DOCSLIB.ORG

TOWARDS a MODEL of OFFENDER RESOURCES a Thesis Submitted

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
TOWARDS a MODEL of OFFENDER RESOURCES a Thesis Submitted CYBERCRIME PRECURSORS: TOWARDS A MODEL OF OFFENDER RESOURCES A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The Australian National University Ki Hong (Steve) Chon June, 2016 Declaration This thesis is a presentation of my original research work. Wherever contributions of others are involved, every effort is made to indicate clearly, with due reference to the literature, and acknowledgement of collaborative research and discussions. I authorise Australian National University to lend this thesis to other institutions for the purpose of examination. Student’s signature: Date: June 28, 2016 The work was done under the guidance of Professor Roderic Broadhurst at the Australian National University. In my capacity as supervisor of the candidate’s thesis, I certify that the above statements are true to the best of my knowledge. Supervisor’s signature: Date: i Abstract This thesis applies Ekblom and Tilley’s concept of offender resources to the study of criminal behaviour on the Internet. Offender predispositions are influenced by situational, that is the environmental incentives to commit crime. This thesis employs non-participation observation of online communities involved in activities linked to malicious forms of software. Actual online conversations are reproduced, providing rich ethnographic detail of activities that have taken place between 2008 and 2012 from eight discussion forums where malicious software and cases of hacking are openly discussed among actors. A purposeful sample of key frontline cybercrime responders (N=12) were interviewed about crimeware and their views of the activity observed in the discussion forums. Based on the empirical data, this thesis tests a number of criminological theories and assesses their relative compatibility with social interactions occurring in various online forum sites frequented by persons interested in the formation and use of malicious code. The thesis illustrates three conceptual frameworks of offender resources, based on different criminological theories. The first model ties ‘offender resources’ to the actual offender, suggesting that certain malicious software and its associated activities derive from the decisions, knowledge and abilities of the individual agent. The second model submits that ‘offender resources’ should be viewed more as a pathway leading to offending behaviour that must be instilled and then indoctrinated over a length of time through social interaction with other offenders. The third model emphasises the complex relationships that constitute or interconnect with ‘offender resources’ such as the nexus of relevant social groups and institutions in society. These include the Internet security industry, the law, and organised crime. Cybercrime is facilitated by crimeware, a specific type of computer software, and a focus on this element can help better understand how cybercrime evolves. ii Table of Contents Declaration ....................................................................................................................................... i Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. v List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ v List of Cases .................................................................................................................................... v List of Articles ................................................................................................................................ v Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Definition of Key Concepts ............................................................................................................................. 6 1.3 The Research Problem ..................................................................................................................................... 11 1.4 Summary of Chapters ...................................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 2: Cybercrime and Theory ...................................................................................... 18 2.1 Dangers of the Internet .................................................................................................................................... 18 2.2 Perceptions of Cybercrime ............................................................................................................................. 19 2.3 From Hackers to Cybercriminals ................................................................................................................. 21 2.4 Social Dynamics of Cybercrime .................................................................................................................. 24 2.5 A Microcosm of Cybercrime Activity ....................................................................................................... 29 2.6 Facilitation, Precipitation and Enablement of Cybercrime ................................................................. 31 2.7 The Causes of Crime ........................................................................................................................................ 34 2.8 Crime Follows Opportunity ........................................................................................................................... 39 2.9 Crime Through Association ........................................................................................................................... 42 2.10 Crime and Society .......................................................................................................................................... 45 2.11 Using Routine Activity Theory to Explore Offender Resources .................................................... 49 Chapter 3: Methodology ........................................................................................................... 52 3.1 Foundations and Assumptions ...................................................................................................................... 52 3.2 Revisiting the Research Questions .............................................................................................................. 55 3.3 Starting the Research and Background ...................................................................................................... 56 3.4 Non-participant Observation of Web Forum Sites ................................................................................ 58 3.5 Interviews with First Responders ................................................................................................................ 67 3.6 Qualitative Analysis of Electronic Data .................................................................................................... 69 3.7 Examples to Provide Context ........................................................................................................................ 