what is Variable X in Ian Morley's algorithm to track terrorists through bank activities?

[Bill]

Variable X is a behavioral metric, but it also has to do with banking and for that matter is limited to what information the bank would have. It is also an activity, implying that it is a repeated behavior. My conjecture is that it applies whether conduct their banking activities outside the bank (drop-box, online, etc.) or if they actually go in the bank to perform transactions. They do not want to be seen.