Hacking and Fraud

Montesh, Moses

doi:10.1201/b13925-9

Cited by 15 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The current study's results substantiate several studies which found the social structures of hackers are communities marked by centralized, yet densely clustered, interpersonal relations (Décary-Hétu & Dupont, 2012; Howell et al, 2019;Samtani et al, 2017). Moreover, the findings also support the extant literature's qualitative (Hutchings, 2013;Jordan & Taylor, 1998) and quantitative Duxbury & Haynie, 2018) understanding on the influential and substantial role a small number of actors can have within an ecosystem.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

The Illicit Ecosystem of Hacking: A Longitudinal Network Analysis of Website Defacement Groups

Perkins

2022

Social Science Computer Review

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Over the past four decades, research on hackers has widely propagated within the social sciences. Although this area of scholarship yields rich insight into the interpersonal dynamics of hackers, research on the unique ecosystems they create and inhabit is scant in comparison. The current study aims to offer a more complete assessment of hackers’ ecosystems by incorporating the group affiliations which link hackers to one another. Using 12 months of archived website defacement data containing individuals’ self-reported group affiliations alongside their hacking activities, the study reconstructs the social network of hacker groups over time. Findings reveal the illicit ecosystem to be loosely connected, yet densely clustered around a few central groups. The ecosystem also maintained its network features across the observation period with no sign of structural degradation. These findings corroborate extant research on the social environments of hackers, offer an innovative look into the illicit ecosystem of website defacers, and serve as a steppingstone to extend investigations of criminal behavior to the group-level.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

The Illicit Ecosystem of Hacking: A Longitudinal Network Analysis of Website Defacement Groups

Perkins

2022

Social Science Computer Review

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“…Cyber-enabled crimes are more interpersonal in nature, and deception of Internet users through socially engineered messages is key in the commission of cyber-enabled crimes (Chen et al , 2017; Halevi et al , 2015). However, cyber-dependent crimes heavily rely on technical subterfuge, such as infecting target computers or exploiting technological vulnerabilities (Almomani et al , 2013; Hutchings, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hacking is the unauthorised access to computers or computer systems with the aim of damaging, altering or stealing data (Wall, 2001). Hackers utilise technical subterfuge such as malware infection or social engineering to access computer systems (Hutchings, 2013; Reyns and Henson, 2016). Although the initial hackers were motivated by naïve ends, such as curiosity or identifying deficiencies in computer systems, recent hackers have been motivated more by criminal intent, such as financial gain or terrorism (Koops, 2010).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the human factor in cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent crime victimisation: a lifestyle routine activities approach

Akdemir

Lawless

2020

INTR

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PurposeThe purpose of this study was to explore human factors as the possible facilitator of cyber-dependent (hacking and malware infection) and cyber-enabled (phishing) crimes victimisation and to test the applicability of lifestyle routine activities theory (LRAT) to cybercrime victimisation.Design/methodology/approachA mixed methods research paradigm was applied to address the research questions and aims. The data set of Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW) 2014/2015 and 42 semi-structured interviews conducted with victims of cybercrime and non-victim control group participants were analysed via binary logistic regression and content analyses methods.FindingsThis research illustrated that Internet users facilitated their victimisation through their online activities. Additionally, using insecure Internet connections and public access computers emerged as risk factors for both cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent crime victimisation. Voluntary and involuntary personal information disclosure through social networking sites and online advertisement websites increased the likelihood of being a target of phishing. Deviant online activities such as free streaming or peer-to-peer sharing emerged to increase the risk of cyber-dependent crime victimisation.Research limitations/implicationsThe binary logistic regression analysis results suggested LRAT as a more suitable theoretical framework for cyber-dependent crime victimisation. Future research may test this result with models including more macro variables.Practical implicationsPolicymakers may consider implementing regulations regarding limiting the type of information required to login to free Wi-Fi connections. Checking trust signs and green padlocks may be effective safeguarding measures to lessen the adverse impacts of impulsive buying.Originality/valueThis study empirically illustrated that, besides individual-level factors, macro-level factors such as electronic devices being utilised to access the Internet and data breaches of large companies also increased the likelihood of becoming the victim of cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent crime.

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“…For instance, reference [40] found that software crackers do not deny responsibility for their actions and argue that some of their targets (i.e., vendors of expensive software) deserve to be victimised. According to reference [41], hackers not only refute the idea that victims are harmed, but also argue that their actions benefit others since they bring attention to security vulnerabilities in systems. Furthermore, some offenders believe that even if victims incur financial losses, this is only temporary as they are eventually compensated by financial institutions [15].…”

Section: Neutralisation Theory and Cybercrimementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Perpetrators that commit minor forms of hacking and use illegal software argue that computer intrusions are not as serious as other illegal acts [35,42]. Hackers may deliberately target specific victims, especially if the victims are viewed as harming others [41]. This is particularly true for offenders who commit cyber-attacks for ideological, religious and political purposes [43,44].…”

Section: Neutralisation Theory and Cybercrimementioning

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)

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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.

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Hacking and Fraud

Cited by 15 publications

References 15 publications

The Illicit Ecosystem of Hacking: A Longitudinal Network Analysis of Website Defacement Groups

The Illicit Ecosystem of Hacking: A Longitudinal Network Analysis of Website Defacement Groups

Exploring the human factor in cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent crime victimisation: a lifestyle routine activities approach

Applying Neutralisation Theory to Better Understand Ransomware Offenders

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