72 3.8 Ethical Considerations ..................................................................................................................................... 72 3.9 Addressing Limitations ................................................................................................................................... 74 3.10 Towards a Feasible Model for Offender Resources ............................................................................ 77 Chapter 4: Crime Through Association ................................................................................ 79 4.1 Nature and Modes of Interactions in Online Communities ................................................................ 80 4.2 The Novice, Noobs and Newbies ................................................................................................................ 84 4.3 Basic Elements of Learning ........................................................................................................................... 88 4.4 Learning Contributors ..................................................................................................................................... 94 4.5 Learning Detractors ....................................................................................................................................... 100 4.6 The Relevance of Social Structures and Organisation ....................................................................... 105 4.7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................ 112 iii Chapter 5: The Intersection of Rational Choice and Crimeware ................................. 114 5.1 Attributes ..........................................................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Evolution of Ransomware
    The evolution of ransomware SECURITY RESPONSE The evolution of ransomware Kevin Savage, Peter Coogan, Hon Lau Version 1.0 – August 6, 2015 Never before in the history of human kind have people across the world been subjected to extortion on a massive scale as they are today. CONTENTS OVERVIEW ..............................................................................3 Key information ......................................................................5 Types of ransomware .............................................................5 How ransomware has evolved ...............................................7 Targets for ransomware .......................................................13 Systems impacted by ransomware ......................................14 Ransomware: How it works ..................................................18 Ransom techniques ..............................................................27 How widespread is the problem of ransomware .................33 What does the future hold for ransomware? .......................37 Conclusion ............................................................................45 Appendix ..............................................................................47 Mitigation strategies ............................................................51 Symantec detections for common ransomware families 54 Resources .............................................................................56 OVERVIEW Never before in the history of human kind have people across the world been
    [Show full text]
  • Éric FREYSSINET Lutte Contre Les Botnets
    THÈSE DE DOCTORAT DE L’UNIVERSITÉ PIERRE ET MARIE CURIE Spécialité Informatique École doctorale Informatique, Télécommunications et Électronique (Paris) Présentée par Éric FREYSSINET Pour obtenir le grade de DOCTEUR DE L’UNIVERSITÉ PIERRE ET MARIE CURIE Sujet de la thèse : Lutte contre les botnets : analyse et stratégie Présentée et soutenue publiquement le 12 novembre 2015 devant le jury composé de : Rapporteurs : M. Jean-Yves Marion Professeur, Université de Lorraine M. Ludovic Mé Enseignant-chercheur, CentraleSupélec Directeurs : M. David Naccache Professeur, École normale supérieure de thèse M. Matthieu Latapy Directeur de recherche, UPMC, LIP6 Examinateurs : Mme Clémence Magnien Directrice de recherche, UPMC, LIP6 Mme Solange Ghernaouti-Hélie Professeure, Université de Lausanne M. Vincent Nicomette Professeur, INSA Toulouse Cette thèse est dédiée à M. Celui qui n’empêche pas un crime alors qu’il le pourrait s’en rend complice. — Sénèque Remerciements Je tiens à remercier mes deux directeurs de thèse. David Naccache, officier de réserve de la gendarmerie, contribue au développement de la recherche au sein de notre institution en poussant des personnels jeunes et un peu moins jeunes à poursuivre leur passion dans le cadre académique qui s’impose. Matthieu Latapy, du LIP6, avec qui nous avions pu échanger autour d’une thèse qu’il encadrait dans le domaine difficile des atteintes aux mineurs sur Internet et qui a accepté de m’accueillir dans son équipe. Je voudrais remercier aussi, l’ensemble de l’équipe Réseaux Complexes du LIP6 et sa responsable d’équipe actuelle, Clémence Magnien, qui m’ont accueilli à bras ouverts, accom- pagné à chaque étape et dont j’ai pu découvrir les thématiques et les méthodes de travail au fil des rencontres et des discussions.
    [Show full text]
  • Acid-H1-2021-Report.Pdf
    AGARI CYBER INTELLIGENCE DIVISION REPORT H1 2021 Email Fraud & Identity Deception Trends Global Insights from the Agari Identity Graph™ © Copyright 2021 Agari Data, Inc. Executive Summary Call it a case of locking the back window while leaving the front door wide open. A year into the pandemic and amid successful attacks on GoDaddy1, Magellan Health², and a continuous stream of revelations about the SolarWinds “hack of the decade,” cyber-attackers are proving all too successful at circumventing the elaborate defenses erected against them³. But despite billions spent on perimeter and endpoint security, phishing and business email compromise (BEC) scams continue to be the primary attack vectors into organizations, often giving threat actors the toehold they need to wreak havoc. In addition to nearly $7.5 billion in direct losses each year, advanced email threats like the kind implicated in the SolarWinds case⁴ suggest the price tag could be much higher. As corroborated in this analysis from the Agari Cyber Intelligence Division (ACID), the success of these attacks is growing far less reliant on complex technology than on savvy social engineering ploys that easily evade most of the email defenses in use today. Sophisticated New BEC Actors Signal Serious Consequences Credential phishing accounted for 63% of all phishing attacks during the second half of 2020 as schemes related to COVID-19 gave way to a sharp rise in payroll diversion scams, as well as fraudulent Zoom, Microsoft and Amazon alerts targeting millions of corporate employees working from home. Meanwhile, the state- sponsored operatives behind the SolarWinds hack were just a few of the more sophisticated threat actors moving into vendor email compromise (VEC) and other forms of BEC.
