The online gaming industry has developed its business opportunities to involve Real Money Trading, where people can buy in-game virtual items for real money. This development has shaped a new...Show moreThe online gaming industry has developed its business opportunities to involve Real Money Trading, where people can buy in-game virtual items for real money. This development has shaped a new phenomenon in which these items are re-sold through various online markets. These markets are known to use illicit methods and to be frequently used within criminal activities. Such illicit secondary markets usually exist next to official ones. This thesis analyzes the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive game on the Steam platform, both published by Valve. The analysis is focused on a Discourse Analysis of six conducted interviews. The results of these interviews were used to ask one central research question, namely: What factors contribute to the engagement in Real Money Trading of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players in illicit secondary marketplaces over the Steam Community Marketplace? The analysis shows three main findings that answer the research question. First, the age of the interviewees seemed to play a role in choosing such illicit secondary marketplaces. Secondly, group pressure tempted the interviewees to use these marketplaces. Finally, the interviewees mentioned that price was an essential factor that led them to choose illicit secondary marketplaces over the official Steam Community Marketplace.Show less
This thesis will explain how the global press labelled Anonymous in their so-called ‘return’ in the year 2020. Anonymous is a hacktivist group that is often misinterpreted by the global press who...Show moreThis thesis will explain how the global press labelled Anonymous in their so-called ‘return’ in the year 2020. Anonymous is a hacktivist group that is often misinterpreted by the global press who have an important role in labelling the hacktivists group. Previous research has shows that this representation of hacktivist may not correspond with their actions. Through the lens of the cultural criminology theory and a frame and content analysis of 20 articles, this thesis will explain how the global press has an impact on the labelling and criminalization of Anonymous. Demonstrating that the global press labels Anonymous often as a hacking collective which contributes to a negative image of hacktivism.Show less
Artificial Intelligence is a sophisticated emerging technology that cybercriminals have increasingly been using maliciously to facilitate their attacks. As the private and public sector are key...Show moreArtificial Intelligence is a sophisticated emerging technology that cybercriminals have increasingly been using maliciously to facilitate their attacks. As the private and public sector are key targets of these attacks, collaboration is called for. This study dissects the divergent perceptions of cybercrime in both sectors which have inhibited cooperation in the past during the growth of the Internet, then aligns these scattered views to build common ground to establish a cooperation for this up-and-coming threat. The societal aim is to avoid repeating previous mistakes encountered at the birth of cybercrime. This thesis asks the following question: To what extent does the perception of risk of malicious use of AI by cybercriminals differ within the public and private sector? After conducting a qualitative analysis of nine semi-structured interviews, the thesis finds that distinct perceptions about cybercrime between sectors is what is at the heart of the stagnation. But neither public or private organisations can solve the issue of the upcoming AI cybercriminal threat and reach desired goals without each other as each sector lacks some elements complemented by the other. The differences found in this research can shape the basis of a cooperation against AI-Cybercrimes between the public and private sector.Show less
In recent years, cybercrime has risen substantially. New media are used as platforms for the trading of ready-to-use cybercrime products and as virtual locations for offenders to converge. This...Show moreIn recent years, cybercrime has risen substantially. New media are used as platforms for the trading of ready-to-use cybercrime products and as virtual locations for offenders to converge. This study illustrates how Telegram is utilized for the trading of phishing tools and methods, by offenders to find co-offenders and to co-offend. The study employs a netnographic research framework consisting of a combined method including an observational study and quantitative data analysis. The results describe a variety of phishing-related products that are advertised on Telegram in addition to the range of activities and behaviours occurring in relation to these markets. The value of this research is two-fold, namely (i) describing and mapping a part of the cybercriminal ecosystem and thereby improving our knowledge and situational awareness and (ii) developing and applying a blended method of netnography and data analysis, providing numbers with the qualitative observations.Show less
The Anonymous hacktivist collective has attracted media attention due to its politically motivated operations and its frequent public appearances on YouTube and other social media platforms. This...Show moreThe Anonymous hacktivist collective has attracted media attention due to its politically motivated operations and its frequent public appearances on YouTube and other social media platforms. This paper seeks to understand how Anonymous constructs its enemies through the theoretical lens proposed by Spillman and Spillman (1997), which consists of six features of enemy image construction: negative anticipation, putting blame on the enemy, identification with evil, zero-sum thinking, stereotyping and de-individualization, and refusal to show empathy. The analysis focuses qualitatively on the language used by the hacktivist collective in 18 YouTube video messages addressed to public organizations, namely governments and police departments. The application of the theoretical model finds several important patterns in Anonymous’ rhetoric of constructing its enemy for each of the six elements of the model. Overall, this study seeks to provide a better comprehension of this complex actor by looking beyond its hacking acts.Show less
Cybercrime is not clearly defined. This is an important issue as academics, but also law and policymakers are not able to tackle the issue sufficiently without knowing the boundaries of the concept...Show moreCybercrime is not clearly defined. This is an important issue as academics, but also law and policymakers are not able to tackle the issue sufficiently without knowing the boundaries of the concept. Defining what the boundaries are, is important to identify if it is a crime and to establish international consensus on the topic with regards to law enforcement. This thesis aimed to map out the debate regarding the definition of ‘cybercrime’. A database of 139 sources was created and divided into three categories; sources that used no definition, sources that were about the debate itself and the last category, sources that provided/stated a definition on cybercrime (see Appendix A). In this category, two main camps were identified. One following the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime definition and one where the role of technology was deemed the centre point of the definition. ‘Technology’ was an important concept but the meaning of this term differed across the definitions. Finally, to provide new angles for this research gap, the ‘cybercrime’ definition debate was compared to the ‘white-collar crime’ definition debate. Three uncertainties that Quinney (1964) described were compared to the findings from the database. Two uncertainties were comparable. This means that this is not a new discussion but rather history repeating itself in another form. This opens up possible new opportunities and angles for research.Show less
