The Darknet and Smarter Crime: Methods for Investigating Criminal Entrepreneurs and the Illicit Drug Economy

Description

This book draws on research into darknet cryptomarkets to examine themes of cybercrime, cybersecurity, illicit markets and drug use. Cybersecurity is increasingly seen as essential yet it is also a point of contention between citizens, states, non-governmental organisations and private corporations as each grapples with existing and developing technologies. The increased importance of privacy online has sparked concerns about the loss of confidentiality and autonomy in the face of state and corporate surveillance on one hand, and the creation of ungovernable spaces and the facilitation of terrorism and harassment on the other. These differences and disputes highlight the dual nature of the internet: allowing counter-publics to emerge and providing opportunities for state and corporate domination through control of the data infrastructure. The Darknet and Smarter Crime argues that, far from being a dangerous anarchist haven, the darknet and the technologies used within it could have benefits and significance for everyone online. This book engages with a number of debates about the internet and new communication technologies, including: surveillance and social control, anonymity and privacy, the uses and abuses of data encryption technologies and cyber-cultures and collective online identities Front Matter ....Pages i-xiv Crime Is as Smart and as Dumb as the Internet (Angus Bancroft)....Pages 1-22 How Cryptomarkets Work (Angus Bancroft)....Pages 23-39 Fracturing Research in Splintering Digital Environments (Angus Bancroft)....Pages 41-64 Illicit Trades Are Political Economies (Angus Bancroft)....Pages 65-84 The Cultural Drug-Crime Confection (Angus Bancroft)....Pages 85-102 Cybercrime Is Not Always Rational, but It Is Reasonable (Angus Bancroft)....Pages 103-127 Managing Trust Relationships in Digital Crime (Angus Bancroft)....Pages 129-134 How Knowledge About Drugs Is Produced in Cryptomarkets (Angus Bancroft)....Pages 135-152 Creating, Managing and Responding to Risk in Cryptomarkets (Angus Bancroft)....Pages 153-174 Secrecy and Anonymity Online (Angus Bancroft)....Pages 175-196 Why Digital Crime Works (Angus Bancroft)....Pages 197-203 Back Matter ....Pages 205-235