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Telegram, initially a messaging app, has evolved into a platform where users can interact with various services through programmable applications, bots. Bots provide a wide range of uses, from moderating groups, helping with online…
Telegram is one of the most used instant messaging apps worldwide. Some of its success lies in providing high privacy protection and social network features like the channels -- virtual rooms in which only the admins can post and broadcast…
Cryptocurrencies represent one of the most attractive markets for financial speculation. As a consequence, they have attracted unprecedented attention on social media. Besides genuine discussions and legitimate investment initiatives,…
While there have been various studies towards Android apps and their development, there is limited discussion of the broader class of apps that fall in the fake area. Fake apps and their development are distinct from official apps and…
Third-party security apps are an integral part of the Android app ecosystem. Many users install them as an extra layer of protection for their devices. There are hundreds of such security apps, both free and paid in Google Play Store and…
The cybercriminal underground consists of hundreds of forum communities that function as marketplaces and information-exchange platforms for both established and wannabe cybercriminals. The ecosystem is continuously evolving, with users…
Although Telegram is currently one of the most popular instant messaging apps in the world, previous studies have mainly focused on analysing discussions on specific angles and topics. In this paper, we present a broad analysis of publicly…
In this paper, we study the ecosystem of the abused Web Clips in underground economy. Through this study, we find the Web Clips is wildly used by perpetrators to penetrate iOS devices to gain profit. This work starts with 1,800 user…
Mobile messaging apps are a fundamental communication infrastructure, used by billions of people every day to share information, including sensitive data. Security and Privacy are thus critical concerns for such applications. Although the…
In recent years, major social media platforms have implemented increasingly strict moderation policies, resulting in bans and restrictions on conspiracy theory-related content. To circumvent these restrictions, conspiracy theorists are…
In this work, we are focusing on a new and yet uncovered way for malicious apps to gain profit. They claim to be dating apps. However, their sole purpose is to lure users into purchasing premium/VIP services to start conversations with…
In recent years, the underground economy is proliferating in the mobile system. These underground economy apps (UEware) make profits from providing non-compliant services, especially in sensitive areas such as gambling, pornography, and…
The criminal underground is populated with forum marketplaces where, allegedly, cybercriminals share and trade knowledge, skills, and cybercrime products. However, it is still unclear whether all marketplaces matter the same in the overall…
Third party tracking allows companies to identify users and track their behaviour across multiple digital services. This paper presents an empirical study of the prevalence of third-party trackers on 959,000 apps from the US and UK Google…
This paper presents a multidisciplinary approach to analyzing data from Telegram for early warning information regarding cyber threats. With the proliferation of hacktivist groups utilizing Telegram to disseminate information regarding…
Mobile apps are extensively involved in cyber-crimes. Some apps are malware which compromise users' devices, while some others may lead to privacy leakage. Apart from them, there also exist apps which directly make profit from victims…
Mobile applications, particularly those from social media platforms such as WeChat and TikTok, are evolving into "super apps" that offer a wide range of services such as instant messaging and media sharing, e-commerce, e-learning, and…
The availability of sophisticated technologies and methods of perpetrating criminogenic activities in the cyberspace is a pertinent societal problem. Darknet is an encrypted network technology that uses the internet infrastructure and can…
Among populations with limited literacy in emerging digital markets, the adoption of mobile phones, combined with comprehension barriers and poor cybersecurity hygiene, has created hidden privacy risks. This paper examines how informed…
As social networking takes to the mobile world, smartphone apps provide users with ever-changing ways to interact with each other. Over the past couple of years, an increasing number of apps have entered the market offering end-to-end…