    [Show full text]
  • Symantec White Paper
    QUARTERLY REPORT: SYMANTEC ENTERPRISE SECURITY SYMANTEC REPORT: QUARTERLY Symantec Intelligence Quarterly July - September, 2009 Published October 2009 Technical Brief: Symantec Enterprise Security Symantec Intelligence Quarterly July - September, 2009 Contents Introduction . 1 Highlights . 2 Metrics. 2 Meeting the Challenge of Sophisticated Attacks . 8 Timeline of a zero-day event . 8 How secure are security protocols?. 11 Why attackers use packers. 14 Protection and Mitigation . 16 Appendix A—Best Practices . 18 Appendix B—Methodologies. 20 Credits . 24 Symantec Intelligence Quarterly July - September, 2009 Introduction Symantec has established some of the most comprehensive sources of Internet threat data in the world through the Symantec™ Global Intelligence Network. More than 240,000 sensors in over 200 countries monitor attack activity through a combination of Symantec products and services such as Symantec DeepSight™ Threat Management System, Symantec™ Managed Security Services and Norton™ consumer products, as well as additional third-party data sources. Symantec also gathers malicious code intelligence from more than 130 million client, server, and gateway systems that have deployed its antivirus products. Additionally, the Symantec distributed honeypot network collects data from around the globe, capturing previously unseen threats and attacks and providing valuable insight into attacker methods. Spam data is captured through the Symantec probe network, a system of more than 2.5 million decoy email accounts, Symantec MessageLabs™ Intelligence, and other Symantec technologies in more than 86 countries from around the globe. Over 8 billion email messages, as well as over 1 billion Web requests, are scanned per day across 16 data centers. Symantec also gathers phishing information through an extensive antifraud community of enterprises, security vendors, and more than 50 million consumers.
    [Show full text]
  • Crimeware on the Net
    Crimeware on the Net The “Behind the scenes” of the new web economy Iftach Ian Amit Director, Security Research – Finjan BlackHat Europe, Amsterdam 2008 Who Am I ? (iamit) • Iftach Ian Amit – In Hebrew it makes more sense… • Director Security Research @ Finjan • Various security consulting/integration gigs in the past – R&D – IT • A helping hand when needed… (IAF) 2 BlackHat Europe – Amsterdam 2008 Today’s Agenda • Terminology • Past vs. Present – 10,000 feet view • Business Impact • Key Characteristics – what does it look like? – Anti-Forensics techniques – Propagation methods • What is the motive (what are they looking for)? • Tying it all up – what does it look like when successful (video). • Anything in it for us to learn from? – Looking forward on extrusion testing methodologies 3 BlackHat Europe – Amsterdam 2008 Some Terminology • Crimeware – what we refer to most malware these days is actually crimeware – malware with specific goals for making $$$ for the attackers. • Attackers – not to be confused with malicious code writers, security researchers, hackers, crackers, etc… These guys are the Gordon Gecko‟s of the web security field. The buy low, and capitalize on the investment. • Smart (often mislead) guys write the crimeware and get paid to do so. 4 BlackHat Europe – Amsterdam 2008 How Do Cybercriminals Steal Business Data? Criminals’ activity in the cyberspace Federal Prosecutor: “Cybercrime Is Funding Organized Crime” 5 BlackHat Europe – Amsterdam 2008 The Business Impact Of Crimeware Criminals target sensitive business data
    [Show full text]
  • Ilomo Botnet a Study of the Ilomo / Clampi Botnet
    Ilomo A study of the Ilomo / Clampi botnet Ilomo Botnet A study of the Ilomo / Clampi Botnet by Alice Decker: Network Analysis David Sancho: Reverse Engineering Max Goncharov: Network Analysis Robert McArdle: Project Coordinator Release Date: 20 August 2009 Classification: Public Ilomo A study of the Ilomo / Clampi botnet Table of Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 3 Ilomo Analysis ....................................................................................................................................................... 4 Stage 1: Dropper ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Stage 2: Main Executable ........................................................................................................................ 7 Stage 3: Injected Code ............................................................................................................................ 12 VMProtect Obfuscator ........................................................................................................................................ 17 Background Information .......................................................................................................................... 17 Technical Information .............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death Stephanie Witt
