DOCSLIB.ORG

Europol: the Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Europol: the Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment INTERNET IOCTA ORGANISED CRIME 2017 THREAT ASSESSMENT INTERNET ORGANISED CRIME THREAT ASSESSMENT (IOCTA) 2017 This publication and more information on Europol are available online: www.europol.europa.eu Twitter: @Europol and @EC3Europol PHOTO CREDITS All images © Shutterstock except pages 6, 20, 26, 33, 35, 36, 44 and 59 © Europol. ISBN 978-92-95200-80-7 ISSN 2363-1627 DOI 10.2813/55735 QL-AL-17-001-EN-N © European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), 2017 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. For any use or reproduction of individual photos, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders. IOCTA 2017 4 IOCTA 2017 INTERNET ORGANISED CRIME THREAT ASSESSMENT CONTENTS IOCTA 2017 5 FOREWORD 7 ABBREVIATIONS 8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 10 KEY FINDINGS 12 RECOMMENDATIONS 14 INTRODUCTION 17 AIM 17 SCOPE 17 METHODOLOGY 17 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 17 CRIME PRIORITY: CYBER-DEPENDENT CRIME 18 KEY FINDINGS 19 KEY THREAT – MALWARE 19 KEY THREAT – ATTACKS ON CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE 25 KEY THREAT – DATA BREACHES AND NETWORK ATTACKS 27 FUTURE THREATS AND DEVELOPMENTS 30 RECOMMENDATIONS 32 CRIME PRIORITY: CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION ONLINE 34 KEY FINDINGS 35 KEY THREAT – SEXUAL COERCION AND EXTORTION (SCE) OF MINORS 35 KEY THREAT – THE AVAILABILITY OF CSEM 36 KEY THREAT – COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN 38 KEY THREAT – BEHAVIOUR OF OFFENDERS 39 FUTURE THREATS AND DEVELOPMENTS 39 RECOMMENDATIONS 41 CRIME PRIORITY: PAYMENT FRAUD 42 KEY FINDINGS 43 KEY THREAT – CARD-NOT-PRESENT FRAUD 43 KEY THREAT – CARD-PRESENT FRAUD 44 FUTURE THREATS AND DEVELOPMENTS 46 RECOMMENDATIONS 46 CRIME PRIORITY: ONLINE CRIMINAL MARKETS 48 KEY FINDINGS 49 KEY THREAT – DARKNET MARKETS 49 FUTURE THREATS AND DEVELOPMENTS 51 RECOMMENDATIONS 51 THE CONVERGENCE OF CYBER AND TERRORISM 52 KEY FINDINGS 53 FUTURE THREATS AND DEVELOPMENTS 54 RECOMMENDATIONS 54 CROSS-CUTTING CRIME FACTORS 55 KEY FINDINGS 56 SOCIAL ENGINEERING 56 CRIMINAL COMMUNITIES AND CRIME-AS-A-SERVICE 58 CRIMINAL FINANCES 60 COMMON CHALLENGES FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT 62 RECOMMENDATIONS 64 THE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF CYBERCRIME 66 AFRICA 67 THE AMERICAS 68 ASIA 68 EUROPE 69 OCEANIA 69 APPENDIX 72 CYBER ATTACKS IN THE CONTEXT OF/AGAINST ELECTIONS 72 REFERENCES 76 6 IOCTA 2017 INTERNET ORGANISED CRIME THREAT ASSESSMENT IOCTA 2017 7 FOREWORD am pleased to present the 2017 Internet Organised Crime topics to inform the definition of operational actions for EU law Threat Assessment (IOCTA), the fourth annual presentation enforcement in the framework of the EU Policy Cycle. These of the cybercrime threat landscape by Europol’s European include concrete actions under EC3’s three main mandated areas Cybercrime Centre (EC3). – child sexual exploitation online, cyber-dependent crime, and I payment fraud, as well as cross-cutting crime enablers. The report provides a predominantly law enforcement focused as- sessment of the key developments, changes and emerging threats As in previous years, the 2017 IOCTA will inform the setting in the field of cybercrime over the last year. It relies on the invalu- of priorities and help streamline resources within the EU and able contributions of the EU Member States, and our partners in internationally to respond to cybercrime in an effective and private industry, the financial sector and academia, as well as the concerted manner. Law enforcement continues to demon- expert input of Europol staff. strate that a coordinated, intelligence-led and adaptive ap- proach by competent authorities, involving multiple sectors This year’s report highlights how cybercrime continues to grow and partners can result in significant success in preventing and evolve, taking new forms and directions, as demonstrated cybercrime and mitigating its impact. in some of the attacks of unprecedented scale of late 2016 and mid-2017.It further highlights the progressive convergence of cyber and serious and organised crime, supported by a professional underground service economy. The report also describes some of the key challenges faced by law enforcement in terms of investigation and prosecution of cybercrime, highlighting many cross-cutting issues such as