The Global Cybercrime Industry

The Internet’s rapid diffusion and digitization of economic activities have led to the emergence of a new breed of criminals. Economic, political, and social impacts impacts of these cyber-criminals’ activities have received considerable attention in recent years. Individuals, businesses, and governments rightfully worry about the security of their systems, networks, and IT infrastructures. Looking at the patterns of cybercrimes, it is apparent that many underlying assumptions about crimes are ?awed, unrealistic, and implausible to explain this new form of criminality. The empirical records regarding crime patterns and stra- gies to avoid and ?ght crimes run counter to the functioning of the cyberworld. The ?elds of hacking and cybercrime have also undergone political, social, and psychological metamorphosis. The cybercrime industry is a comparatively young area of inquiry. While there has been an agreement that the global cybercrime industry is tremendously huge, little is known about its exact size and structure. Very few published studies have examined economic and institutional factors that in?uence strategies and behaviors of various actors associated with the cybercrime industry. Theorists are also debating as to the best way to comprehend the actions of cyber criminals and hackers and the symbiotic relationships they have with various players.

Jonathan Lusthaus lifts the veil on cybercriminals in the most extensive account yet of the lives they lead and the vast international industry they have created. Having traveled to hotspots around the world to meet with hundreds of law enforcement agents, security gurus, hackers, and criminals, he charts how this industry based on anonymity works.

Integrating theories from a wide range of disciplines, Nir Kshetri compares the patterns, characteristics and processes of cybercrime activities in major regions and economies in the Global South such as China, India, the former Second World economies, Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East and North Africa.

Jonathan Lusthaus lifts the veil on cybercriminals in the most extensive account yet of the lives they lead and the vast international industry they have created. Having traveled to hotspots around the world to meet with hundreds of law enforcement agents, security gurus, hackers, and criminals, he charts how this industry based on anonymity works.

Cybercrime and Business: Strategies for Global Corporate Security examines the three most prevalent cybercrimes afflicting today’s corporate security professionals: piracy, espionage, and computer hacking. By demonstrating how each of these threats evolved separately and then converged to form an ultra-dangerous composite threat, the book discusses the impact the threats pose and how the very technologies that created the problem can help solve it. Cybercrime and Business then offers viable strategies for how different types of businesses—from large multinationals to small start-ups—can respond to these threats to both minimize their losses and gain a competitive advantage. The book concludes by identifying future technological threats and how the models presented in the book can be applied to handling them. Demonstrates how to effectively handle corporate cyber security issues using case studies from a wide range of companies around the globe Highlights the regulatory, economic, cultural, and demographic trends businesses encounter when facing security issues Profiles corporate security issues in major industrialized, developing, and emerging countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East

This book describes the key cybercrime threats facing individuals, businesses, and organizations in our online world. The author first explains malware and its origins; he describes the extensive underground economy and the various attacks that cybercriminals have developed, including malware, spam, and hacking; he offers constructive advice on countermeasures for individuals and organizations; and he discusses the related topics of cyberespionage, cyberwarfare, hacktivism, and anti-malware organizations, and appropriate roles for the state and the media. The author has worked in the security industry for decades, and he brings a wealth of experience and expertise. In particular he offers insights about the human factor, the people involved on both sides and their styles and motivations. He writes in an accessible, often humorous way about real-world cases in industry, and his collaborations with police and government agencies worldwide, and the text features interviews with leading industry experts. The book is important reading for all professionals engaged with securing information, people, and enterprises. It’s also a valuable introduction for the general reader who wants to learn about cybersecurity.

Cyberthreats are among the most critical issues facing the world today. Cybersecurity Management draws on case studies to analyze cybercrime at the macro level, and evaluates the strategic and organizational issues connected to cybersecurity. Cross-disciplinary in its focus, orientation, and scope, this book looks at emerging communication technologies that are currently under development to tackle emerging threats to data privacy. Cybersecurity Management provides insights into the nature and extent of cyberthreats to organizations and consumers, and how such threats evolve with new technological advances and are affected by cultural, organizational, and macro‐environmental factors. Cybersecurity Management articulates the effects of new and evolving information, communication technologies, and systems on cybersecurity and privacy issues. As the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed, we are all dependent on the Internet as a source for not only information but also person-to-person connection, thus our chances of encountering cyberthreats is higher than ever. Cybersecurity Management aims to increase the awareness of and preparedness to handle such threats among policy-makers, planners, and the public.

In May 2021, Jim Gosler, known as the Godfather and commander of US agencies’ cyber offensive capability, said, ''Either the Intelligence Community (IC) would grow and adapt, or the Internet would eat us alive.'' Mr Gosler was speaking at his retirement only several months before the terrorist attacks of 9/11. He possibly did not realise the catalyst or the tsunami that he and his tens of thousands of US IC offensive website operatives had created and commenced. Over the last two decades, what Mr Gosler and his army of Internet keyboard warriors created would become the modus operandi for every faceless, nameless, state-sponsored or individual cybercriminal to replicate against an unwary, ill-protected, and ignorant group of executives and security professionals who knew little to nothing about the clandestine methods of infiltration and weaponisation of the Internet that the US and UK agencies led, all in the name of security. This book covers many cyber and ransomware attacks and events, including how we have gotten to the point of massive digital utilisation, particularly during the global lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic, to online spending that will see twice the monetary amount lost to cybercrime than what is spent online. There is little to no attribution, and with the IC themselves suffering cyberattacks, they are all blamed on being sophisticated ones, of course. We are witnessing the undermining of our entire way of life, our economies, and even our liberties. The IC has lots to answer for and unequivocally created the disastrous situation we are currently in. They currently have little to no answer. We need—no, we must demand—change. That change must start by ensuring the Internet and all connections to it are secure and no longer allow easy access and exfiltration for both the ICs and cybercriminals.