Jonathan Lusthaus
Biographic Data
| ID | 385043 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jonathan Lusthaus |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jonathan |
| FAMILY NAME | Lusthaus |
| SIGNATURE | LUSTHAUS J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Oxford |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9386-7708 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 32 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The evolution of Nigerian cybercrime: Two case studies of UK-based offender networks
Thus far, the literature on cybercrime has focussed on ‘cyber-dependent’, rather than ‘cyber-enabled’ crime. This has meant the emphasis has been on online settings, technical offences, and Western cybercriminals. This paper seeks to partially address these gaps through focussed qualitative case study analyses of two Nigerian offender networks based in Europe, which were both engaged in cyber-enabled fraud and had a strong offline component. We s…
Cybercriminal networks in the UK and Beyond: Network structure, criminal cooperation and external interactions
This article examines the network structure, criminal cooperation, and external interactions of cybercriminal networks. Its contribution is empirical and inductive. The core of this study involved carrying out 10 case analyses on closed cybercrime investigations – all with financial motivations on the part of the offenders - in the UK and beyond. Each analysis involved investigator interview and access to unpublished law enforcement files. The co…
Reconsidering Crime and Technology: What Is This Thing We Call Cybercrime
Cybercrime is not a solely technical subject but one that involves human offenders who are susceptible to social scientific study. Yet, despite calls for cybercrime research to be mainstreamed, the topic remains a niche area within legal studies and the social sciences. Drawing on the most significant findings over recent years, this review aims to make the subject more accessible to a wide range of scholars by softening some of the perceived bou…
The Gozi group: A criminal firm in cyberspace
The relative glut of data on cybercriminal forums has led to a growing understanding of the functioning of these virtual marketplaces. But with a focus on illicit online trading, less attention has been paid to the structures of groups that carry out cybercrimes in an operational sense. In economic parlance, some such groups may be known as ‘firms’. This concept has been a significant part of the literature on more traditional forms of organised …
Cooperation and distrust in extra-legal networks: A research note on the experimental study of marketplace disruption
Cybercriminal markets serve as hubs for offenders and enable the sale of illegal goods and services. Thus far, the primary tactics that have been employed against these sites are arrests of cybercriminals and takedowns of marketplace infrastructure. This research note examines a different genus of disruptive strategy: attacks on user reputation. In this area, there has been some scholarly discussion of slander and Sybil operations as a means of f…
Countering Distrust in Illicit Online Networks: The Dispute Resolution Strategies of Cybercriminals
The core of this article is a detailed investigation of the dispute resolution system contained within Darkode, an elite cybercriminal forum. Extracting the dedicated disputes section from within the marketplace, where users can report bad behavior and register complaints, we carry out content analysis on these threads. This involves both descriptive statistics across the data set and qualitative analysis of particular posts of interest, leading …
Honour Among (Cyber)thieves
It is well known that criminals, who operate outside the law and the protection of the state, face difficulties in cooperating due both to the requirement of secrecy and a deficit of trust. For cybercriminals the anonymity of the Internet creates further challenges, making it even more difficult to assess trustworthiness and enforce agreements. Yet, contrary to expectations, collaboration among cybercriminals is prevalent, and a sophisticated ind…
How organised is organised cybercrime
To some writers and commentators, fully fledged organised cybercrime is currently emerging. Law enforcement spokesmen and Internet security firms have even made comparisons between the structure of cybercriminal enterprises and organisations like La Cosa Nostra. But, in reality, conventional criminal labels applied to cybercrime are themselves often poorly understood by those who employ them. The purpose of this research note is to apply scholarl…
Trust in the world of cybercrime
For cybercriminals, the anonymity of the Internet offers not only opportunities but also challenges. Where one does not truly know whom one is doing business with, it makes it difficult to assess trustworthiness or to retaliate should dealings go sour and agreements need to be enforced. This creates a large deficit of trust, beyond even that common among conventional criminals, and makes cybercriminal transactions very unstable. As a result, it m…
Religion, Empire and Torture: The Case of Achaemenian Persia, with a Postscript on Abu Ghraib – By Bruce Lincoln
Religion and state violence: Legitimation in Israel, the USA and Iran
Since the end of the Cold War, there has been an increased interest in the role of religion in world politics. Notably, when it comes to discussions of religion and violence, many studies have focused on non-state actors rather than the nexus between religion and state violence. This paper argues that even though states may pursue a range of ostensibly secular interests, religion nonetheless often plays an important role with regard to the legiti…