e-evidence challenges, and the need for adequate and harmonised legislation to address the specificities of cybercrime. The report goes on to list a number of key recommendations to address Rob Wainwright the phenomenon of cybercrime and identifies several priority Executive Director of Europol 8 IOCTA 2017 INTERNET ORGANISED CRIME THREAT ASSESSMENT ABBREVIATIONS ACS Automated Card Shop IPv4 Internet Protocol version 4 ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line IRC Internet Relay Chat AIOTI Alliance for Internet of Things Innovation IRU EU Internet Referral Unit APT Advanced Persistent Threat IS Islamic State APWG Anti-Phishing Working Group ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network AQ al-Qaeda ISP Internet service provider ATM automated teller machine IT information technology AV anti-virus IWF Internet Watch Foundation AVC Automated Vending Card J-CAT Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce BEC Business Email Compromise KYC Know Your Customer CaaS Crime-as-a-Service LDCA Live-Distant Child Abuse CAM child abuse material LEA law enforcement agency CEO chief executive officer MBR Master Boot Record CERT computer emergency response team MO modus operandi CGN Carrier-Grade Network Address Translation MOTO Mail Order/Telephone Order CI critical infrastructure mTAN Mobile Transaction Authentication Number CJEU European Court of Justice NAT Network Address Translation CNP card-not-present NCMEC National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CSE child sexual exploitation NFC Near Field Communication CSEM child sexual exploitation material NGO non-governmental organisation CSIRT Computer Security Incident Response Team NIS network and information systems CVV Card Verification Value NPS new psychoactive substances DDoS Distributed Denial of Service OCG organised crime group DEA United States Drug Enforcement Agency OPSEC operations security DNS Domain Name System OSINT open-source intelligence DRD Data Retention Directive OTP one-time pad EAST European Association for Secure Transactions P2P peer to peer, or people to people EBF European Banking Federation PBX Private Branch Exchange ECTEG European Cybercrime Training and Education Group PIN personal identification number EC3 European Cybercrime Centre PoS point-of-sale EIO European Investigation Order QKD Quantum Key Distribution EMAS Europol Malware Analysis System RAT Remote Access Trojan EMMA European Money Mule Actions EMPACT European Multidisciplinary Platform Against SCADA supervisory control and data acquisition systems Criminal Threats SCE sexual coercion and extortion EMV Europay, MasterCard and Visa SEPA Single Euro Payments Area ENISA European Union Agency for Network and SGIM self-generated indecent material Information Security SGSEM self-generated sexually explicit material EUCTF European Cybercrime Task Force SIENA Secure Information Exchange Network Application EUIPO European Union Intellectual Property Office SOCTA Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment FBI United States Federal Bureau of Investigation SWIFT Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial GAAD Global Airport Action Day Telecommunications GDPR General Data Protection Regulation TAN Transaction Authentication Number GSM Global System for Mobile Communications THB trafficking in human beings HDFS Hadoop Distributed File System Tor The Onion Router I2P Invisible Internet Project UCC United Cyber Caliphate IAP Internet Access Provider URL uniform resource locator ICS Industrial Control Systems VIDTF Victim Identification Task Force ICSE Interpol International Child Sexual Exploitation database VoIP Voice-over-Internet Protocol ICT information & communications technology VPN virtual private network IOCTA Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment IoT Internet of Things IP Internet Protocol IPC3 Intellectual Property Crime Coordinated Coalition IPR intellectual property rights IOCTA 2017 9 10 IOCTA 2017 INTERNET ORGANISED CRIME THREAT ASSESSMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY he 2017 Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment tems in power plants and heavy industry. However, it is clear (IOCTA) reports how cybercrime continues to grow and that a greater variety of critical infrastructures are more vul- evolve. While many aspects of cybercrime are firmly nerable to ‘every-day’ cyber-attacks, highlighting the need for established, other areas of cybercrime have witnessed a coordinated EU law enforcement and