Neutralizing Cyber Attacks: Techniques of Neutralization and Willingness to Commit Cyber Attacks

Bossler, Adam M.

doi:10.1007/s12103-021-09654-5

Cited by 11 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…questionnaires, interviews, analysis of court cases), and assessing different participants (e.g. students, law enforcement, and active or former hackers) (Berenblum et al, 2019;Bossler, 2019Bossler, , 2021bBossler & Burruss, 2011;Fox & Holt, 2021;Holt et al, 2017Holt et al, , 2020Hu et al, 2012;Hutchings, 2013;Lee & Holt, 2020;Marcum et al, 2014;McBrayer, 2014;Skinner & Fream, 1997;Steinmetz, 2015;Turgeman-Goldschmidt, 2011;Udris, 2016). It seems that men stand a greater chance of being part of the social learning process of hacking, and are therefore more likely to hack (Bossler & Burruss, 2011).…”

Section: Hackingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathways into, desistance from, and risk factors related to cyber-dependent crime: A systematic narrative review

Loggen¹,

Moneva²,

Leukfeldt³

2023

Preprint

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Understanding cybercrime involvement is critical to tackle the growing global threat it represents. However, research is heterogeneous and scattered across different disciplines. Following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, this systematic narrative review synthesizes 86 documents on pathways into, desistance from, and risk factors related to cyber-dependent crime (hacking, malware, and DDoS attacks), and identifies research gaps. Analyses indicate that individuals interested in technology and online videogames meet peers involved in hacking activities, learn from them, and begin to engage in cybercrime. Desistance is influenced by a cost-benefit analysis and maturing. We also identified 27 risk factors for cyber-offending, including being young, male, having low self-control and deviant peers, and frequently using the Internet. Lastly, we outline multiple research gaps.

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Section: Hackingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathways into, desistance from, and risk factors related to cyber-dependent crime: A systematic narrative review

Loggen¹,

Moneva²,

Leukfeldt³

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…A comprehensive literature review demonstrated that researchers have examined the relationship between cybercrime and techniques of neutralisation to understand the justification processes involved in online crime. However, most of scholarly research has focused on digital piracy (see [11], [28][29][30][31][32][33]), with some additional studies on sexting [27], cyberbullying [34] and computer hacking [35].…”

Section: Neutralisation Theory and Cybercrimementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ransomware is a complex phenomenon that involves at least two types of crime: hacking and cyber extortion [39]. Considering the first one, reference [33] has argued that very limited work has focused on the use of neutralisation techniques in hacking. For instance, reference [40] found that software crackers do not deny responsibility for their actions and argue that some of their targets (i.e., vendors of expensive software) deserve to be victimised.…”

Section: Neutralisation Theory and Cybercrimementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research has also demonstrated that ideologically motivated hackers are often knowledgeable about technology, mistrust authorities and believe that information should be free and accessible [33]. Related to this, reference [44] found that hackers tend to deface websites to bring attention to a particular cause or search for government servers with the aim to disclose information that they believe people should have access to.…”

Section: Neutralisation Theory and Cybercrimementioning

confidence: 99%

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Applying Neutralisation Theory to Better Understand Ransomware Offenders

Connolly,

Borrion,

Arief

et al. 2023

2023 IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy Workshops (EuroS&PW)

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The work presented in this paper investigates the crime of ransomware from the perspective of neutralisation theory. In particular, this research-in-progress paper aims to explore the feasibility of using neutralisation theory to better understand one of the key stakeholders in ransomware operations: the offenders. Individuals (including offenders) may employ techniques of neutralisation in order to justify their rulebreaking acts, and to diminish both the perceived consequences of their acts and the feeling of guilt. The focus of this work is on highly organised ransomware groups that not only conduct cyber attacks but also operate Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) businesses. Secondary data was used in this research, including media interviews with alleged ransomware offenders. Data analysis is currently ongoing, but preliminary results show that ransomware offenders mainly use six neutralisation techniques to minimise the perceived impact and/or guilty feeling of their actions. These six neutralisation techniques are (1) denial of victim, (2) denial of injury, (3) claim of benefits, (4) claim of entitlement, (5) defence of necessity, and (6) claim of relative acceptability. The findings from this work can shed some light on the ransomware offending pathways, which in turn can be utilised to devise more effective countermeasures for combatting ransomware crime.

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“…The financial industry faced numerous cyber security attacks during the COVID-19 crisis. At 5.85 million dollars, the mean cost of cybercrime in the financial services business is also among the highest of any industry ( ibm.com, 2020 , Najaf et al, 2020 , Bossler, 2021 ). It has compelled financial institutions like banks and insurance firms to continue providing online assistance to their customers.…”

Section: Existing Workmentioning

confidence: 99%