Dr. Richard Frank

Richard Frank is a Professor in the School of Criminology at 丁香园AV (丁香园AV), Canada and Director of the International CyberCrime Research Centre (ICCRC). Richard completed a PhD in Computing Science (2010) and another PhD in Criminology (2013) at 丁香园AV. His main research interest is Cybercrime. Specifically, he's interested in researching hackers and security issues, the dark web, online terrorism and warfare, eLaundering and cryptocurrencies, and online child exploitation. He is the creator of The Dark Crawler, a tool for collecting and analyzing data from the open Internet, dark web, and online discussion forums. Through this tool the ICCRC has collected ~150 million posts from various right-wing, left-wing, gender-based and religiously-motivated extremist communities, leading to a number of projects and publications.

Dr. Frank has publications in top-level data mining outlets, such as in Knowledge Discovery in Databases, and security conferences such as Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI). His research can also be found in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, to name a few.

Contact Information:
Email: rfrank@sfu.ca
Phone: +1 (778) 782-4158

Additional Information:

Relevant Publications:

Davies, G., Scrivens, R., Gaudette, T., & Frank, R. (In Press). A Longitudinal Comparison of Violent and Non-Violent Right-Wing Extremist Identities Online. In B. Perry, J. Gruenewald, & R. Scrivens (Eds.), Right-Wing Extremism in Canada and the United States. Palgrave.

Gaudette, T., Scrivens, R., Davies, G., & Frank R. (2021). Upvoting Extremism: Collective Identity Formation and the Extreme Right on Reddit. .

Singh, M. M., Frank, R., & Zainon, W. M. N. W. (2021). Cyber-Criminology Defense in Pervasive Environment: A Study of Cybercrimes in Malaysia. .

McIntyre, D. L., & Frank, R. (2021). No Gambles with Information Security: The Psychology of a Ransomware Attack. In M. Weulen Kranenbarg & R. Leukfeldt (Eds.), . Springer.

Scrivens, R., Chermak, S. M., Freilich, J. D., Wojciechowski, T. W., & Frank, R. (2021). Detecting Extremists Online: Examining Online Posting Behaviors of Violent and Non-Violent Right-Wing Extremists. .

Davies, G., Wu, E., & Frank, R. (2021). A Witch鈥檚 Brew of Grievances: The Potential Effects of COVID-19 on Radicalization to Violent Extremism. .

Scrivens, R., Osuna, A. I., Chermak, S. M., Whitney, M. A., & Frank, R. (2021). Examining Online Indicators of Extremism in Violent Right-Wing Extremist Forums. .

Scrivens, R., Burruss, G. W., Holt, T. J., Chermak, S. M., Freilich, J. D., & Frank, R. (2021). Triggered by Defeat or Victory? Assessing the Impact of Presidential Election Results on Extreme Right-Wing Mobilization Online. .

Champion, A., & Frank, R. (2021). Exploring the 鈥淩adicalization Pipeline鈥� on YouTube. In R. Corrado, G. W枚ssner, & A. Merari (Eds.), . IOS Press.

Scrivens, R., Wojciechowski, T. W., Freilich, J. D., Chermak, S. M., & Frank, R. (2021). Comparing the Online Posting Behaviors of Violent and Non-Violent Right-Wing Extremists. .

Leung, C., & Frank, R., (2020). Unity Starts with U: A Case Study of a Counter-Hate Campaign Through the Use of Social Media Platforms. .

Scrivens, R., Wojciechowski, T. W., & Frank, R. (2020). Examining the Developmental Pathways of Online Posting Behavior in Violent Right-Wing Extremist Forums. .

Frank, R., & Mikhaylov, A. (2020). Beyond the 鈥楽ilk Road鈥�: Assessing Illicit Drug Marketplaces on the Public Web. In M. A. Tayebi, U. Gl盲sser, & D. B. Skillicorn (Eds.), . Springer.

Scrivens, R., Davies, G., & Frank, R. (2020). Measuring the Evolution of Radical Right-Wing Posting Behaviors Online. .

Bouchard, M., Davies, G., Frank, R., Wu, E., & Joffres, K. (2020). The Social Structure of Extremist Websites. In J. Littlewood, L. Dawson, & S. Thompson (Eds.), . University of Toronto Press.

Smith, R., & Frank, R. (2020). Dishing the Deets: How Dark-Web Users Teach Each Other About International Drug Shipments. In .
*Won Best Paper at HICSS 2020

Cartwright, B., Weir, G., Nahar, L., Padda, K., & Frank, R. (2019). The Weaponization of Cloud-Based Social Media: Prospects for Legislation and Regulation. In .

Scrivens, R., Gaudette, T., Davies, G., & Frank, R. (2019). Searching for Extremist Content Online Using The Dark Crawler and Sentiment Analysis. In M. Deflem & D. Silva (Eds.), . Emerald Publishing.

Cartwright, B., Weir, G., & Frank, R. (2019). Cyberterrorism in the Cloud. In L. Chen, H. Takabi, & N-A. Le-Khac (Eds.), (pp. 217-236). John Wiley & Sons.

Macnair, L., & Frank, R. (2018). Changes and Stabilities in the Language of Islamic State Magazines: A Sentiment Analysis. .