cross-sector response Ta striking upsurge in activity, including attacks on an unprece- to major cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure. dented scale, as cybercrime continues to take new forms and new directions. A handful of cyber-attacks have caused wide- Law enforcement and industry action has led to a decline in spread public concern but only represented a small sample of the use of exploit kits. This has resulted in a shift towards al- the wide array of cyber threats now faced. ternative malware delivery methods, including spam botnets and social engineering. Along with technical attacks, social en- Because of the similar tools and techniques used, it is some- gineering techniques have become an essential tactic for the times difficult to attribute cyber-attacks to particular groups, commission of many, often complex, cyber-dependent and cy- for example, financially motivated cybercriminals and Ad- ber-facilitated crimes, including payment fraud and online child vanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Internet and Drug Markets
    INSIGHTS EN ISSN THE INTERNET AND DRUG MARKETS 2314-9264 The internet and drug markets 21 The internet and drug markets EMCDDA project group Jane Mounteney, Alessandra Bo and Alberto Oteo 21 Legal notice This publication of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) is protected by copyright. The EMCDDA accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of the data contained in this document. The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the official opinions of the EMCDDA’s partners, any EU Member State or any agency or institution of the European Union. Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) The information given is free, as are most calls (though some operators, phone boxes or hotels may charge you). More information on the European Union is available on the internet (http://europa.eu). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2016 ISBN: 978-92-9168-841-8 doi:10.2810/324608 © European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2016 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. This publication should be referenced as: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (2016), The internet and drug markets, EMCDDA Insights 21, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. References to chapters in this publication should include, where relevant, references to the authors of each chapter, together with a reference to the wider publication. For example: Mounteney, J., Oteo, A. and Griffiths, P.
    [Show full text]
  • Into the Reverie: Exploration of the Dream Market
    Into the Reverie: Exploration of the Dream Market Theo Carr1, Jun Zhuang2, Dwight Sablan3, Emma LaRue4, Yubao Wu5, Mohammad Al Hasan2, and George Mohler2 1Department of Mathematics, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 2Department of Computer & Information Science, Indiana University - Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN 3Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Guam, Guam 4Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, AK 5Department of Computer Science, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Abstract—Since the emergence of the Silk Road market in Onymous" in 2014, a worldwide action taken by law enforce- the early 2010s, dark web ‘cryptomarkets’ have proliferated and ment and judicial agencies aimed to put a kibosh on these offered people an online platform to buy and sell illicit drugs, illicit behaviors [5]. Law enforcement interventions such as relying on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for anonymous trans- actions. However, recent studies have highlighted the potential for Onymous, along with exit scams and hacks, have successfully de-anonymization of bitcoin transactions, bringing into question shut down numerous cryptomarkets, including AlphaBay, Silk the level of anonymity afforded by cryptomarkets. We examine a Road, Dream, and more recently, Wall Street [6]. Despite these set of over 100,000 product reviews from several cryptomarkets interruptions, new markets have continued to proliferate. The collected in 2018 and 2019 and conduct a comprehensive analysis authors of [7] note that there appears to be a consistent daily of the markets, including an examination of the distribution of drug sales and revenue among vendors, and a comparison demand of about $500,000 for illicit products on the dark web, of incidences of opioid sales to overdose deaths in a US city.
