TAKEDOWN - Understand the Dimensions of Organised Crime and Terrorist Networks for Developing Effective and Efficient Security Solutions for First-line-practitioners and Professionals

Grant No. 700688

https://app.dimensions.ai/details/grant/grant.5493609

Organized Crime and Terrorist Networks (OC/TN) are a major challenge for the European Union and many different stakeholder groups are involved in creating awareness, preventing, identifying and intervene in case of risk or threat. But in order to develop better strategies and instruments, we still need a deeper understanding of these phenomena. TAKEDOWN therefore aims at generating such novel insights on OC/TN. In order to meet this challenge and to investigate this complex field of research a multidimensional modelling approach is used. The resulting, proprietary TAKEDOWN Model describes social, psychological, economic aspects as well as further dimensions, activities and response approaches. A comprehensive empirical research combined with European and international expert knowledge ensures a valid and intuitive model. The TAKEDOWN Open Information Hub targets first-line-practitioners and provides modular solutions and inductive materials. The public web platform helps individuals to navigate to the right third party reporting and help lines including an innovative crowd reporting application to report digital OC/TN cases. The TAKEDOWN OC/TN Professional Solution Platform consists of various modules for law enforcement and homeland security departments. Designed with a flexible Platform as a Service (PaaS) architecture it combines knowledge materials and digital security solutions. Via the TAKEDOWN Security Dashboard information streams of native and third party applications are combined in an identification and issue management cockpit. The TAKEDOWN Professional Advisor supports experts on the selection of relevant approaches and security solutions to tackle OC/TN. With this multi-level approach, TAKEDOWN will force a better understanding of OC/TN, develop modern approaches and solutions, and will finally lead to a more efficient and effective response on OC/TN and strengthen social cohesion at pan-European level.

Impact

Contribution to UN, EU & UK debates on organised crime.

Informed policy making.

Contributed to academic and practitioner knowledge.

Publications and outputs

Journal Articles

Musotto, R. and Wall, D.S. (2020) ‘More Amazon than Mafia: More Amazon than Mafia: Analysing a DDoS Stresser Service as Organised CyberCrime’, Trends in Organized Crime, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-020-09397-5

Musotto, R. and Wall, D.S. (2019) ‘Are Booter Services (Stressers) indicative of a new form of organised crime group online?’, Journal of Digital Forensics (Korean), (13 March 2019), 12(1): 41-50. ISSN 1976-5304 - https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/artiPreView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART002433334&v=2019

Chapters in Books

Musotto, R. and Wall, D.S. (2019) ‘The online crime-terror nexus: using booster services (stressers) to weaponise data? Ch 4, in V. Ruggiero (ed) Organised Crime and Terror Networks, Routledge. ISBN: 1138351741

Short Articles

Musotto, R. and Wall, D. (2019) ‘Facebook’s push for end-to-end encryption is good news for user privacy, as well as terrorists and paedophiles’, The Conversation, 16 December, https://theconversation.com/facebooks-push-for-end-to-end-encryption-is-good-news-for-user-privacy-as-well-as-terrorists-and-paedophiles-128782

Conference and Workshop papers

Wall, D.S. and Musotto, R. (2017) Modelling Organised Crime Groups and Terrorist Networks, D2.2. TAKEDOWN Understanding Organised Crime Groups and Terrorist Networks, EU H2020.

Musotto, R. and Wall, D.S. (2019) ‘Exploring the Online Crime-Terror Nexus’, ECPR SGOC (Standing Group on Organised Crime), Sofia, Bulgaria, 4-9 July

Musotto, R. and Wall, D.S. (2019) Online Crime-Terror Networks, TAKEDOWN Final Research Meeting, Valencia, 17-18 June 2019

Musotto, R. and Wall, D.S. (2018) Are Booter Services (Stressers) indicative of a new form of organised crime group online? Paper given to the UNODC Linking Organized Crime and Cybercrime Conference, School of Global Studies, Hallym University, Chucheon, South Korea, 7-8 June 2018.

Musotto, R. and Wall, D.S. (2018) Modelling Online Cybercrime, TAKEDOWN Partners meeting, Prague, 30Jan-1st Feb.

Musotto, R. and Wall, D.S. (2017) Models of Transnational Organised Crime Groups as Social Networks in a Changing Socio-Political and Socio-Technical Landscape, paper given at the Illicit Networks (IX) Policing Flows (III) Conference, Flinders University, Adelaide South Australia 11-13 December.

Musotto, R. and Wall, D.S. (2017) Modelling Trans-National Organised Crime Groups and Terrorist Networks In a Changing Socio-Political and Socio-Technical Landscape, European Society of Criminology, Cardiff, 15th Sept. 2017

Project websites

https://www.takedownproject.eu/

FIRST-LINE PRACTITIONERS - https://www.firstlinepractitioners.com/

FIGHT TERRORISM – https://www.fightcrimeterrorism.com