The Dark Mafia : Organized Crime in the Age of the Internet

This book explores how organized crime has adapted and evolved in sync with ever-expanding technologies to update its popular image and to conduct its covert operations. It shows how organized crime operates in dark virtual spaces and how it can now form a dynamic interactive system with legitimate online spaces, solidifying its criminal exploits and resources, and making them attractive to a new generation of computer users. Focusing on Italian Mafias, Russian and Georgian criminal groups and drug cartels, and Asian crime syndicates such as Yakuza and Triads, this book aims to describe and explain the reasons behind the continuity of online and offline crime, taking into consideration whether or not internet culture has radically changed the way we perceive organized crime and if so how, and thus how the shift in popular imagery that the internet has brought about affects its actual illegal activities. We also consider how organized crime has shifted its locale from the physical to the virtual, how cybercrime has allowed criminal organizations to adapt and reinvent themselves, and how the police now use technology against organized crime. To better understand the new generation of criminals, it is becoming increasingly urgent to understand the latest technologies and how criminals utilize them. The Dark Mafia is an engaging and accessible introduction to understanding virtual organized crime. It will appeal to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, policing, and all those interested in the digital age of organized crime. Cover Endorsements Half Title Title Copyright Contents List of Figures Acknowledgments Introduction 1 The Mafia in Cyberspace Prologue Mafia 1.0: Organized Crime in Real Space Mafia 2.0: Migration to Cyberspace Cybercriminality Case Studies: I Epilogue 2 Hybrid Criminality Prologue Hybrid Organized Crime Cyber Gangs Cryptocurrency McLuhan’s Four Laws Case Studies: II Epilogue 3 Dark Mafia Prologue The Dark Web The Dark Marketplace Dark Language A Digital Black Hand Case Studies: III Epilogue 4 Cool Mafia Prologue The Wise Guy The Cool Guy Vainglory Case Studies: IV Epilogue 5 From Mythologies to Memetics and Beyond Prologue Myths Versus Memes A Dualistic Character Mafia 3.0 Case Studies: V Epilogue References Index 1. This book is useful and accessible background reading for those engaged in organized crime and cybercrime. It is written with the general reader in mind, so will be of interest to students and intelligent readers alike. 2. The book draws on a range of case studies from around the world, looking at Italian Mafias, Russian and Georgian criminal groups and drug cartels, and the Asian gangs such as the Yakuza and the Triads