    [Show full text]
  • Complaint Apostolos Trovias, and Jury Demand
    Case 1:21-cv-05925 Document 1 Filed 07/09/21 Page 1 of 34 Richard R. Best Kristina Littman John O. Enright Victor Suthammanont Morgan B. Ward Doran Jon Daniels SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION New York Regional Office 200 Vesey Street, Suite 400 New York, New York 10281-1022 (212) 336-5674 (Suthammanont) Email: [email protected] UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, 21 Civ. ____ ( ) Plaintiff, ECF Case -- against -- COMPLAINT APOSTOLOS TROVIAS, AND JURY DEMAND Defendant. Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”), for its Complaint against Defendant Apostolos Trovias (“Trovias”) alleges as follows: SUMMARY OF THE ALLEGATIONS 1. From at least December 2016 through February 2021, Trovias—operating under the pseudonymous online avatar “TheBull”—engaged in a deceptive scheme to offer and sell what he called “insider trading tips” on Dark Web marketplaces to purchasers seeking an unfair advantage when trading securities in the public markets. 2. The Dark Web is a part of the internet that requires specialized software to access and is specifically designed to facilitate anonymity by obscuring users’ identities, including by Case 1:21-cv-05925 Document 1 Filed 07/09/21 Page 2 of 34 hiding users’ internet protocol addresses. The anonymity provided by the Dark Web allows users to sell and purchase illegal products and services, including illicit drugs, stolen identities, hacking services, and in this case, “insider trading tips.” 3. Trovias claimed that his tips consisted of order-book data from a securities trading firm—purportedly material, nonpublic information—that was provided to him by an employee of the trading firm.
    [Show full text]
  • Cybercrime and Other Threats Faced by the Healthcare Industry Mayra Rosario Fuentes Forward-Looking Threat Research (FTR) Team
    Cybercrime and Other Threats Faced by the Healthcare Industry Mayra Rosario Fuentes Forward-Looking Threat Research (FTR) Team A TrendLabs Research Paper TREND MICRO LEGAL DISCLAIMER The information provided herein is for general information Contents and educational purposes only. It is not intended and should not be construed to constitute legal advice. The information contained herein may not be applicable to all situations and may not reflect the most current situation. Nothing contained herein should be relied on or acted upon without the benefit of legal advice based on the 4 particular facts and circumstances presented and nothing herein should be construed otherwise. Trend Micro The Security Issue with reserves the right to modify the contents of this document at any time without prior notice. Electronic Health Records Translations of any material into other languages are intended solely as a convenience. Translation accuracy is not guaranteed nor implied. If any questions arise related to the accuracy of a translation, please refer to the original language official version of the document. Any 9 discrepancies or differences created in the translation are not binding and have no legal effect for compliance or Electronic Health Records enforcement purposes. in the Underground Although Trend Micro uses reasonable efforts to include accurate and up-to-date information herein, Trend Micro makes no warranties or representations of any kind as to its accuracy, currency, or completeness. You agree that access to and use of and reliance on this document and the content thereof is at your own risk. Trend Micro 13 disclaims all warranties of any kind, express or implied.
