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The Role of Spam in Cybercrime: Data from the Australian Cybercrime Pilot Observatory

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Cybercrime Risks and Responses

Abstract

The use of the Internet for the purpose of crime is a rapidly growing phenomenon that requires a proactive and coordinated response (UNODC 2013). Cybercriminals increasingly use sophisticated tools and methods to distribute a wide range of malicious content, often combining deceptive “social engineering” tricks with spam emails, hosting of phishing sites, and identity theft (Smith and Hutchings 2014). Unsolicited bulk, mass emails, or “spam,” pose a global challenge because this remains a major vector for the dissemination of malware.

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© 2015 Mamoun Alazab and Roderic Broadhurst

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Alazab, M., Broadhurst, R. (2015). The Role of Spam in Cybercrime: Data from the Australian Cybercrime Pilot Observatory. In: Smith, R.G., Cheung, R.CC., Lau, L.YC. (eds) Cybercrime Risks and Responses. Palgrave Macmillan’s Studies in Cybercrime and Cybersecurity. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137474162_7

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