The ‘world-first’ index ranks countries by their cybercrime threat level, with the UK ranked eighth.

Russia, Ukraine and China have been named as the world’s cybercrime hotspots in a new study ranking the most significant sources of cybercrime threats.
The World Cybercrime Index has been published in journal Plos One following three years of research by academics from the University of Oxford and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra.
The index said Russia housed the greatest cybercrime threat, followed by Ukraine, China, the US and Nigeria. The UK was eighth on the list.

The new index shows where cyber criminals are, and the impact they are having.

An international team of researchers has compiled the first ever World Cybercrime Index, which identifies the globe’s key cybercrime hotspots by ranking the most significant sources of cybercrime at a national level.

The Index, released today after three years of intensive research, shows that a relatively small number of countries house the greatest cybercriminal threat. Russia tops the list, followed by Ukraine, China, the USA, Nigeria, and Romania. Australia comes in at number 34.

Co-author of the study, Dr Miranda Bruce from UNSW Canberra and the University of Oxford, said the study will enable the public and private sectors to focus their resources on key cybercrime hubs and spend less time and funds on cybercrime countermeasures in countries where the problem is not as significant.

“The research that underpins the Index will help remove the veil of anonymity around cybercriminal offenders, and we hope that it will aid the fight against the growing threat of profit-driven cybercrime,” Dr Bruce said.

“We now have a deeper understanding of the geography of cybercrime, and how different countries specialise in different types of cybercrime.

“By continuing to collect this data, we’ll be able to monitor the emergence of any new hotspots and it’s possible early interventions could be made in at-risk countries before a serious cybercrime problem even develops.

In the early hours of 3 May 2023, 10 countries took action against the Calabrian mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta. More than 130 people were arrested, 30 of them in Germany. Prosecutors spoke of the biggest international strike so far, against one of the most notorious mafia organisations worldwide.

Following the arrests - the result of a three-year investigation - Dr Zora Hauser spoke to numerous news outlets about whether this operation will have any real impact on the ‘Ndrangheta.

Dr Zora Hauser was interviewed by Fluter, Germany's Federal Agency for Civic Education magazine, about her work investigating the presence of the 'Ndrangheta mafia in Germany.

Dr Martina Baradel appeared on the popular Japanese TV show, 'What are you doing in Japan?', discussing her research into the Japanese crime organisation, the yakuza. The appearance prompted writer Tomohiko Suzuki, an expert on the yakuza, to interview Martina about her perspective as a researcher and outsider.

Headlines were made when Sicilian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro was captured by authorities, after 30 years on the run. Messina Denaro is the boss of the Castevetrano mafia family and, in 2002, was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for multiple murders.

Messina Denaro was detained in Palermo at a private health clinic where he was receiving treatment for cancer. Federico Varese, Professor of Criminology, spoke to numerous press outlets about the arrest.

Book review by Matías Dewey of ExLegi Senior Research Fellow Jonathan Lusthaus' book (Industry of Anonymity: Inside the Business of Cybercrime) published in the American Journal of Sociology.

As part of the international network "Scholars at Risk" (SAR) and its Italian section SAR-Italia, the University of Milan is offering 4 positions for at-risk scholars. To be eligible, candidates must be Ukrainian citizens or other non-EU country nationals coming from areas where political and/or military crisis is underway.

Deadline: 2 pm (CEST, Italy) on April 22nd 2022

See the link for further details and requirements.

Speakers: T. Wing Lo (City University of Hong Kong), Hirosue Noboru (Ryukoku University), and Peng Wang (University of Hong Kong)

Time: 2-5.30 PM CET

Speakers: Costanza Curro (University of Helsinki, Finland), Davide Casciano (AnthroCrime EASA Network, University of Bologna, Italy), Federico Varese (University of Oxford, UK), Gavin Slade, (Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan), Rustam Urinboyev (Lund University, Sweden), Rhiannon Dowling (CUNY, US), Vakhtang Kekoshvili (Georgian American University, Georgia), Maroussia Ferry (IHEID-CCDP, Switzerland), Svetlana Stephenson (London Metropolitan University, UK) and Judith Pallot (University of Helsinki).

Given the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the crisis unfolding in the region and beyond, this workshop run by Anthro Crime wants to provide a platform for discussion and reflection on how our knowledge and experience could help understand current events and future challenges, as citizens and as academics