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Producing Trust Among Illicit Actors: A Techno-Social Approach to an Online Illicit Market

Author

Listed:
  • Angus Bancroft

    (University of Edinburgh, UK)

  • Tim Squirrell

    (University of Edinburgh, UK)

  • Andreas Zaunseder

    (University of Aberdeen, UK)

  • Irene Rafanell

    (University of the West of Scotland, UK)

Abstract

Illicit market exchanges in cybercriminal markets are plagued by problems of verifiability and enforceability: trust is one way to ensure reliable exchange. It is fragile and hard to establish. One way to do that is to use the administrative structure of the digital market to control transactions. This is common among a specific type of market – darknet cryptomarkets. These are sites for the sale of illicit goods and services, hosted anonymously using the Tor darknet. However, reliance by users on the technology and the market administrators exposes users to excessive risk. We examine a case of a market that rejects several key technological features now common in cryptomarkets but that is nonetheless reliable and robust. We apply a techno-social approach that looks at the way participants use and combine technologies with trust relationships. The study was designed to capture the interactional context of the illicit market. We aimed to examine both person-to-person interaction and the technical infrastructure the market relied on. We find that the social space of the market maintains itself through a shared common security orientation, community participation in key decisions about products sold, performing trust signalling, and relying on lateral trust between members. There are implications for how resilience in cryptomarkets is understood.

Suggested Citation

  • Angus Bancroft & Tim Squirrell & Andreas Zaunseder & Irene Rafanell, 2020. "Producing Trust Among Illicit Actors: A Techno-Social Approach to an Online Illicit Market," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 25(3), pages 456-472, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:25:y:2020:i:3:p:456-472
    DOI: 10.1177/1360780419881158
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dodd, Nigel, 2018. "The social life of Bitcoin," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 69229, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ben Collier & Richard Clayton & Alice Hutchings & Daniel Thomas, 2021. "Cybercrime is (often) boring: Infrastructure and alienation in a deviant subculture [Producing Trust among Illicit Actors: A Techno-Social Approach to an Online Illicit Market]," The British Journal of Criminology, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, vol. 61(5), pages 1407-1423.

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