    School of Graduate and Professional Studies 100 Campus Circle, Owings Mills, Maryland 21117 1-877-468-6852 accelerate.stevenson.edu STEVENSON UNIVERSITY FORENSICS JOURNAL VOLUME 4 EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Carolyn Hess Johnson, Esq. PUBLISHER Carolyn Hess Johnson, Esq. EDITORS Abigail Howell Stephanie Witt COVER PHOTO Bruce Goldfarb Assistant to the Chief Medical Examiner, Maryland DESIGN & LAYOUT Chip Burkey Cassandra Bates Stevenson University Marketing and Public Relations Office Copyright © 2013, author(s) and Stevenson University Forensics Journal. No permission is given to copy, distribute or reproduce this article in any format without prior explicit written permission from the article’s author(s) who hold exclusive rights to impose usage fee or royalties. FORENSICS JOURNAL Welcome to our fourth annual Stevenson University Forensics Journal. This year, as always, we bring fresh voices and perspectives from all aspects and areas of the field. I am pleased to note that a new section has been added this year, highlighting the process of library research in the vast field of Forensic Studies. Our Stevenson University librarians bring the research pro- cess into the twenty-first century by showcasing a variety of on-line resources available to researchers. Also of note is the connection between our cover photo and the interview conducted with Dr. David Fowler, Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Maryland. Assistant Editor Stephanie Witt joins the Journal as a contributor to explain the fascinating Nutshell Series of Unexplained Deaths. We are privileged this year to have the Honorable Lynne A. Battaglia providing her insights into the Court’s perspective on the prominent role of forensic evidence in modern litigation.
    [Show full text]
  • Ronald L. Chichester*
    30990-txb_44-1 Sheet No. 4 Side A 02/01/2012 14:53:16 ZOMBIES (DO NOT DELETE) 10/27/2011 12:39 PM SLAYING ZOMBIES IN THE COURTROOM:TEXAS ENACTS THE FIRST LAW DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY TO COMBAT BOTNETS Ronald L. Chichester* I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 2 II. WHAT IS A BOTNET? ...................................................................................... 2 III. ZOMBIFICATION—CREATING THE BOTNET ............................................ 3 IV. OTHER CURRENT COMPUTER MISUSE STATUTES ................................. 4 V. A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST ANTI-BOTNET STATUTE ........ 6 VI. UTILIZING S.B. 28—THE CAUSE OF ACTION ............................................ 8 VII. GATHERING THE EVIDENCE ........................................................................ 9 VIII. FINDING THE PERPETRATOR(S) .................................................................. 9 IX. CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................... 10 X. APPENDIX A ................................................................................................... 10 30990-txb_44-1 Sheet No. 4 Side A 02/01/2012 14:53:16 * Ron Chichester is an attorney, a certified computer forensic examiner, and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston Law Center, where he teaches “Digital Transaction” (www.digitaltransactions.info). Ron is admitted to practice in the State of Texas, the U.S. Courts for the Southern District of
    [Show full text]
  • Behind the “From” Lines: Email Fraud on a Global Scale Ten Cybercriminal Organizations Unmasked
    AGARI CYBER INTELLIGENCE DIVISION REPORT Behind the “From” Lines: Email Fraud on a Global Scale Ten Cybercriminal Organizations Unmasked © Copyright 2019 AGARI Data, Inc. Executive Summary Nigerian Scammers Target American Businesses Over the course of the past 10 months, using responsible active defense “ Since I can't send techniques, Agari captured 78 criminal email accounts, belonging to 10 criminal more money, maybe organizations, and containing 59,652 unique email messages. Agari analyzed the I'm of no use to you contents of these email accounts to investigate the tactics, targets and identities now. I certainly feel of the criminals. And now, that analysis enables stronger defensive strategies and like that could be measures. the deal here...A realtor is coming over What’s more, Agari has used this analysis to warn financial institutions about tomorrow to help accounts being used for criminal activity, and to provide evidence to law me list my house for enforcement. Agari has also warned victims, and in at least once case, quick action sale. I'm talking to an helped a company recover its money. attorney now about how to keep the One of the more interesting findings from this analysis was that while much of the collection agencies high-profile cybersecurity news of the past year has involved state sponsors like away and protect my Russia and North Korea, American businesses and individuals are far more likely to kids. All this time, I'm be targeted by Nigerian scam artists. wondering if I've heard Nigerian scam artists, traditionally associated with implausible get-rich-quick from you for the last schemes and other scams of individuals, have become more sophisticated and time.
