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Milav Dabgar
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Milav Dabgar
Experienced lecturer in the electrical and electronic manufacturing industry. Skilled in Embedded Systems, Image Processing, Data Science, MATLAB, Python, STM32. Strong education professional with a Master’s degree in Communication Systems Engineering from L.D. College of Engineering - Ahmedabad.
Property Cyber Crimes

Property Cyber Crimes

Cyber Crimes Against Digital and Physical Property

Property Based Cybercrime

What are Property Cyber Crimes?

Definition: Cyber crimes that involve the theft, destruction, manipulation, or unauthorized use of digital and physical property through electronic means.
  • Target: Tangible and intangible assets
  • Method: Digital tools and techniques
  • Impact: Economic loss and property damage
  • Scope: Individual, corporate, and public property

Types of Digital Property

Intellectual Property

  • Patents and trade secrets
  • Copyrighted material
  • Trademarks and branding
  • Software and source code

Digital Assets

  • Cryptocurrency wallets
  • NFTs and digital collectibles
  • Digital media files
  • Domain names and websites

Data Assets

  • Customer databases
  • Financial records
  • Personal information
  • Business intelligence

Virtual Property

  • Gaming assets and accounts
  • Virtual real estate
  • Social media accounts
  • Cloud storage contents

Intellectual Property Theft

IP Theft: Unauthorized use, copying, or stealing of intellectual property through cyber means, including patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and proprietary information.

Common Methods:

  • Corporate Espionage: Stealing trade secrets and R&D data
  • Software Piracy: Unauthorized copying and distribution
  • Patent Theft: Stealing invention details before filing
  • Trademark Infringement: Using protected brands without permission
  • Code Theft: Stealing proprietary software source code
IP Theft Impact (Annual):
  • $225-$600 billion losses to US economy
  • 2.5 million jobs lost due to IP theft
  • Software piracy: $46.3 billion in losses
  • 83% of companies experienced IP theft attempts

Cryptocurrency and Digital Asset Crimes

Cryptocurrency Crime Types:

  • Wallet Theft: Stealing private keys and access credentials
  • Exchange Hacks: Compromising cryptocurrency exchanges
  • ICO Scams: Fraudulent Initial Coin Offerings
  • Mining Malware: Unauthorized use of computing resources
  • Ransomware Payments: Demanding cryptocurrency for decryption
Crypto Crime Statistics (2023):
  • $20.1 billion in illicit crypto transactions
  • $3.8 billion stolen from DeFi protocols
  • NFT wash trading: $8.86 million
  • Largest single theft: $600 million (Poly Network)
Common Attack Vectors: • Phishing websites mimicking legitimate exchanges • Malicious wallet applications with backdoors • SIM swapping to bypass 2FA protection • Smart contract vulnerabilities and exploits • Social engineering targeting crypto holders

Domain Name and Website Theft

Domain Hijacking: Unauthorized transfer or control of domain names, often for financial gain or malicious purposes.

Domain Hijacking Methods

  • Registrar account compromise
  • DNS poisoning attacks
  • Social engineering registrars
  • Expired domain snatching

Website Content Theft

  • Complete website copying
  • Content scraping and republishing
  • Database extraction
  • SEO value theft through redirects

Notable Domain Hijacking Cases:

  • Twitter.com (2009): Iranian hackers redirected to opposition site
  • Google.com (2005): Domain briefly hijacked by attackers
  • Microsoft.com (2008): DNS poisoning redirected traffic
  • Various banking sites: Redirected to phishing pages

Gaming and Virtual Property Crimes

Virtual Property Types:

  • Gaming Accounts: Characters, levels, achievements, and progress
  • In-Game Items: Virtual weapons, skins, and rare collectibles
  • Virtual Currency: Game-specific coins and tokens
  • Virtual Real Estate: Digital land and properties in metaverses

Common Gaming Crimes:

  • Account Takeovers: Stealing gaming accounts through credential theft
  • Item Duplication: Exploiting game bugs to duplicate valuable items
  • Real Money Trading: Illegal sale of virtual items for real currency
  • Game Hacking: Using cheats and exploits to gain unfair advantages
  • Virtual Fraud: Scamming players in virtual economies
Virtual Economy Stats:
  • Gaming industry worth: $321 billion (2023)
  • Virtual item trading: $15 billion market
  • Average gamer spends: $116/year on in-game purchases
  • Account theft reports: 1.2 million annually

Cloud Storage and Data Theft

Cloud Property Crimes: Unauthorized access, theft, or manipulation of data and resources stored in cloud services.

Access-Based Attacks

  • Credential stuffing and brute force
  • Session hijacking
  • API key theft and misuse
  • Multi-tenant isolation bypass

Data Exfiltration

  • Mass data downloads
  • Database dumping
  • Backup file theft
  • Synchronized folder access

Cloud Security Breaches:

  • Capital One (2019): 100 million customer records from AWS
  • Dropbox (2016): 68 million user credentials stolen
  • iCloud Celebrity Photos (2014): Private photos leaked
  • OneDrive Ransomware (2022): Files encrypted in cloud storage

Software and Media Piracy

Digital Piracy: Unauthorized copying, distribution, or use of copyrighted digital content including software, music, movies, and books.

