David Carlisle
Vice President of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Elliptic
Over the past decade, the cybercrime ecosystem has become increasingly reliant on cryptocurrencies as a method for generating illicit proceeds and laundering funds.
For example, ransomware gangs have raised over $1 billion in cryptocurrencies by launching attacks on critical infrastructure around the world, while hostile nation states such as North Korea have engaged in the cybertheft of cryptocurrencies to evade international sanctions. These cybercriminal actors are able to launder funds through an extensive network of complicit cryptocurrency exchanges, underground money laundering services, and new innovative financial platforms in an effort to conceal their profits from law enforcement.
Consequently, professionals and academics in the cybersecurity space need to be aware of the ways in which cryptocurrencies can be used to sustain the cybercrime ecosystem. This requires an understanding of how cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies are evolving, and the manner in which changing technological innovations shape criminal behaviour. It is only by understanding the intersection of cybercrime and cryptocurrencies that stakeholders in the public and private sectors can develop responses for disrupting cybercriminal activities such as ransomware that have a devastating impact on society.
This is why I wrote a book devoted to understanding the nexus between cryptocurrencies and illicit activity, The Crypto Launderers: Crime and Cryptocurrencies from the Dark Web to DeFi and Beyondwhich was published by Wiley in December 2023. In it, I survey the emergence of a cybercriminal ecosystem that has made increasing use of cryptocurrencies, with the aim of helping practitioners in the cybersecurity space and related fields to understand this evolving phenomenon. From the rise of ransomware to the explosive growth in hacking, The Cripto Launderers describes how cybercriminals have raised billions of dollars in profits in cryptocurrencies, and how they have developed new and sophisticated methods to launder the proceeds of cybercrime through the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The Cripto Launderers also surveys in detail the responses that the public and private sectors have developed over the past decade in an attempt to disrupt cryptocurrency-enabled cybercrime. Central to this effort has been the ability to trace funds through the blockchain, which can enable the detection and seizure of criminal proceeds in cryptocurrencies. The book also considers other public policy responses - such as the use of economic sanctions, and expanding the regulatory perimeter around cryptocurrencies - that are being used to try and curtail crypto-enabled cybercrime. The book concludes by taking a look into the future, with an aim of understanding how new technologies, such as the rise of the metaverse, could shape the face of cybercrime and money laundering.
More about the book:
- The FinTechnologist Podcast >>
- ACAMS Interview >>