D-ISN: Understanding the New Online Advertisement Ecosystem and its Links to Human Trafficking and Other Organized Crime

该项目旨在更好地了解在线成人广告生态系统及其与人口贩运和其他有组织犯罪的联系，以便更有效地检测，破坏和拆除该生态系统中现有的非法网络。自从占主导地位的成人广告网站Backpage关闭以来，许多竞争网站出现了。此外，匿名电子支付方法的普及导致诈骗广告大幅增加，这增加了识别被贩运者的噪音。分散的市场，大量的广告发布和欺诈广告的存在使得监控工作变得非常混乱。此外，人们对新的成人广告网站之间的联系、它们如何运作以及成人广告数据中出现的模式如何与其他非法活动相关联知之甚少。该项目将确定过滤广告数据中的信号和噪音的方法，以告知在这种新环境中运作的执法组织（LEO）和政策制定者。深入了解这些网站如何发挥作用，并有可能发现与更高级别有组织犯罪的联系，将为运筹学、网络安全和社会科学等不同领域的研究人员提供一个新的基础，用于研究和破坏数字时代的人口贩运。该研究项目有四个研究目标：（1）了解当前在线成人广告生态系统中知名网站的发布流程、货币化方案以及保护和防御机制;（2）开发多学科方法来评估广告合法性;（3）调查合法海报用来逃避执法禁令的技术;（4）了解多重网络分析（即，毒品、运输）可有助于提高查明潜在贩运活动的准确性。我们与一个区域人口贩运工作队合作，该工作队由来自几个LEO的官员组成，还有一个非营利组织，致力于识别潜在的贩运受害者，并为他们提供资源，以摆脱“生活”。一个多元化的研究人员，从业人员和学生群体将参与这个项目。研究小组将采取审慎的努力，从代表性不足的群体中招募学生参加这个项目。开发的方法将被纳入本科和研究生课程材料是，或，和分析程序。该项目的成果将通过面向研究人员、低地轨道国家、该项目由破坏非法供应网络（D-ISN）计划和刺激竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）联合资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The objective of this Disrupting Operations of Illicit Supply Networks (D-ISN) project is to better understand the online adult advertisement ecosystem and its links to human trafficking and other organized crime in order to more effectively detect, disrupt, and dismantle existing illicit networks in this ecosystem. Since the closure of the dominant adult ad website, Backpage, many competing sites have emerged. Also, the prevalence of anonymous electronic payment methods has led to a significant increase in scam ads, which adds noise for identifying trafficked individuals. The fragmented marketplace, large volume of ad postings, and presence of scam ads have made monitoring efforts quite chaotic. Moreover, little is known about links between new adult ad sites, how they operate, and how the patterns that emerge in adult ad data correlate with other illicit activities. This project will determine methods to filter signal and noise in the ad data to inform law enforcement organizations (LEOs) and policy-makers operating in this new environment. Developing a deep understanding of how the sites work with the potential to uncover links to higher-level organized crime will provide a new foundation upon which researchers in diverse areas including operations research, cybersecurity, and the social sciences can use to study and disrupt human trafficking in the digital age.Using more than 100 million adult ads posted since 2020 from 14 sites, this research project has four research objectives: (1) understand the posting processes, monetization schemes, and the protection and defense mechanisms employed by prominent sites in the current online adult ad ecosystem; (2) develop multidisciplinary approaches for estimating ad legitimacy; (3) investigate techniques that legitimate posters use to evade law enforcement interdiction; and (4) Understand how multiplex network analysis (i.e., drugs, transportation) can contribute to improved accuracy for identifying potential trafficking activity. We collaborate with a regional human trafficking task force, which is composed of officers from several LEOs, and a non-profit organization that works to identify potential trafficking victims and connect them with resources to get out of “the life.” A diverse group of researchers, practitioners, and students will participate in this project. The research team will take deliberate efforts to recruit students from underrepresented groups for this project. Developed methods will be incorporated into undergraduate and graduate course materials for IS, OR, and Analytics programs. The outcomes of this project will be made publicly accessible and broadly distributed via publications, presentations, and workshops aimed at researchers, LEOs, and the general public.This project is jointly funded by the Disrupting Illicit Supply Networks (D-ISN) program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.