RT Article
T1 The Network of Online Stolen Data Markets: How Vendor Flows Connect Digital Marketplaces
JF The British journal of criminology
VO 62
IS 6
SP 1518
OP 1536
A1 Ouellet, Marie
A1 Maimon, David 1978-
A1 Howell, Jordan C.
A1 Wu, Yubao
A2 Maimon, David 1978-
A2 Howell, Jordan C.
A2 Wu, Yubao
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1838882715
AB In the face of market uncertainty, illicit actors on the darkweb mitigate risk by displacing their operations across digital marketplaces. In this study, we reconstruct market networks created by vendor displacement to examine how digital marketplaces are connected on the darkweb and identify the properties that drive vendor flows before and after a law enforcement disruption. Findings show that vendors’ movement across digital marketplaces creates a highly connected ecosystem; nearly all markets are directly or indirectly connected. These network characteristics remain stable following a law enforcement operation; prior vendor flows predict vendor movement before and after the interdiction. The findings inform work on collective patterns in offender decision-making and extend discussions of displacement into digital spaces.
K1 digital marketplaces
K1 Crime displacement
K1 Social Network Analysis
K1 Offender decision-making
DO 10.1093/bjc/azab116