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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. In terms of Internet security, this implies that the security of the Internet in China has become globally significant. In this investigation, cybercrimes in China are studied from both sociological as well as technical perspectives. The paper begins with a study into the state of the Internet development as well as the state of Internet security in China. An introduction is also given on the rise of Chinese hacktivists, the politically motivated hackers in China. This is followed by a detailed account of a recent case of Chinese hacktivism against Japan which has brought to light some valuable insights into the true state of hacktivism in China and the level of tolerance of the Chinese government towards politically motivated hacking. A top-down approach was then used to study and compare frameworks of cybercrime in the West and in China. 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. Furthermore, estimates from Chinese security experts suggest that the size of the Chinese underground economy may well be much larger than that in the West. Lastly, the Chinese underground economy was studied in details by looking at the common ways in which Chinese cybercriminals trade as well as the pricing of the commonly traded goods, which are compared against the West. It was found that in general, while carding merchandises are similarly priced in China and in the West, malware and technical support services are not.
University of Southampton
Yip, Michael
78566995-aa68-4842-976b-cd98c98d8c67
Yip, Michael
78566995-aa68-4842-976b-cd98c98d8c67
Webber, Craig
35851bbe-83e6-4c9b-9dd2-cdf1f60c245d

Yip, Michael (2010) An investigation into Chinese cybercrime and the underground economy in comparison with the West. University of Southampton, Web Science Doctoral Training Centre, Masters Thesis, 58pp.

Record type: Thesis (Masters)

Abstract

With 420 million Internet users, China has become the world's largest Internet population. In terms of Internet security, this implies that the security of the Internet in China has become globally significant. In this investigation, cybercrimes in China are studied from both sociological as well as technical perspectives. The paper begins with a study into the state of the Internet development as well as the state of Internet security in China. An introduction is also given on the rise of Chinese hacktivists, the politically motivated hackers in China. This is followed by a detailed account of a recent case of Chinese hacktivism against Japan which has brought to light some valuable insights into the true state of hacktivism in China and the level of tolerance of the Chinese government towards politically motivated hacking. A top-down approach was then used to study and compare frameworks of cybercrime in the West and in China. 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. Furthermore, estimates from Chinese security experts suggest that the size of the Chinese underground economy may well be much larger than that in the West. Lastly, the Chinese underground economy was studied in details by looking at the common ways in which Chinese cybercriminals trade as well as the pricing of the commonly traded goods, which are compared against the West. It was found that in general, while carding merchandises are similarly priced in China and in the West, malware and technical support services are not.

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More information

Published date: 25 September 2010
Organisations: University of Southampton, Web & Internet Science, Electronics & Computer Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 273136
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/273136
PURE UUID: 76465af1-7dbc-40cc-a306-d3ee886123ce
ORCID for Craig Webber: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3900-7579

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 21 Jan 2012 19:40
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:05

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Contributors

Author: Michael Yip
Thesis advisor: Craig Webber ORCID iD

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