Upside Down: Exploring the Ecosystem of Dark Web Data Markets

Bogdan Covrig; Enrique Barrueco Mikelarena; Constanta Rosca; Catalina Goanta; Gerasimos Spanakis; Apostolis Zarras

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-06975-8_28

Upside Down: Exploring the Ecosystem of Dark Web Data Markets

Bogdan Covrig^*, Enrique Barrueco Mikelarena, Constanta Rosca, Catalina Goanta, Gerasimos Spanakis, Apostolis Zarras

^*Corresponding author for this work

Cyber Security

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volume › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

18 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Large-scale dark web marketplaces have been around for more than a decade. So far, academic research has mainly focused on drug and hacking-related offers. However, data markets remain understudied, especially given their volatile nature and distinct characteristics based on shifting iterations. In this paper, we perform a large-scale study on dark web data markets. We first characterize data markets by using an innovative theoretical legal taxonomy based on the Council of Europe’s Cybercrime Convention and its implementation in Dutch law. The recent Covid-19 pandemic showed that cybercrime has become more prevalent with the increase of digitalization in society. In this context, important questions arise regarding how cybercrime harms are determined, measured, and prioritized. We propose a determination of harm based on criminal law qualifications and sanctions. We also address the empirical question of what the economic activity on data markets looks like nowadays by performing a comprehensive measurement of digital goods based on an original dataset scraped from twelve marketplaces consisting of approximately 28,000 offers from 642 vendors. The resulting analysis combines insights from the theoretical legal framework and the results of the measurement study. To our knowledge, this is the first study to combine these two elements systematically.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	ICT Systems Security and Privacy Protection - 37th IFIP TC 11 International Conference, SEC 2022, Proceedings
Editors	Weizhi Meng, Simone Fischer-Hübner, Christian D. Jensen
Publisher	Springer
Pages	489-506
Number of pages	18
ISBN (Print)	9783031069741
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06975-8_28
Publication status	Published - 2022
Event	37th IFIP International Conference on ICT Systems Security and Privacy Protection, SEC 2022 - Copenhagen, Denmark Duration: 13 Jun 2022 → 15 Jun 2022

Publication series

Name	IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology
Volume	648 IFIP
ISSN (Print)	1868-4238
ISSN (Electronic)	1868-422X

Conference

Conference	37th IFIP International Conference on ICT Systems Security and Privacy Protection, SEC 2022
Country/Territory	Denmark
City	Copenhagen
Period	13/06/22 → 15/06/22

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care
Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-031-06975-8_28

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Cite this

Covrig, B., Mikelarena, E. B., Rosca, C., Goanta, C., Spanakis, G., & Zarras, A. (2022). Upside Down: Exploring the Ecosystem of Dark Web Data Markets. In W. Meng, S. Fischer-Hübner, & C. D. Jensen (Eds.), ICT Systems Security and Privacy Protection - 37th IFIP TC 11 International Conference, SEC 2022, Proceedings (pp. 489-506). (IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology; Vol. 648 IFIP). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06975-8_28

Covrig, Bogdan ; Mikelarena, Enrique Barrueco ; Rosca, Constanta et al. / Upside Down : Exploring the Ecosystem of Dark Web Data Markets. ICT Systems Security and Privacy Protection - 37th IFIP TC 11 International Conference, SEC 2022, Proceedings. editor / Weizhi Meng ; Simone Fischer-Hübner ; Christian D. Jensen. Springer, 2022. pp. 489-506 (IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology).

@inproceedings{8e531e5f3371416091f8bbebecb867c5,

title = "Upside Down: Exploring the Ecosystem of Dark Web Data Markets",

abstract = "Large-scale dark web marketplaces have been around for more than a decade. So far, academic research has mainly focused on drug and hacking-related offers. However, data markets remain understudied, especially given their volatile nature and distinct characteristics based on shifting iterations. In this paper, we perform a large-scale study on dark web data markets. We first characterize data markets by using an innovative theoretical legal taxonomy based on the Council of Europe{\textquoteright}s Cybercrime Convention and its implementation in Dutch law. The recent Covid-19 pandemic showed that cybercrime has become more prevalent with the increase of digitalization in society. In this context, important questions arise regarding how cybercrime harms are determined, measured, and prioritized. We propose a determination of harm based on criminal law qualifications and sanctions. We also address the empirical question of what the economic activity on data markets looks like nowadays by performing a comprehensive measurement of digital goods based on an original dataset scraped from twelve marketplaces consisting of approximately 28,000 offers from 642 vendors. The resulting analysis combines insights from the theoretical legal framework and the results of the measurement study. To our knowledge, this is the first study to combine these two elements systematically.",

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Covrig, B, Mikelarena, EB, Rosca, C, Goanta, C, Spanakis, G & Zarras, A 2022, Upside Down: Exploring the Ecosystem of Dark Web Data Markets. in W Meng, S Fischer-Hübner & CD Jensen (eds), ICT Systems Security and Privacy Protection - 37th IFIP TC 11 International Conference, SEC 2022, Proceedings. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol. 648 IFIP, Springer, pp. 489-506, 37th IFIP International Conference on ICT Systems Security and Privacy Protection, SEC 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark, 13/06/22. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06975-8_28

Upside Down: Exploring the Ecosystem of Dark Web Data Markets. / Covrig, Bogdan; Mikelarena, Enrique Barrueco; Rosca, Constanta et al.
ICT Systems Security and Privacy Protection - 37th IFIP TC 11 International Conference, SEC 2022, Proceedings. ed. / Weizhi Meng; Simone Fischer-Hübner; Christian D. Jensen. Springer, 2022. p. 489-506 (IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology; Vol. 648 IFIP).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volume › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

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AU - Zarras, Apostolis

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Covrig B, Mikelarena EB, Rosca C, Goanta C, Spanakis G, Zarras A. Upside Down: Exploring the Ecosystem of Dark Web Data Markets. In Meng W, Fischer-Hübner S, Jensen CD, editors, ICT Systems Security and Privacy Protection - 37th IFIP TC 11 International Conference, SEC 2022, Proceedings. Springer. 2022. p. 489-506. (IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology). doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-06975-8_28