EAGER: Cybercrime Science

该项目考察了地下网络犯罪社区的三个属性：1)盈利性，2)连通性，3)可持续性。它确定了这些属性的定性和定量指标，并讨论了这些指标在不同数据粒度级别下不同操作的相对有效性。其目标是开发即使在数据有限的情况下也能提供有意义的指标的指标。例如，如果可以使用公共帖子，但不能使用个人网络罪犯之间的私人消息。分析的目标是五个地下论坛：AntiChat、BadHacke、Blackhat World、Carders和L33tCrew。最后，该项目结合了语言技术，如主题建模、社交网络分析和分析，以提供一个可重复、可验证和系统的框架，使人们能够科学地探索这些论坛以及不同干预措施对减轻地下论坛的影响。该项目假定，在地下论坛的推动下，具有专门技能的罪犯之间的合作使网络犯罪在经济上可行。因此，它主张改变打击网络犯罪努力的根本重点，从使个人发生网络犯罪无利可图，转变为使网络犯罪社区不可持续。这些发现为辩护人的努力提供了信息，无论是学术研究人员还是从业者。该项目建立了评估此类干预措施有效性的科学框架。这一框架正被用来开发执法工具以及教育学生网络安全的教学材料。

This project examines three properties of underground cybercrime communities: 1) profitability, 2) connectivity, 3) and sustainability. It identifies qualitative and quantitative metrics for these properties as well as discusses the relative effectiveness of distinct operationalization of these metrics under different levels of data granularity. The goal is to develop metrics that provide meaning indicators even when data is limited. for example, if public posts are available but not private messages between individual cybercriminals. The analysis targets five underground forums: AntiChat, BadHacke, BlackhatWorld, Carders, and L33tCrew. Finally, the project combines linguistic techniques, e.g. topic modeling, social network analysis, and analysis to provide a repeatable, verifiable, and systematic framework that enables a scientific exploration of these forums and the impact of distinct interventions at mitigating underground forums. This project assumes that cybercrime is made economically feasible by collaboration between criminals with specialized skills, as facilitated by underground forums. Thus, it argues to change the fundamental focus of anti-cybercrime efforts from making individual incidence of cybercrime unprofitable to making cybercrime communities unsustainable. The findings inform defender efforts, both for academic researchers as well as practitioners. The project builds a scientific framework to evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions. This framework is being used to develop tools for law enforcement as well as pedagogical material to educate students in cyber-security.