Have you ever been a victim of cybercrime? I know I have. I bet you have too. So let’s talk about that now with Dr Miranda Bruce from UNSW Canberra, because she’s been working on the World Cybercrime Index.
In this episode we talk about the types of cybercrime and its different characteristics around the world, cybercrime factories and human trafficking, and how law enforcement agencies’ views about their role all this role seem to different those of us ordinary citizens.
This podcast is available on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, JioSaavn, Pocket Casts, Podcast Addict, Podchaser, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Speaker.
You can also listen to the podcast below, or subscribe to the generic podcast feed.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:17 — 44.2MB)
Episode Links
-
Lecturer in Cyber Security at UNSW Canberra. Post-doc researcher with the CRIMGOV group at Oxford.
-
[11 April 2024] In the past three years, several universities with a cyber interest have come together to create a World Cybercrime Index (WCI). It maps the geography of protagonists as opposed to an attack launch or victim topology, which is a nice way of saying ‘whodunnit” and naming the states.
-
[10 April 2024] Researchers from the Department of Sociology [at the University of Oxford] have compiled the first ever ‘World Cybercrime Index’, which identifies the globe’s major cybercrime hotspots by ranking the most significant sources of cybercrime at a national level.
-
[10 April 2024; this is the full paper] From March to October 2021 we invited leading experts in cybercrime intelligence/investigations from across the world to participate in an anonymized online survey on the geographical location of cybercrime offenders... The outcome of the survey is the World Cybercrime Index, a global metric of cybercriminality organised around five types of cybercrime. The results indicate that a relatively small number of countries house the greatest cybercriminal threats.
-
[12 April 2024] One of the most frustrating aspects of reporting on cybersecurity is the tendency for vendors and politicians to talk up the threat by referring to millions or even billions of “attacks” per day when what they really mean is “individual bad data packets”... Finally, help is at hand.
-
[4 October 2018] DPRK hackers are cybering every way they can, and according to FireEye their destructiveness and unpredictability makes them dangerous.
-
[11 February 2019] Four Corners takes you inside the world of online scamming, as reporter Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop meets teenagers running romance scams out of internet cafes in West Africa and tracks global crime rings involved in drug trafficking and money laundering.
-
[17 April 2023] Every seven minutes a cyber-attack is reported in Australia. Millions of Australians have had their data stolen in malicious attacks, costing some businesses tens of millions of dollars in ransom. The federal government is warning the country must brace for even more strikes as cyber gangs become more sophisticated and ruthless. Four Corners investigates the cyber gangs behind these assaults, cracking open their inner operations and speaking to a hacker who says he targets Australians and shows no remorse. The program travels all the way to Ukraine and discovers we share a common enemy in the battle for cyber security.
-
[31 May 2018] Typically Nigerian, these cybercriminals are highly organised. Their teams of mules can shift everything from iPhones to Lego, not just money. And they can smell blood in the water.
-
In Myanmar, when rebels defeated government forces in the city of Laukkaing (LAO-GAI) late last year, they uncovered a number of scam centres run by Chinese crime syndicates. The operators were victims of the fraudulent scheme themselves and had been tricked and trafficked into Myanmar. Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng has more from the Thai-Myanmar border.
-
[5 March 2024] The Thai prime minister has announced the country helped facilitate the transfer of around 900 Chinese Nationals back to China. According to reports the Chinese Nationals were trapped in scam centers near the Myanmar border. The rescue operation started on the 29th of February and went on for 3 days.
-
[1 April 2024] India rescued its citizens from being tricked into cyber fraud in Cambodia. The Indian government said that it is rescuing Indians who were lured into employment in Cambodia.
-
[14 April 2016] Attacks are being made against accounting systems, which are often linked to HR payroll systems, or at least use a shared login. Money intended to pay suppliers' invoices is diverted to the mules... Unlike the payroll attacks, invoicing attacks take weeks to detect, because suppliers are generally paid more slowly than employees. The AFP now calls these attacks "driftnetting", because they're set-and-forget.
-
[23 April 2021] The project – CRIMGOV – will provide a new, tripartite framework to analyse organised criminal activity around the world, and, in a field of study where good-quality data is scarce, will build up valuable datasets which are time-consuming and difficult to compile.
