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An investigation into Chinese cybercrime and the underground economy in comparison with the West

An investigation into Chinese cybercrime and the underground economy in comparison with the West
An investigation into Chinese cybercrime and the underground economy in comparison with the West
With 420 million Internet users, China has become the world’s largest Internet population and the Chinese cyber-security has become globally significant. In this investigation, cybercrimes in China were studied from both sociological and technical perspectives using an array of methods including literature review, passive monitoring of online forums and interest groups as well as establishing direct contact with the Chinese cybercriminals. Hacking was found to be immensely popular in China with a population of 3.8 million registered users spanning across just 19 online hacker forums. Financial and political factors were found to be the main motivations for Chinese cybercriminals. Observations from the Chinese hacktivist forums during recent Chinese cyber-attacks against Japan has brought to light some valuable insights into the true state of hacktivism in China and the level of tolerance from the Chinese government towards such actions. Furthermore, it was found that not only do organised cybercrimes exist in China but also an underground economy as sophisticated as that in the West is flourishing at a rapid pace. Estimates from Chinese security experts suggest that the size of the Chinese underground economy may be much larger than that observed in the West. With the support of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the frameworks of organised cybercrime as observed in the West were compared with those observed in China. Significant similarities and differences were found including differences in the tools of trade used and some of the pricing of goods and services advertised in the underground economy. A generic mapping of the underground economy was deduced from the comparison of frameworks.
Yip, Michael
78566995-aa68-4842-976b-cd98c98d8c67
Yip, Michael
78566995-aa68-4842-976b-cd98c98d8c67

Yip, Michael (2010) An investigation into Chinese cybercrime and the underground economy in comparison with the West. Security Seminar Series, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Other)

Abstract

With 420 million Internet users, China has become the world’s largest Internet population and the Chinese cyber-security has become globally significant. In this investigation, cybercrimes in China were studied from both sociological and technical perspectives using an array of methods including literature review, passive monitoring of online forums and interest groups as well as establishing direct contact with the Chinese cybercriminals. Hacking was found to be immensely popular in China with a population of 3.8 million registered users spanning across just 19 online hacker forums. Financial and political factors were found to be the main motivations for Chinese cybercriminals. Observations from the Chinese hacktivist forums during recent Chinese cyber-attacks against Japan has brought to light some valuable insights into the true state of hacktivism in China and the level of tolerance from the Chinese government towards such actions. Furthermore, it was found that not only do organised cybercrimes exist in China but also an underground economy as sophisticated as that in the West is flourishing at a rapid pace. Estimates from Chinese security experts suggest that the size of the Chinese underground economy may be much larger than that observed in the West. With the support of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the frameworks of organised cybercrime as observed in the West were compared with those observed in China. Significant similarities and differences were found including differences in the tools of trade used and some of the pricing of goods and services advertised in the underground economy. A generic mapping of the underground economy was deduced from the comparison of frameworks.

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More information

Published date: 2 November 2010
Additional Information: Event Dates: 2nd Nov 2010
Venue - Dates: Security Seminar Series, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2010-11-02
Organisations: Web & Internet Science, Electronics & Computer Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 271696
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/271696
PURE UUID: 8b036d11-12ce-4e63-8f29-7afdfede7d51

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 15 Nov 2010 15:46
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 09:37

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Contributors

Author: Michael Yip

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