Applying the Techniques of Neutralization to the Study of Cybercrime

Brewer, Russell; Fox, Sarah; Miller, Caitlan

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78440-3_22

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Neutralisation theory has received a lot of attention among academic communities in general, and criminologists in particular (for detail, please see Section II of this paper, which provides a comprehensive literature review regarding the application of neutralisation theory in cybercrime). However, most of the existing research has focused on piracy with a handful of studies on sexting, cyberbullying and computer hacking (e.g., guessing passwords, gaining illegitimate access to a computer or network, and manipulating files or data) [12]. While this is a well-documented area, we have not found any study that investigated ransomware through the lens of neutralisation theory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Applying Neutralisation Theory to Better Understand Ransomware Offenders

Connolly,

Borrion,

Arief

et al. 2023

2023 IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy Workshops (EuroS&PW)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The work presented in this paper investigates the crime of ransomware from the perspective of neutralisation theory. In particular, this research-in-progress paper aims to explore the feasibility of using neutralisation theory to better understand one of the key stakeholders in ransomware operations: the offenders. Individuals (including offenders) may employ techniques of neutralisation in order to justify their rulebreaking acts, and to diminish both the perceived consequences of their acts and the feeling of guilt. The focus of this work is on highly organised ransomware groups that not only conduct cyber attacks but also operate Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) businesses. Secondary data was used in this research, including media interviews with alleged ransomware offenders. Data analysis is currently ongoing, but preliminary results show that ransomware offenders mainly use six neutralisation techniques to minimise the perceived impact and/or guilty feeling of their actions. These six neutralisation techniques are (1) denial of victim, (2) denial of injury, (3) claim of benefits, (4) claim of entitlement, (5) defence of necessity, and (6) claim of relative acceptability. The findings from this work can shed some light on the ransomware offending pathways, which in turn can be utilised to devise more effective countermeasures for combatting ransomware crime.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…However, as far as we know, no study specifically focused on ransomware offenders. This is important because offenders' motivations to commit crime may depend on the type of the crime [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying Neutralisation Theory to Better Understand Ransomware Offenders

Connolly,

Borrion,

Arief

et al. 2023

2023 IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy Workshops (EuroS&PW)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Reviews. With regard to intrinsic and personality features, a non-systematic review on neutralization techniques and cybercrime suggested that offenders involved in financial cybercrime might use denial of injury and denial of responsibility (Brewer et al, 2019). Another non-systematic review on the human factor in cybercrime and cybersecurity concluded that financial cybercriminals are more likely to have a criminal record than offenders who only commit traditional, offline crimes (Leukfeldt, 2017).…”

Section: Financial-economic Cyber-enabled Crimeundefinedmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic narrative review of pathways into, desistance from, and risk factors of financial-economic cyber-enabled crime

Loggen,

Moneva,

Leukfeldt

2024

Computer Law & Security Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Delving into the psychology of the criminal behaviour, the techniques provide useful insight into why offending occurs that may otherwise be challenging to understand or relate to. The techniques have been applied successfully across many and varied crime types (see for example Alexander & Opsal, 2020;Brewer, Fox & Miller, 2020;Padayachee, 2020;Siponena, Puhakainenb & Vancec, 2020;Wilhelm, Joeckel & Ziegler, 2019). As with the application of any theoretical model, caution must be taken as to its validity and suitability to the relevant research.…”

Section: Techniques To Neutralise Food Fraud Against Consumersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Ethical Certification Prevent Food Fraud?

Lindley

Bongiovanni²,

Eastwood³

2023

IJRC

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ethical, sustainable, social and environmental certification organisations exist as a means to ensure various trade standards are met; protect and empower small-scale producers in developing countries; and enable consumers to use their purchasing power to effect positive change. Consumers who trust in these labels accordingly pay a premium for it, though as is the case with all food, crime may infiltrate the supply chain and undermine the value of the certification label. Research shows that crimes such as modern slavery and child labour, use of banned pesticides, corruption, and food mislabelling have all been linked to certified foods – and regulation and traditional enforcement over these crimes may be limited or absent. The existence of these crimes undermines the certification process, purpose, validity and legitimacy and may render the label fraudulent. However, standards set by certification organisations operate as a form of regulation, despite being universally inconsistent and voluntary. Implicit or explicit tolerance for these crimes also denies injury committed against the consumer. As such, from the perspective of food fraud, this research suggests that through their standards setting, certification organisations may provide a layer of regulation and enforcement, contributing to the prevention of food fraud for certified ethically labelled food.

show abstract

Applying the Techniques of Neutralization to the Study of Cybercrime

Cited by 5 publications

References 41 publications

Applying Neutralisation Theory to Better Understand Ransomware Offenders

Applying Neutralisation Theory to Better Understand Ransomware Offenders

A systematic narrative review of pathways into, desistance from, and risk factors of financial-economic cyber-enabled crime

Can Ethical Certification Prevent Food Fraud?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About