The God Strategy: How Religion Became a Political Weapon in America – By David Domke and Kevin Coe
Shifting Sands: Sea Level Rise, Maritime Boundaries and Inter-State Conflict
While the international security dimensions of climate change have received an increasing amount of attention, one impact that has not been widely discussed is the role that sea level rise could play in rendering maritime boundaries around the globe uncertain. The argument of this article is that this confusion of maritime boundaries could have potentially significant consequences in creating inter-state disputes, possibly leading to conflicts an…
A History of Hell: The Jewish Origins of the Idea of Gehenna in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark
Hell is a fundamentally important Christian doctrine, but questions still remain about precisely how the concept developed. This article goes a small way to addressing such questions by attempting to ascertain the immediate origins of the idea of Gehenna, a key element of the doctrine of hell found in the Synoptic Gospels. In the Synoptics, Gehenna is the otherworldly location of eternal punishment for the wicked, after the last judgement. This a…
Trust in the world of cybercrime
For cybercriminals, the anonymity of the Internet offers not only opportunities but also challenges. Where one does not truly know whom one is doing business with, it makes it difficult to assess trustworthiness or to retaliate should dealings go sour and agreements need to be enforced. This creates a large deficit of trust, beyond even that common among conventional criminals, and makes cybercriminal transactions very unstable. As a result, it m…
How organised is organised cybercrime
To some writers and commentators, fully fledged organised cybercrime is currently emerging. Law enforcement spokesmen and Internet security firms have even made comparisons between the structure of cybercriminal enterprises and organisations like La Cosa Nostra. But, in reality, conventional criminal labels applied to cybercrime are themselves often poorly understood by those who employ them. The purpose of this research note is to apply scholarl…
Countering Distrust in Illicit Online Networks: The Dispute Resolution Strategies of Cybercriminals
The core of this article is a detailed investigation of the dispute resolution system contained within Darkode, an elite cybercriminal forum. Extracting the dedicated disputes section from within the marketplace, where users can report bad behavior and register complaints, we carry out content analysis on these threads. This involves both descriptive statistics across the data set and qualitative analysis of particular posts of interest, leading …
Shifting Sands: Sea Level Rise, Maritime Boundaries and Inter-State Conflict
While the international security dimensions of climate change have received an increasing amount of attention, one impact that has not been widely discussed is the role that sea level rise could play in rendering maritime boundaries around the globe uncertain. The argument of this article is that this confusion of maritime boundaries could have potentially significant consequences in creating inter-state disputes, possibly leading to conflicts an…
Reconsidering Crime and Technology: What Is This Thing We Call Cybercrime
Cybercrime is not a solely technical subject but one that involves human offenders who are susceptible to social scientific study. Yet, despite calls for cybercrime research to be mainstreamed, the topic remains a niche area within legal studies and the social sciences. Drawing on the most significant findings over recent years, this review aims to make the subject more accessible to a wide range of scholars by softening some of the perceived bou…
Religion and state violence: Legitimation in Israel, the USA and Iran
Since the end of the Cold War, there has been an increased interest in the role of religion in world politics. Notably, when it comes to discussions of religion and violence, many studies have focused on non-state actors rather than the nexus between religion and state violence. This paper argues that even though states may pursue a range of ostensibly secular interests, religion nonetheless often plays an important role with regard to the legiti…
A History of Hell: The Jewish Origins of the Idea of Gehenna in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark
Hell is a fundamentally important Christian doctrine, but questions still remain about precisely how the concept developed. This article goes a small way to addressing such questions by attempting to ascertain the immediate origins of the idea of Gehenna, a key element of the doctrine of hell found in the Synoptic Gospels. In the Synoptics, Gehenna is the otherworldly location of eternal punishment for the wicked, after the last judgement. This a…
The God Strategy: How Religion Became a Political Weapon in America – By David Domke and Kevin Coe
Shifting Sands: Sea Level Rise, Maritime Boundaries and Inter-State Conflict
While the international security dimensions of climate change have received an increasing amount of attention, one impact that has not been widely discussed is the role that sea level rise could play in rendering maritime boundaries around the globe uncertain. The argument of this article is that this confusion of maritime boundaries could have potentially significant consequences in creating inter-state disputes, possibly leading to conflicts an…