    [Show full text]
  • Drugs and the Internet
    DRUGS AND THE INTERNET DRUGS AND THE INTERNET Issue 8, May 2017 Funded by the Australian Government under the Substance Misuse Prevention and Service Improvement Grants Fund Product of: Drugs and New Technologies Recommended Roxburgh, A., Van Buskirk, J., Burns, L., and Bruno, R. (2017). Drugs and the Internet, Citation: Issue 8, May 2017. Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. To date the availability of illicit drugs has largely been examined through; household surveys and interviews with people who use drugs, indicators such as drug seizures and arrests, and analyses of hospital admissions and drug-related deaths. Over the past decade there has been an increasing awareness and interest in online marketplaces as a source for discussion about and purchase of drugs (Walsh, 2011). The advent of the Silk Road in 2011, an online marketplace operating on the ‘darknet’ (marketplaces operating on the ‘darknet’ are known as ‘cryptomarkets’), broadened the availability of new psychoactive substances (NPS) and other more conventional illicit substances (such as cannabis and MDMA). After the closure of the Silk Road in October 2013, multiple new marketplaces emerged to take its place (Van Buskirk et al, 2014). The closure of Silk Road 2.0 and a large international law enforcement operation in November 2014 (dubbed Operation Onymous) have seen major changes in remaining darknet marketplaces. In addition to this, threats such as hacking attacks and exit scams (whereby markets close down taking any bitcoins held in escrow) continue to cause disarray in cryptomarkets. This bulletin is the eighth in a series and provides analysis of trends over time in the availability and type of substances sold via the internet on the darknet.
    [Show full text]
  • A Market in Dream: the Rapid Development of Anonymous Cybercrime
    Mobile Networks and Applications https://doi.org/10.1007/s11036-019-01440-2 A Market in Dream: the Rapid Development of Anonymous Cybercrime Gengqian Zhou1 · Jianwei Zhuge1 · Yunqian Fan2 · Kun Du1 · Shuqiang Lu1 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract In this paper we have conducted a comprehensive measurement and analysis on the Dream market, an anonymous online market that uses cryptocurrency as transaction currency. We first collect data between October 30th 2018 and March 1st 2019. Then we use decision tree-based approach to classify goods. Following we analyze the category of goods sold in the market, the shipping place of vendors. By analyzing more than 1,970,303 items, we find the goods sold in Dream Market are mainly drugs and digital goods. We estimate the total sales of all vendors, and find that an average monthly income is $14 million during the measurement period, which means that the market commission income is more than $560,000 per month. Based on these data, we use transaction cost theory to analyze the transaction attributes of illegal transactions, which shows that anonymous online market can reduce transaction cost of illegal transactions. We finally discuss the results analyzed and the intervention policy, as well as recent DDoS attacks and future trends of illegal transactions in anonymous online market. Keywords Anonymous online market · Illegal transactions · Cybercrime 1 Introduction on it allow buyers and vendors to hide their identity, making it difficult for law enforcement to tracking them. As a result, Anonymous network initially served as an approach for many prohibited goods such as drugs and privacy data, have browsing Internet anonymously, protecting user privacy.
    [Show full text]
  • Cybersecurity Threats – “What Every Employer Needs to Know”