    [Show full text]
  • Detecting Botnets Using File System Indicators
    Detecting botnets using file system indicators Master's thesis University of Twente Author: Committee members: Peter Wagenaar Prof. Dr. Pieter H. Hartel Dr. Damiano Bolzoni Frank Bernaards LLM (NHTCU) December 12, 2012 Abstract Botnets, large groups of networked zombie computers under centralised control, are recognised as one of the major threats on the internet. There is a lot of research towards ways of detecting botnets, in particular towards detecting Command and Control servers. Most of the research is focused on trying to detect the commands that these servers send to the bots over the network. For this research, we have looked at botnets from a botmaster's perspective. First, we characterise several botnet enhancing techniques using three aspects: resilience, stealth and churn. We see that these enhancements are usually employed in the network communications between the C&C and the bots. This leads us to our second contribution: we propose a new botnet detection method based on the way C&C's are present on the file system. We define a set of file system based indicators and use them to search for C&C's in images of hard disks. We investigate how the aspects resilience, stealth and churn apply to each of the indicators and discuss countermeasures botmasters could take to evade detection. We validate our method by applying it to a test dataset of 94 disk images, 16 of which contain C&C installations, and show that low false positive and false negative ratio's can be achieved. Approaching the botnet detection problem from this angle is novel, which provides a basis for further research.
    [Show full text]
  • Comptia® Security+ SY0-601 Cert Guide
    CompTIA® Security+ SY0-601 Cert Guide Omar Santos Ron Taylor Joseph Mlodzianowski A01_Santos_Fm_pi-plii_1.indd 1 01/06/21 2:49 pm CompTIA® Security+ SY0-601 Cert Guide Editor-in-Chief Copyright © 2022 by Pearson Education, Inc. Mark Taub All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in Product Line Manager a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, Brett Bartow photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the Executive Editor information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in Nancy Davis the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no respon- Development Editor sibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages Christopher A. Cleveland resulting from the use of the information contained herein. ISBN-13: 978-0-13-677031-2 Managing Editor ISBN-10: 0-13-677031-2 Sandra Schroeder Library of Congress Control Number: 2021935686 Senior Project Editor ScoutAutomatedPrintCode Tonya Simpson Copy Editor Trademarks Chuck Hutchinson All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or ser- vice marks have been appropriately capitalized. Pearson IT Certification Indexer cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book Erika Millen should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Proofreader Abigail Manheim Warning and Disclaimer Technical Editor Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate Chris Crayton as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied.
    [Show full text]
  • Malware to Crimeware
    I have surveyed over a decade of advances in delivery of malware. Over this daVid dittRich period, attackers have shifted to using complex, multi-phase attacks based on malware to crimeware: subtle social engineering tactics, advanced how far have they cryptographic techniques to defeat takeover gone, and how do and analysis, and highly targeted attacks we catch up? that are intended to fly below the radar of current technical defenses. I will show how Dave Dittrich is an affiliate information malicious technology combined with social security researcher in the University of manipulation is used against us and con- Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory. He focuses on advanced malware threats and clude that this understanding might even the ethical and legal framework for respond- ing to computer network attacks. help us design our own combination of [email protected] technical and social mechanisms to better protect us. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. The late 1990s saw the advent of distributed and John 8:32 coordinated computer network attack tools, which were primarily used for the electronic equivalent of fist fighting in the streets. It only took a few years for criminal activity—extortion, click fraud, denial of service for competitive advantage—to appear, followed by mass theft of personal and financial data through quieter, yet still widespread and auto- mated, keystroke logging. Despite what law-abid- ing citizens would desire, crime does pay, and pay well. Today, the financial gain from criminal enter- prise allows investment of large sums of money in developing tools and operational capabilities that are increasingly sophisticated and highly targeted.
    [Show full text]