Software Piracy Methods

  • Key generators and cracks
  • Torrent distribution networks
  • Illegal license sharing
  • Corporate software theft

Media Piracy Channels

  • Streaming site operations
  • File sharing platforms
  • IPTV illegal services
  • Deep web marketplaces
Piracy Impact (2023):
  • Software piracy rate: 37% globally
  • Commercial losses: $46.3 billion
  • Music piracy: 38% of internet users
  • Movie piracy: $29.2 billion in losses

Physical Property Crimes via Cyber Means

Cyber-Enabled Physical Theft:

  • Smart Home Exploitation: Hacking IoT devices to facilitate break-ins
  • Vehicle Theft: Keyless entry system hacking and GPS disabling
  • Industrial Sabotage: Disrupting manufacturing systems and machinery
  • Infrastructure Attacks: Targeting power grids and transportation systems
  • ATM Skimming: Installing devices to steal card information
IoT Attack Vector Examples: • Smart lock bypass through mobile app vulnerabilities • Security camera system compromise for surveillance • Smart garage door remote access exploitation • Home alarm system disabling through network intrusion • Smart doorbell data interception and manipulation

E-commerce and Online Fraud

Online Shopping Fraud

  • Fake Stores: Creating fraudulent e-commerce websites
  • Product Substitution: Sending counterfeit or different items
  • Non-Delivery Scams: Taking payment without shipping
  • Auction Fraud: Manipulating online auction platforms
E-commerce Fraud Statistics:
  • Online shopping fraud losses: $48 billion (2022)
  • Card-not-present fraud: $9.49 billion
  • Account takeover fraud: $6.1 billion
  • Return fraud: $101 billion in losses

Legal Framework for Property Crimes

Federal Laws (US):

  • Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA): Unauthorized computer access
  • Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA): Copyright protection
  • Economic Espionage Act: Trade secret theft
  • National Stolen Property Act: Interstate property crimes

International Treaties

  • WIPO Copyright Treaty
  • Budapest Convention on Cybercrime
  • Paris Convention for Patents
  • Madrid Agreement for Trademarks

Civil Remedies

  • Injunctive relief
  • Monetary damages
  • Asset seizure and forfeiture
  • DMCA takedown notices

Detection and Investigation Methods

Technical Detection:

  • Digital Forensics: Analyzing digital evidence and artifacts
  • Network Monitoring: Detecting unauthorized data transfers
  • Watermarking: Tracking legitimate content distribution
  • Blockchain Analysis: Tracing cryptocurrency transactions
  • AI-Based Detection: Identifying patterns and anomalies
Investigation Process: 1. Incident Detection → 2. Evidence Preservation → 3. Digital Forensics 4. Asset Tracing → 5. Attribution Analysis → 6. Legal Action 7. Recovery Efforts → 8. Prevention Implementation

Industry-Specific Property Crimes

Entertainment Industry

  • Movie and TV show piracy
  • Music and album leaks
  • Gaming ROM distribution
  • Streaming service account sharing

Technology Sector

  • Source code theft
  • Algorithm stealing
  • Patent espionage
  • Proprietary data exfiltration

Financial Services

  • Trading algorithm theft
  • Customer data breaches
  • Cryptocurrency exchange hacks
  • Banking system exploitation

Manufacturing

  • Industrial design theft
  • Production process secrets
  • Supply chain data theft
  • Quality control information

Protection and Prevention Strategies

Technical Protections

  • Digital rights management (DRM)
  • Multi-factor authentication
  • Encryption and access controls
  • Backup and recovery systems
  • Network monitoring and IDS

Legal Protections

  • Patent and trademark registration
  • Copyright protection
  • Non-disclosure agreements
  • Insurance policies
  • Monitoring and enforcement

Best Practices:

  • Asset Inventory: Maintain comprehensive digital asset catalogs
  • Access Management: Implement principle of least privilege
  • Regular Audits: Monitor for unauthorized access and use
  • Employee Training: Educate on intellectual property protection
  • Incident Response: Have plans for property crime incidents

Emerging Trends in Property Cyber Crimes

2024-2025 Trends:

  • AI-Generated Content Theft: Unauthorized use of AI-created works
  • Metaverse Property Crimes: Virtual real estate and NFT theft
  • Quantum Threat to Encryption: Future cryptographic vulnerabilities
  • IoT Property Integration: Smart property exploitation
  • Deepfake IP Violations: Unauthorized likeness and voice use

Future Protection Needs:

  • Quantum-resistant encryption methods
  • Blockchain-based property authentication
  • AI-powered threat detection systems
  • Enhanced virtual property protection laws
  • Cross-platform digital rights management

Recovery and Remediation

Recovery Strategies:

  • Asset Recovery: Identifying and reclaiming stolen digital assets
  • Damage Assessment: Quantifying financial and operational impact
  • Legal Action: Civil and criminal prosecution of perpetrators
  • System Restoration: Recovering and securing compromised systems
  • Prevention Enhancement: Improving security based on lessons learned

Recovery Success Stories:

  • Colonial Pipeline: $2.3 million ransom recovered by FBI
  • Netflix Content: Pre-release content leak investigation and arrests
  • Adobe Source Code: Recovery and enhanced protection implementation
  • Gaming Companies: Virtual item recovery and account restoration

Key Takeaways

Critical Points:

  • Diverse Targets: Digital and physical property both at risk
  • Economic Impact: Billions in losses across all industries
  • Evolution of Crime: New property types create new vulnerabilities
  • Legal Complexity: Cross-jurisdictional and definitional challenges
  • Prevention Focus: Proactive protection more effective than recovery
Property Protection Strategy: Implement comprehensive technical, legal, and procedural safeguards to protect digital assets while maintaining clear documentation and rapid response capabilities for property crime incidents.