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A growing body of research has developed exploring the ways that data thieves dispose of information acquired through phishing, hacking, and mass data breaches. These studies suggest a range of products are sold in forums and IRC channels at a fraction of its true value. There is also substantial risk for participants as they may be cheated by vendors who may not deliver products or simply provide invalid data. These conditions have led researchers to question the nature of the market, in that the actual price for data is much higher than what is advertised based on the risk of repeatedly purchasing bad data. As a result, there may be multiple markets for data operating with different pricing based on the prevalence of unreliable vendors. In order to explore these issues, this study utilizes a sample of threads from 13 Russian and English language forums involved in the sale of stolen data to consider the influence of various social conditions on the advertised price for dumps and eBay and PayPal credentials. The findings suggest that prices are lower in markets where vendors may cheat customers, and higher in markets that appear more organized and legitimate. The implications of this study for future research are examined in depth.

When assessing contracting out or privatization gains in the area of local government transportation, factors such as the mode of transportation provided, population density, and type of government may be the most infl uential factors in determining the effi ciency and eff ectiveness of a transit agency regardless of whether the service is contracted out or kept in house. Privatization appeals to citizen and politician desires for more cost-eff ective methods of service delivery. For this reason, it is important for public administrators to know when gains can be made by contracting out or privatizing services and when it is better to keep service provision in house. Th is article assesses the viability of contracting out and privatization of transit services. Following up on the 1986 work of James Perry and Timlynn Babitsky, which used data from the early 1980s, the authors revisit whether certain service delivery arrangements are more effi cient and eff ective than others in the provision of transit services. Twenty-fi ve years later, they fi nd results similar to those of Perry and Babitsky's original study. Neither the type of government nor whether an agency contracts out has much impact on the effi ciency and performance of urban bus services. Th e main diff erence between the two studies is that private transit agencies are no longer more effi cient or eff ective than public providers.