Monk, B., Mitchell, J., Frank, R., & Davies, G. (2018). Uncovering Tor: An Examination of the Network Structure. .

Mikhaylov, A., & Frank, R. (2018). Illicit Payments for Illicit Goods: Noncontact Drug Distribution on Russian Online Drug Marketplaces. .

Macnair, L., & Frank, R. (2018). The Mediums and the Messages: Exploring the Language of Islamic State Media through Sentiment Analysis. .

Scrivens, R., Davies, G., & Frank, R. (2018). Searching for Signs of Extremism on the Web: An Introduction to Sentiment-based Identification of Radical Authors. .

Macdonald, M., & Frank, R. (2017). Shuffle Up and Deal: Use of a Capture-Recapture Method to Estimate the Size of Stolen Data Markets. .

Macnair, L., & Frank, R. (2017). Voices Against Extremism: A Case Study of a Community-Based CVE Counter-Narrative Campaign. , 10, 23-50.

Macnair, L., & Frank, R. (2017). "To My Brothers in the West...": A Thematic Analysis of Videos Produced by the Islamic State鈥檚 al-Hayat Media Center. .

Zulkarnine, A., Frank, R., Monk, B., Mitchell, J., & Davies, G. (Forthcoming, 2016). Surfacing Collaborated Networks in Dark Web to Find Illicit and Criminal Content. In .

Mikhaylov, A., & Frank, R. (2016). Cards, Money and Two Hacking Forums: An Analysis of Online Money Laundering Schemes. In .

Frank, R., Macdonald, M., & Monk, B. (2016). Location, Location, Location: Mapping Potential Canadian Targets in Online Hacker Discussion Forums. In .

Scrivens, R., & Frank, R. (2016). Sentiment-based Classification of Radical Text on the Web. In .

Macdonald, M., & Frank, R. (2016). The Network Structure of Malware Development, Deployment and Distribution. .

Wong, M., Frank, R., & Allsup, R. (2015). The Supremacy of Online White Supremacists 鈥� An Analysis of Online Discussions of White Supremacists. , 24(1), 41-73.

Westlake, B., Bouchard, M., & Frank, R. (2015). Assessing the Validity of Automated Webcrawlers as Data Collection Tools to Investigate Online Child Sexual Exploitation. , 1-24.

Scrivens, R., Davies, G., Frank, R., & Mei, J. (2015). Sentiment-based Identification of Radical Authors (SIRA). In .

Mei, J., & Frank, R. (2015). Sentiment Crawling: Extremist Content Collection through a Sentiment Analysis Guided Web-Crawler. In .

Macdonald, M., Frank, R., Mei, J., & Monk, B. (2015). Identifying Digital Threats in a Hacker Web Forum. In .
*Won Best Paper at the 2015 FOSINT conference

Allsup, R., Thomas, E., Monk, B., Frank, R., & Bouchard, M. (2015). Networking in Child Exploitation 鈥� Assessing Disruption Strategies Using Registrant Information. In .

Monk, B., Allsup, R., & Frank, R. (2015). LECENing Places to Hide: Geo-Mapping Child Exploitation Material. In .
*Nominated for Best Paper at the 2015 ISI conference

Frank, R., Bouchard, M., Davies, G., & Mei, J. (2015). Spreading the Message Digitally: A Look into Extremist Organizations鈥� use of the Internet. In R. G. Smith, R.C.-C. Cheung and L.Y.-C. Lau (Eds.) . Palgrave.

Davies, G., Bouchard, M., Wu, E., Joffres, K., & Frank, R. (2015). Terrorist and Extremist Organizations鈥� use of the Internet for Recruitment. In M. Bouchard (Ed.) (pp. 105-127). Routledge.

Davies, G., Bouchard, M., Wu, E., Joffres, K., & Frank, R. (2014). Terrorist and Extremist Organizations鈥� use of the Internet for Recruitment. Public Safety Canada.

Westlake, B., Bouchard, M., & Frank, R. (2012). Comparing Methods for Detecting Child Exploitation Content Online. In Proceedings of the 2012 European Intelligence and Security Informatics Conference (EISIC).

Westlake, B., Bouchard, M., & Frank, R. (2011). Finding the Key Players in Online Child Exploitation Networks. Policy & Internet, 3(2), 1-32.

Frank, R., Cheng, C., & Pun, V. (2011). Social Media Sites: New Fora for Criminal, Communication and Investigation Opportunities. Public Safety Canada, RDIMS 434480.

Joffres, K., Bouchard, M., Frank, R., & Westlake, B. (2011). Strategies to Disrupt Online Child exploitation Networks. In Proceedings of the 2011 European Intelligence and Security Informatics Conference (EISIC).
*Won the Honorable Mention Award for Best Paper at the 2011 EISIC conference

Frank, R., Westlake, B., & Bouchard, M. (2010). The Structure and Content of Online Child Exploitation Networks. In Proceedings of the 16th ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD).

Relevant Presentations:

Frank, F., & Westlake, B. (2011, May). Determining Key Players in Online Child Exploitation Networks. Presented at , Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (Criminology).