Hackting Out: Defacement and Hate Online amid Global Conflicts

Notes:

• Introduction to Cybercrime Research: Dr. Hutchings and Ahn Vu introduce their work at the Cambridge Cybercrime Centre.
• Global Conflicts and Cyber Activities: Discussion on how global conflicts, such as those in Ukraine and Israel-Gaza, spur cybercrime activities like website defacements and DDoS attacks.
• Cyber Tactics During Warfare: Insights into how cyber tactics are employed quickly after conflicts start, with a focus on how these activities serve both political propaganda and cybercriminal interests.
• Deplatforming Hate Groups: In-depth analysis of the challenges faced when deplatforming hate groups, specifically referencing the Kiwi Farms case.
• Temporary Effects of Cyber Attacks: Observations on the short-lived nature of heightened cyber activities post-conflict, with a decline in interest and activities after initial spikes.
• Challenges of Cybercrime Research: Discussion on the difficulties in tracking and attributing cyber attacks, particularly those by decentralized and loosely organized groups.
• Unintended Consequences of Deplatforming: Exploration of how attempts to silence harmful online communities can lead to increased attention and unintended reinforcement of these groups.
• Closing Thoughts: Dr. Hutchings and Ahn Vu summarize the ongoing challenges and the evolving landscape of cybercrime in the context of international security and online governance.

About our guests:

Dr. Alice Hutchings:

https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~ah793/

Anh V. Vu

https://www.cst.cam.ac.uk/people/vv301

Papers or resources mentioned in this episode:

Anh V. Vu, Alice Hutchings, Ross Anderson. No Easy Way Out: the Effectiveness of Deplatforming an Extremist Forum to Suppress Hate and Harassment. In Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P'24)

Anh V. Vu, Daniel R. Thomas, Ben Collier, Alice Hutchings, Richard Clayton, Ross Anderson. Getting Bored of Cyberwar: Exploring the Role of Low-level Cybercrime Actors in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict. In Proceedings of the ACM World Wide Web Conference (WWW'24)

Other:

• No AI's were harmed during the creation of this episode, however they were definitely involved in the work of editing and drafting copy.
• If you want to hear more from Dr. Hutchings, you can find her way back on episode 4 .... 101 episodes ago ....
• Apologies if the end of the episode seemed a little loud.