Deviating From the Cybercriminal Script

Exploring Tools of Anonymity (Mis)Used by Carders on Cryptomarkets

Bibliographic Data

ID3759067
AuthorsGert Jan Van Hardeveld (0000-0001-8847-4662, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK, corresponding author), Craig Webber (0000-0003-3900-7579, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK), Kieron O’hara (0000-0002-9051-4456, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK)
Year2017
Volume61
Issue11
Pages1244-1266
Publication date2017-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0002764217734271
OpenAlexW2747223851
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited38

This work presents an overview of some of the tools that cybercriminals employ to trade securely. It will look at the weaknesses of these tools and how the behavior of cybercriminals will sometimes lead them to use tools in a nonoptimal manner, creating opportunities for law enforcement to identify and apprehend them. The criminal domain this article focuses on is carding, the online trade in stolen payment card details and the consequent criminal misuse of such data. However, these findings could be applied more broadly, as many of the analyzed tools are used across (cyber) criminal domains. This article is a continuation of earlier work, in which a crime script analysis of 25 carding tutorials presented the tools that cybercriminals use to cash-out stolen payment card details while remaining anonymous. We use these tutorials and an analysis of the literature to identify how they can be used incorrectly and create a typology of potential behavioral and technological pitfalls in these tools. Finally, we conclude that finding pitfalls in the usage of tools by cybercriminals has the potential to increase the efficiency of disruption, interception, and prevention approaches. However, in future work, interviews with law enforcement experts and convicted cybercriminals or still active users should be used to analyze the operational security of cybercriminals in more depth

Anonymity · Computer security · Cybercrime · Internet privacy · Law enforcement · Payment · The Internet · Work (physics) · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies · Engineering · Law · Spam and Phishing Detection