    1/18/2018 Cybersecurity Threats – “What Every Employer Needs To Know” Connecticut Department of Labor Bryan Cassidy, VP / Information Security Officer (CISA, CISSP, CFE) Disclaimers The opinions expressed in this presentation and on the following slides are solely those of the presenter and not necessarily those of Farmington Bank. Farmington Bank does not guarantee the accuracy or reliability of the information provided herein. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by Farmington Bank. 1/18/2018 | page 2 1 1/18/2018 Bad Actor Profiles Organized Nation Hacktivists Fraudsters Crime States Motivation Skill 1/18/2018 | page 3 Hacktivists WikiLeaks Anonymous Lulzsec 1/18/2018 | page 4 2 1/18/2018 Fraudsters Brett Johnson Alexandre Cazes Ross Ulbricht Sanford Wallace (“ GollumFun”) (“ DeSnake”) (“ Dread Pirate Roberts” ) (“ Spam King” ) ShadowCrew AlphaBay Silk Road 1.0 Cyber Promotions Albert Gonzalez Roman Vega Ercan Findikoglu Yarden Bidani (“ CumbaJohnny”) (“ Boa” ) (“ Segate”) (“ applej4ck” ) ShadowCrew CarderPlanet ATM Cash Out vDOS 1/18/2018 | page 5 Blurring of Organized Crime / Nation States Equation Group Deep Panda Cozy Bear Longhorn Black Vine Sofacy DragonOK Fancy Bear Hidden Lynx Shadow Brokers Mofang Syrian Electronic Army OilRig 1/18/2018 | page 6 3 1/18/2018 Why Are They Not Arrested!? PARIS MOSCOW HARTFORD MIAMI DUBAI LAGOS DAR ES SALAAM Geopolitical
    [Show full text]
  • Internet-Facilitated Drugs Trade
    Internet-facilitated drugs trade An analysis of the size, scope and the role of the Netherlands Kristy Kruithof, Judith Aldridge, David Décary-Hétu, Megan Sim, Elma Dujso, Stijn Hoorens For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR1607 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif., and Cambridge, UK R® is a registered trademark. © 2016 WODC, Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie Cover image shared by Jo Naylor via Flickr; CC BY 2.0. RAND Europe is an independent, not-for-profit policy research organisation that aims to improve policy and decisionmaking in the public interest through research and analysis. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the sponsor. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org www.rand.org/randeurope Preface The potential role of the Internet in facilitating drugs trade first gained mass attention with the rise and fall of Silk Road; the first major online market place for illegal goods on the dark web. After Silk Road was taken down by the FBI in October 2013, it was only a matter of weeks before copycats filled the void. Today, there are around 50 so-called cryptomarkets and vendor shops where vendors and buyers find each other anonymously to trade illegal drugs, new psychoactive substances, prescription drugs and other goods and services.
    [Show full text]
  • User Names of Illegal Drug Vendors on a Darknet Cryptomarket DOI: 10.34158/ONOMA.50/2015/2
    Onoma 50 Journal of the International Council of Onomastic Sciences ISSN: 0078-463X; e-ISSN: 1783-1644 Journal homepage: https://onomajournal.org/ User names of illegal drug vendors on a darknet cryptomarket DOI: 10.34158/ONOMA.50/2015/2 Lasse Hämäläinen Finnish Language FI-00014 University of Helsinki [email protected] www.researchgate.net/profile/Lasse_Haemaelaeinen To cite this article: Hämäläinen, Lasse. 2015. User names of illegal drug vendors on a darknet cryptomarket. Onoma 50, 45–71. DOI: 10.34158/ONOMA.50/2015/2 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.34158/ONOMA.50/2015/2 © Onoma and the author. User names of illegal drug vendors on a darknet cryptomarket Abstract: The illegal drug trade has recently found a new route: darknet cryptomarkets. On these Ebay-like marketplaces, located in an anonymous network, drug sellers and buyers from all over the world make deals without meeting each other in person. Drug vendors are known by their user names, and those names could have a huge financial significance for their owners. This study examines the characteristics of those vendor user names and contrasts them to both other types of user names as well as to real-life commercial names. The data for the study were collected from AlphaBay, which was the largest cryptomarket in early 2017. Many vendors share information of themselves through their user names, referring to their products, home country and whether they work alone or in a group. Names are also used to create various images of vendor’s business. Some vendors try to create an image of a normal, legal business by using company and brand name vocabulary or by plagiarising famous real-life brand names.
