Ad-hoc Analytical Framework of Bitcoin Investigations for Law Enforcement

Hiroki KUZUNO; Giannis TZIAKOURIS

doi:10.1587/transinf.2017ICP0007

Ad-hoc Analytical Framework of Bitcoin Investigations for Law Enforcement

Hiroki KUZUNO, Giannis TZIAKOURIS

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Bitcoin is the leading cryptocurrency in the world with a total marketcap of nearly USD 33 billion, [1] with 370,000 transactions recorded daily[2]. Pseudo-anonymous, decentralized peer-to-peer electronic cash systems such as Bitcoin have caused a paradigm shift in the way that people conduct financial transactions and purchase goods. Although cryptocurrencies enable users to securely and anonymously exchange money, they can also facilitate illegal criminal activities. Therefore, it is imperative that law enforcement agencies develop appropriate analytical processes that will allow them to identify and investigate criminal activities in the Blockchain (a distributed ledger). In this paper, INTERPOL, through the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation, proposes a Bitcoin analytical framework and a software system that will assist law enforcement agencies in the real-time analysis of the Blockchain while providing digital crime analysts with tracing and visualization capabilities. By doing so, it is feasible to render transactions decipherable and comprehensible for law enforcement investigators and prosecutors. The proposed solution is evaluated against three criminal case studies linked to Darknet markets, ransomware and DDoS extortion.

Publication: IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Information Vol.E101-D No.11 pp.2644-2657

Publication Date: 2018/11/01

Publicized: 2018/08/22

Online ISSN: 1745-1361

DOI: 10.1587/transinf.2017ICP0007

Type of Manuscript: Special Section PAPER (Special Section on Information and Communication System Security)

Category: Forensics and Risk Analysis

Authors

Hiroki KUZUNO
SECOM Co., Ltd.,INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation
Giannis TZIAKOURIS
INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation

Keyword

digital forensics, cryptocurrency, investigation

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Hiroki KUZUNO, Giannis TZIAKOURIS, "Ad-hoc Analytical Framework of Bitcoin Investigations for Law Enforcement" in IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Information, vol. E101-D, no. 11, pp. 2644-2657, November 2018, doi: 10.1587/transinf.2017ICP0007.
Abstract: Bitcoin is the leading cryptocurrency in the world with a total marketcap of nearly USD 33 billion, [1] with 370,000 transactions recorded daily[2]. Pseudo-anonymous, decentralized peer-to-peer electronic cash systems such as Bitcoin have caused a paradigm shift in the way that people conduct financial transactions and purchase goods. Although cryptocurrencies enable users to securely and anonymously exchange money, they can also facilitate illegal criminal activities. Therefore, it is imperative that law enforcement agencies develop appropriate analytical processes that will allow them to identify and investigate criminal activities in the Blockchain (a distributed ledger). In this paper, INTERPOL, through the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation, proposes a Bitcoin analytical framework and a software system that will assist law enforcement agencies in the real-time analysis of the Blockchain while providing digital crime analysts with tracing and visualization capabilities. By doing so, it is feasible to render transactions decipherable and comprehensible for law enforcement investigators and prosecutors. The proposed solution is evaluated against three criminal case studies linked to Darknet markets, ransomware and DDoS extortion.
URL: https://global.ieice.org/en_transactions/information/10.1587/transinf.2017ICP0007/_p

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@ARTICLE{e101-d_11_2644,
author={Hiroki KUZUNO, Giannis TZIAKOURIS, },
journal={IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Information},
title={Ad-hoc Analytical Framework of Bitcoin Investigations for Law Enforcement},
year={2018},
volume={E101-D},
number={11},
pages={2644-2657},
abstract={Bitcoin is the leading cryptocurrency in the world with a total marketcap of nearly USD 33 billion, [1] with 370,000 transactions recorded daily[2]. Pseudo-anonymous, decentralized peer-to-peer electronic cash systems such as Bitcoin have caused a paradigm shift in the way that people conduct financial transactions and purchase goods. Although cryptocurrencies enable users to securely and anonymously exchange money, they can also facilitate illegal criminal activities. Therefore, it is imperative that law enforcement agencies develop appropriate analytical processes that will allow them to identify and investigate criminal activities in the Blockchain (a distributed ledger). In this paper, INTERPOL, through the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation, proposes a Bitcoin analytical framework and a software system that will assist law enforcement agencies in the real-time analysis of the Blockchain while providing digital crime analysts with tracing and visualization capabilities. By doing so, it is feasible to render transactions decipherable and comprehensible for law enforcement investigators and prosecutors. The proposed solution is evaluated against three criminal case studies linked to Darknet markets, ransomware and DDoS extortion.},
keywords={},
doi={10.1587/transinf.2017ICP0007},
ISSN={1745-1361},
month={November},}

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TY - JOUR
TI - Ad-hoc Analytical Framework of Bitcoin Investigations for Law Enforcement
T2 - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Information
SP - 2644
EP - 2657
AU - Hiroki KUZUNO
AU - Giannis TZIAKOURIS
PY - 2018
DO - 10.1587/transinf.2017ICP0007
JO - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Information
SN - 1745-1361
VL - E101-D
IS - 11
JA - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Information
Y1 - November 2018
AB - Bitcoin is the leading cryptocurrency in the world with a total marketcap of nearly USD 33 billion, [1] with 370,000 transactions recorded daily[2]. Pseudo-anonymous, decentralized peer-to-peer electronic cash systems such as Bitcoin have caused a paradigm shift in the way that people conduct financial transactions and purchase goods. Although cryptocurrencies enable users to securely and anonymously exchange money, they can also facilitate illegal criminal activities. Therefore, it is imperative that law enforcement agencies develop appropriate analytical processes that will allow them to identify and investigate criminal activities in the Blockchain (a distributed ledger). In this paper, INTERPOL, through the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation, proposes a Bitcoin analytical framework and a software system that will assist law enforcement agencies in the real-time analysis of the Blockchain while providing digital crime analysts with tracing and visualization capabilities. By doing so, it is feasible to render transactions decipherable and comprehensible for law enforcement investigators and prosecutors. The proposed solution is evaluated against three criminal case studies linked to Darknet markets, ransomware and DDoS extortion.
ER -