Organized Cyber-Racketeering: Exploring the Role of Internet Technology in Organized Cybercrime Syndicates Using a Grounded Theory Approach

In recent years, cyber-racketeering has become a prevalent means of cyberattack, severely jeopardizing nations, organizations, and individual users. However, because previous research has been focused on individual crimes, insider security threats, and compliance, the serious consequences of organized cybercrimes have received little attention. To investigate organized cyber-racketeering, we explore how organized cybercriminals apply organizational techniques to systematically commit cyberattack on individuals and businesses. Based on 80 court cases of successfully prosecuted cybercrimes, this article is one of the first to scientifically examine organized crime syndicates that are engaged in cyber-racketeering. We use the grounded theory approach to investigate organized cyber-racketeering. To ensure the scientific rigor and realism of this study, we examine these court cases to develop a process theory based on the results of interpretive and iterative analyses conducted from multiple perspectives on organized cyber-racketeering. We establish a framework for organized cyber-racketeering to shed light on its characteristics and the crucial role of Internet technology (IT) in the implementation and operation of cyber-racketeering activities. The proposed framework consists of motive, organization, learning and development, and execution. This article contributes both to enhancing the understanding of how organized cybercriminals operate and profit from cyber-racketeering using information and communications technology (ICT) and to improving countermeasures that may be taken by practitioners.