Religion, Empire and Torture: The Case of Achaemenian Persia, with a Postscript on Abu Ghraib – By Bruce Lincoln
Religion and state violence: Legitimation in Israel, the USA and Iran
Since the end of the Cold War, there has been an increased interest in the role of religion in world politics. Notably, when it comes to discussions of religion and violence, many studies have focused on non-state actors rather than the nexus between religion and state violence. This paper argues that even though states may pursue a range of ostensibly secular interests, religion nonetheless often plays an important role with regard to the legiti…
Trust in the world of cybercrime
For cybercriminals, the anonymity of the Internet offers not only opportunities but also challenges. Where one does not truly know whom one is doing business with, it makes it difficult to assess trustworthiness or to retaliate should dealings go sour and agreements need to be enforced. This creates a large deficit of trust, beyond even that common among conventional criminals, and makes cybercriminal transactions very unstable. As a result, it m…
How organised is organised cybercrime
To some writers and commentators, fully fledged organised cybercrime is currently emerging. Law enforcement spokesmen and Internet security firms have even made comparisons between the structure of cybercriminal enterprises and organisations like La Cosa Nostra. But, in reality, conventional criminal labels applied to cybercrime are themselves often poorly understood by those who employ them. The purpose of this research note is to apply scholarl…
Honour Among (Cyber)thieves
It is well known that criminals, who operate outside the law and the protection of the state, face difficulties in cooperating due both to the requirement of secrecy and a deficit of trust. For cybercriminals the anonymity of the Internet creates further challenges, making it even more difficult to assess trustworthiness and enforce agreements. Yet, contrary to expectations, collaboration among cybercriminals is prevalent, and a sophisticated ind…
Countering Distrust in Illicit Online Networks: The Dispute Resolution Strategies of Cybercriminals
The core of this article is a detailed investigation of the dispute resolution system contained within Darkode, an elite cybercriminal forum. Extracting the dedicated disputes section from within the marketplace, where users can report bad behavior and register complaints, we carry out content analysis on these threads. This involves both descriptive statistics across the data set and qualitative analysis of particular posts of interest, leading …
Cooperation and distrust in extra-legal networks: A research note on the experimental study of marketplace disruption
Cybercriminal markets serve as hubs for offenders and enable the sale of illegal goods and services. Thus far, the primary tactics that have been employed against these sites are arrests of cybercriminals and takedowns of marketplace infrastructure. This research note examines a different genus of disruptive strategy: attacks on user reputation. In this area, there has been some scholarly discussion of slander and Sybil operations as a means of f…
The Gozi group: A criminal firm in cyberspace
The relative glut of data on cybercriminal forums has led to a growing understanding of the functioning of these virtual marketplaces. But with a focus on illicit online trading, less attention has been paid to the structures of groups that carry out cybercrimes in an operational sense. In economic parlance, some such groups may be known as ‘firms’. This concept has been a significant part of the literature on more traditional forms of organised …
Cybercriminal networks in the UK and Beyond: Network structure, criminal cooperation and external interactions
This article examines the network structure, criminal cooperation, and external interactions of cybercriminal networks. Its contribution is empirical and inductive. The core of this study involved carrying out 10 case analyses on closed cybercrime investigations – all with financial motivations on the part of the offenders - in the UK and beyond. Each analysis involved investigator interview and access to unpublished law enforcement files. The co…
Reconsidering Crime and Technology: What Is This Thing We Call Cybercrime
Cybercrime is not a solely technical subject but one that involves human offenders who are susceptible to social scientific study. Yet, despite calls for cybercrime research to be mainstreamed, the topic remains a niche area within legal studies and the social sciences. Drawing on the most significant findings over recent years, this review aims to make the subject more accessible to a wide range of scholars by softening some of the perceived bou…
The evolution of Nigerian cybercrime: Two case studies of UK-based offender networks
Thus far, the literature on cybercrime has focussed on ‘cyber-dependent’, rather than ‘cyber-enabled’ crime. This has meant the emphasis has been on online settings, technical offences, and Western cybercriminals. This paper seeks to partially address these gaps through focussed qualitative case study analyses of two Nigerian offender networks based in Europe, which were both engaged in cyber-enabled fraud and had a strong offline component. We s…
Political science (13 works) · Law (11 works) · Computer Science (10 works) · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance (9 works) · Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Computer security (8 works) · Cybercrime (8 works) · Law (8 works) · The Internet (8 works)