Mapping the Digital Threat: The Geography of Cybercrime

Notes:

• Background in Sociology: Dr. Miranda Bruce started in sociology, focusing on the dynamics of power and institutions.
• PhD Research: Her PhD explored the Internet of Things (IoT) using post-structuralist French theory to understand technological reality.
• Transition to Cybercrime: Transitioned from IoT research to a project on the geography of cybercrime, partnering with a local Australian university and the University of Oxford.
• Cybercrime as a Local Phenomenon: Emphasized that cybercrime is not just a global issue but has significant local dimensions.
• Mapping Cybercrime: Developed methods to map cybercrime hotspots to understand where cybercrime is coming from and why.
• Importance of Local Factors: Identified that local factors play a crucial role in the proliferation of cybercrime in specific areas.
• Intervention Strategies: Stressed that intervention strategies must be tailored to local conditions as one-size-fits-all approaches are ineffective.
• Challenges in Measuring Cybercrime: Discussed the difficulties in accurately measuring where cybercrime originates due to technical limitations.
• Survey of Experts: Utilized expert surveys from cybercrime intelligence and investigations to gather data on cybercrime hotspots.
• Bias in Data Collection: Addressed potential biases in the data collection process and took steps to ensure diverse and reliable sources.
• Use of Proxy Data: Chose expert survey data over technical measures or legal cases to get more accurate insights into cybercrime geography.
• Findings: Key findings indicated that countries like Russia, Ukraine, China, the United States, and Nigeria are significant sources of cybercrime.
• Analysis of Results: Plans to analyze the collected data to create theoretical models explaining why cybercrime is prevalent in certain areas.
• Future Research Directions: Aims to develop detailed case studies and collaborate with policymakers to use the data for effective interventions.
• Open Data: Highlighted the importance of making the data open source to enable further research and collaboration across disciplines.

About our guests:

Dr Miranda Bruce:

https://www.sociology.ox.ac.uk/people/miranda-bruce

https://www.unsw.edu.au/staff/miranda-bruce

Papers or resources mentioned in this episode:

• Bruce, M., Lusthaus, J., Kashyap, R., Phair, N., & Varese, F. (2024). Mapping the global geography of cybercrime with the World Cybercrime Index. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249850
• Bruce, M., & Phair, N. (2020). Mapping the geography of cybercrime: A review of indices of digital offending by country. IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy. https://doi.org/10.1109/EuroSPW51379.2020.00013

Other:

If you were interested in the topic of this episode, you might also enjoy episode 36 "Cyber criminals are people too".