Research Paper on Crypto-Currencies and Cybercrime

The research paper should contain a maximum of 2400 words (excluding references) and should demonstrate your understanding of the issues relevant to the research question. The paper should clearly answer the research question, and all the content should be relevant to the research question.

The paper is supposed to be a critical evaluation of the literature, rather than a simple repetition of several sources using your own words. This means that you have to summarise, interpret, reflect and be critical about what you have read and about the sources, you actually use.

It is up to you to structure the paper logically and to ensure coherence among sections and paragraphs. The language used should be specific, precise, objective, direct and simple. Do not use colloquial language. Apart from short quotes, use your own words and use short sentences, appropriate for technical writing.

1.Abstract   (very short summary of the paper, motivation, purpose, contribution)

2.Introduction (a summary about the context, the subject area)

3.Analysis of the related works (main body, structure is based on your creativity)

4.Discussion (your own view, opinion, ideas for the future work)

This section contains some examples of research questions. This list is not meant to be exhaustive. You may choose a research question not contained in the list but which best suits your background, experience and interest, as long as you agree it with the module tutor.

·How do bitcoin botnet-miners, like Miner Botnet [13], operate and what measures can be taken against them?

·What malware, e.g., Cryptolocker [6], have been used by cybercriminals to obtain cryptocurrencies, which vulnerabilities did they exploit and what mitigation can be adopted against them?

·What attack vectors have been used to exploit cryptocurrencies (e.g. Skype [11] and Yahoo [5]), and how to counter them?

·What attacks on cryptocurrencies have been theoretically identified (e.g., Double Spending Attack [9] and Block Discarding Attack [1]) and how could they be avoided/mitigated?

·What has evolved, and what are the differences and similarities between existing (and/or extinct) cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple and Peercoin ?

·What incidents affecting cryptocurrencies (e.g. security breaches on Mt. Gox [12] – the largest Bitcoin exchange, and on Bitcoinica [8] online trading site for Bitcoins) show us about risks and possible mitigations?

·What methods and techniques are potentially valuable to de-anonymise cryptocurrencies’ users (e.g. Reid and Harrigan [14] proposed one method)?

·What tools, methods and public information can be used to gather intelligence about criminals’ use of cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, for law enforcement?

·What are the challenges that cryptocurrencies pose for digital forensics investigators and law enforcement [7], and which potential directions are most promising to address these challenges?

Black market

·How does anonymity in cryptocurrencies work and how it has been exploited by cybercriminals [2]?

·How do marketplaces, like Silk Road [4], operate and what measures can be adopted against them?

·What are the challenges posed by cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, for policymakers and regulators [3], and what advances have been made to address these?

·What do we know about the economics of bitcoins and e-Wallets as used by cybercriminals? (e.g., the economics of bitcoin mining [10])

·Combating web spam (e.g., based on trust rank [16])

·How to detect spam web pages? (e.g., based on content analysis [17])  

·How to effectively mitigate email spam? (e.g., based on proactive methods [18, 20])