Research project
EMPHASIS - EconoMical, PsycHologicAl and Societal Impact of RanSomware [Ransomware and Cybercrimes of Extortion]
- Start date: 1 April 2017
- End date: 31 December 2019
- Funder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) / Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
- Primary investigator: Professor David S. Wall FAcSS
Starting in April 2017, and part of the interdisciplinary EMPHASIS (EconoMical, PsycHologicAl and Societal Impact of RanSomware) project [EPSRC/ESRC Human Dimensions of Cybersecurity].
The Leeds contribution explores the criminological this project, especially the evolution of Ransomware as a crime of extortion.
The aim of the EMPHASIS blog stream is to disseminate information about ransomware to the interested public, academics and the practitioner and policy communities. Ransomware displays all the hallmarks of a classical extortion, but as a type of cybercrime it is extortion on an industrial scale, which yields large amounts of money for cybercriminals.
The aim of the EMPHASIS project is to advance knowledge and understanding of ransomware. In particular, the research aims to investigate how ransomware works as a business operation, develop profiles of cybercriminals who create and exploit the malware and to explore victimisation (including individuals, businesses and infrastructure).
The project’s partners are Leeds, De Montfort, Durham, Kent, City universities as well as international partners in Flinders University, Australia, Delft University of Technology, Holland; Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art Design, the National Crime Agency, Greater Manchester Police, DSTL.