The Gozi group: A criminal firm in cyberspace?

Abstract

The relative glut of data on cybercriminal forums has led to a growing understanding of the functioning of these virtual marketplaces. But with a focus on illicit online trading, less attention has been paid to the structures of groups that carry out cybercrimes in an operational sense. In economic parlance, some such groups may be known as ‘firms’. This concept has been a significant part of the literature on more traditional forms of organised crime, but is not widely discussed in the cybercrime discourse. The focus of this article is, by way of a case study of the Gozi malware group, to explore the applicability of the concept of firms to the novel environment of cybercrime.