Data Thieves in Action

This book examines the practices of cybercriminals who steal and sell personal information acquired through various means, including mass data breaches, to engage in cybercrime and fraud. Using data from multiple English and Russian language web forums, the authors identify the range of products sold in these active on-line marketplaces and the prospective profits earned by these actors. The social organization of these markets is analysed using sociological theory to understand the sophistication of the markets. Social network analyses of the relational networks of participants are also utilised to examine their sophistication and structure. In doing so, this work will contribute to the development of cybercrime studies, and will appeal to both social and computer scientists alike with an interest in the human aspects of cybercrime.

Thomas Holt is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, USA. He has published extensively on cybercrime and cyberterror, and has received multiple grants from the National Institute of Justice and the National Science Foundation to examine malware writers, data thieves, and hackers using on-line data. Olga Smirnova is an Assistant Professor at the MPA program, Political Science Department, East Carolina University, USA. Her research interests include social networks, institutional stability, economic development, performance measurement, and visualizations of complex systems. She teaches various courses at graduate and undergraduate levels, including economic development, public budgeting, and professional papers. Yi Ting Chua is a PhD student in the School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, USA. Although gender and criminal justice systems have been her primary interests, she is also interested in how policing, domestic violence, and comparative criminal justice interact with the dynamics between gender and criminal justice.