The current invention relates to a system and method for tracking or locating a target entity on a data network, such as the public Internet, by analyzing network traffic and communication among interacting network nodes. The invention describes a system of creating an information set of data related to the traffic patterns associated with a specific entity over a time period, and comparing the information set to other information related to the traffic patterns associated with a group of entities over the same time period. By excluding information that is common to both the specific entity and the group of entities from the information set, the information set is left with only the information that helps identify the specific entity on the network.