Exploring the social organisation and structure of stolen data markets

Bibliographic Data

ID12887162
AuthorsThomas J Holt (0000-0002-5894-0172, Michigan State University, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume14
Issue2-3
Pages155-174
Publication date2013-04-19
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGlobal Crime (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1744-0572 • E-ISSN: 1744-0580
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17440572.2013.787925
OpenAlexW2004621612
LanguageEN
Citations received33
References cited14

As consumers are increasingly using the Internet to manage their finances, there has been a concomitant increase in the risk of theft and fraud by cybercriminals. Hackers who acquire sensitive consumer data utilise information on their own, or sell the information in online forums for a significant profit. Few have considered the organisational composition of the participants engaged in the sale of stolen data, including the presence of managerial oversight, division of labour, coordination of roles and purposive associations between buyers, sellers and forum operators. Thus, this qualitative study will apply Best and Luckenbill's framework of social organisation to a sample of threads from publicly accessible web forums where individuals buy and sell stolen financial information. The implications of this study for criminologists, law enforcement, the intelligence community and information security researchers will be discussed in depth

Business · Computer security · Hacker · Internet privacy · Law enforcement · Political science · Public relations · Qualitative research · Sociology · The Internet · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies · Law · Spam and Phishing Detection

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