-
[28 July 2017] By Jonathan Lusthaus, Federico Varese. In this article, we seek to add greater nuance to understandings of cybercrime by highlighting a neglected aspect of the phenomenon: the offline and local dimension. As a starting point it is vital to acknowledge that all cyber-attacks stem from a person who physically exists in a certain location.
-
[2 July 2024] In this edition of Between Two Nerds Tom Uren and The Grugq talk about why governments have failed to protect the private sector from state-backed cyber espionage.
-
[24 May 2023] Volt Typhoon has been active since mid-2021 and has targeted critical infrastructure organizations in Guam and elsewhere in the United States. In this campaign, the affected organizations span the communications, manufacturing, utility, transportation, construction, maritime, government, information technology, and education sectors.
-
Chad Whelan is a Professor of Criminology and Deputy Director, Deakin Centre for Cyber Research and Innovation, Deakin University. He principally conducts research in cybercrime, organised crime, and security.
-
In planning and policy, a wicked problem is a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. It refers to an idea or problem that cannot be fixed, where there is no single solution to the problem; and "wicked" denotes resistance to resolution, rather than evil.
-
[31 July 2024] We will require the banks to strengthen controls around bank transfers. This will attack the most common payment method for scams head on. Businesses will have a responsibility to report and respond to scams. For example, banks will need systems that identify dodgy payments and accounts and then take action to protect members. Telecommunication companies will be required to block known scam numbers. Social media platforms will need to have stronger anti-scam actions — including verifying advertisers and taking down scam pages.
-
[31 July 2024] The Hon Stephen Jones MP, Assistant Treasurer & Minister for Financial Services will Address the National Press Club of Australia on "Fighting Scammers, Fighting for Australians".
-
[31 July 2024] Assistant treasurer Stephen Jones to tell National Press Club that digital platforms must also be pushed to take more preventative action.
-
[30 July 2024] The Cyber Security Act would force businesses to disclose when they pay ransom to a hacker, and prevent the information from being passed on to regulators. The proposal is designed to lift the lid on a flourishing practice of secret payments, which in turn fuel further ransomware attacks.
If the links aren’t showing up, try here.
Thank you, Media Freedom Citizenry
The 9pm Edict is supported by the generosity of its listeners. You can throw a few coins into the tip jar or subscribe for special benefits. Please consider.
For this episode it’s thanks again to everyone who supported The 9pm Winter Series 2024 crowdfunding campaign.
CONVERSATION TOPICS: Paul McElwee, Peter Sandilands, and one person who chooses to remain anonymous.
THREE TRIGGER WORDS: Paris Lord, Paul Williams, and Peter Lieverdink.
ONE TRIGGER WORD: Andrew Kennedy, Ben G, Benno Rice, Bernard Walsh, Bic Smith, David Heath, Frank Filippone, Gavin Costello, Jamie Morrison, Julia DB, Mark Newton, Michael, Michael Cowley, Miriam Faye, Nicole Coombe, Oliver Townshend, Peter Blakeley, Peter Blakeley again, Regina Huntington, Ric Hayman, and two people who choose to remain anonymous.
PERSONALISED VIDEO MESSAGE: Gordon Kerry and Lucas James.
PERSONALISED AUDIO MESSAGE: Kimberley Heitman and one person who chooses to remain anonymous.
FOOT SOLDIERS FOR MEDIA FREEDOM who gave a SLIGHTLY LESS BASIC TIP: Brenton Realph, Brenton Realph again, Charles Gutjahr, Errol Cavit, Garth Kidd, James Henstridge, Matthew Crawford, Peter McCrudden, Rohan, and Tim Bell.
MEDIA FREEDOM CITIZENS who contributed a BASIC TIP: Mijanou Zigane and one person who chooses to remain anonymous,
And another eight people chose to have no reward, even though some of them were the most generous of all. Thank you all so much.
Series Credits
- The 9pm Edict theme by mansardian via The Freesound Project.
- Edict fanfare by neonaeon, via The Freesound Project.
- Elephant Stamp theme by Joshua Mehlman.