    [Show full text]
  • Demystifying the Dark Web Opioid Trade: Content Analysis on Anonymous Market Listings and Forum Posts
    JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH Li et al Original Paper Demystifying the Dark Web Opioid Trade: Content Analysis on Anonymous Market Listings and Forum Posts Zhengyi Li1*, MSc; Xiangyu Du1*, MSc; Xiaojing Liao1, PhD; Xiaoqian Jiang2, PhD; Tiffany Champagne-Langabeer2, PhD 1Department of Computer Science, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, United States 2The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States *these authors contributed equally Corresponding Author: Xiaojing Liao, PhD Department of Computer Science Indiana University Bloomington 700 N Woodlawn Ave Bloomington, IN United States Phone: 1 8646508137 Email: [email protected] Abstract Background: Opioid use disorder presents a public health issue afflicting millions across the globe. There is a pressing need to understand the opioid supply chain to gain new insights into the mitigation of opioid use and effectively combat the opioid crisis. The role of anonymous online marketplaces and forums that resemble eBay or Amazon, where anyone can post, browse, and purchase opioid commodities, has become increasingly important in opioid trading. Therefore, a greater understanding of anonymous markets and forums may enable public health officials and other stakeholders to comprehend the scope of the crisis. However, to the best of our knowledge, no large-scale study, which may cross multiple anonymous marketplaces and is cross-sectional, has been conducted to profile the opioid supply chain and unveil characteristics of opioid suppliers, commodities, and transactions. Objective: We aimed to profile the opioid supply chain in anonymous markets and forums via a large-scale, longitudinal measurement study on anonymous market listings and posts. Toward this, we propose a series of techniques to collect data; identify opioid jargon terms used in the anonymous marketplaces and forums; and profile the opioid commodities, suppliers, and transactions.
    [Show full text]
  • Book and Is Not Responsible for the Web: Content of the External Sources, Including External Websites Referenced in This Publication
    2020 12th International Conference on Cyber Conflict 20/20 Vision: The Next Decade T. Jančárková, L. Lindström, M. Signoretti, I. Tolga, G. Visky (Eds.) 2020 12TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CYBER CONFLicT 20/20 VISION: THE NEXT DECADE Copyright © 2020 by NATO CCDCOE Publications. All rights reserved. IEEE Catalog Number: CFP2026N-PRT ISBN (print): 978-9949-9904-6-7 ISBN (pdf): 978-9949-9904-7-4 COPYRIGHT AND REPRINT PERMissiONS No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence ([email protected]). This restriction does not apply to making digital or hard copies of this publication for internal use within NATO, or for personal or educational use when for non-profit or non-commercial purposes, providing that copies bear this notice and a full citation on the first page as follows: [Article author(s)], [full article title] 2020 12th International Conference on Cyber Conflict 20/20 Vision: The Next Decade T. Jančárková, L. Lindström, M. Signoretti, I. Tolga, G. Visky (Eds.) 2020 © NATO CCDCOE Publications NATO CCDCOE Publications LEGAL NOTICE: This publication contains the opinions of the respective authors only. They do not Filtri tee 12, 10132 Tallinn, Estonia necessarily reflect the policy or the opinion of NATO Phone: +372 717 6800 CCDCOE, NATO, or any agency or any government. NATO CCDCOE may not be held responsible for Fax: +372 717 6308 any loss or harm arising from the use of information E-mail: [email protected] contained in this book and is not responsible for the Web: www.ccdcoe.org content of the external sources, including external websites referenced in this publication.
    [Show full text]
  • In Focus Trafficking Over the Darknet
    IN FOCUS TRAFFICKING OVER THE DARKNET CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES: EVOLVING TRENDS AND 4 NEW CHALLENGES 2020 This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. Suggested citation: In Focus: Trafficking over the Darknet - World Drug Report 2020. No use of this publication may be made for resale or any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from UNODC. Applications for such permission, with a statement of purpose and intent of the reproduction, should be addressed to the Research and Trend Analysis Branch of UNODC. DISCLAIMER The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of UNODC or contributory organizations, nor does it imply any endorsement. Comments on the report are welcome and can be sent to: Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime PO Box 500 1400 Vienna Austria Tel: (+43) 1 26060 0 Fax: (+43) 1 26060 5827 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.unodc.org/wdr2020 2020 WORLD DRUG REPORT Acknowledgements The World Drug Report 2020 was prepared by the Research and Trend Analysis Branch, Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), under the supervi- sion of Jean-Luc Lemahieu, Director of the Division, and Angela Me, Chief of the Research and Trend Analysis Branch, and the coordination of Chloé Carpentier, Chief of the Drug Research Section.
    [Show full text]