Extensive criminological research has investigated the effectiveness of law enforcement efforts to prevent offenders' reoffending and effect changes in criminal behavior patterns. However, no research has quantified the influence of gossip regarding law enforcement operations and its effect on repeat offending. Moreover, only scant research has studied these relationships in the cyber-environment. The current work addresses this gap by studying the effect of online messages sent to active hackers that describe law enforcement efforts against website defacement activity. In two field experiments, we randomly assigned self-identified hackers with active Facebook accounts into control and treatment groups. We then sent subjects in the treatment group a gossip message (via Facebook) alerting them to law enforcement efforts in cyberspace. Following the intervention, we compared the control and treatment groups in terms of changes in the proportion of reoffending, number of website defacements, and severity of website defacements. Findings reveal that when the gossip was sent to a hacker's private inbox, it prompted a reduction in the proportion of hackers who reoffend, the frequency at which they reoffend, and the severity of attacks they generate. However, posting similar gossip on the hacker's Facebook wall was ineffective in restricting malicious hacking activity. Theoretical implications and practical recommendations for law enforcement operations in cyberspace are discussed.

广泛的犯罪学研究调查了执法工作在防止罪犯再犯和改变犯罪行为模式方面的有效性。然而，没有研究量化八卦对执法行动的影响及其对重复犯罪的影响。此外，只有很少的研究研究了网络环境中的这些关系。当前的工作通过研究发送给活跃黑客的在线消息的影响来解决这一差距，这些消息描述了针对网站篡改活动的执法努力。在两个现场实验中，我们将拥有活跃 Facebook 帐户的自我识别黑客随机分配到对照组和处理组。然后，我们向治疗组中的受试者发送了一条八卦消息（通过 Facebook），提醒他们注意网络空间的执法工作。干预后，我们比较了对照组和治疗组的再犯罪比例、网站篡改次数和网站篡改严重程度的变化。调查结果显示，当八卦被发送到黑客的私人收件箱时，它促使黑客再次犯罪的比例、他们再次犯罪的频率以及他们产生的攻击的严重程度降低。然而，在黑客的 Facebook 墙上张贴类似的八卦对于限制恶意黑客活动是无效的。讨论了网络空间执法行动的理论意义和实践建议。调查结果显示，当八卦被发送到黑客的私人收件箱时，它促使黑客再次犯罪的比例、他们再次犯罪的频率以及他们产生的攻击的严重程度降低。然而，在黑客的 Facebook 墙上张贴类似的八卦对于限制恶意黑客活动是无效的。讨论了网络空间执法行动的理论意义和实践建议。调查结果显示，当八卦被发送到黑客的私人收件箱时，它促使黑客再次犯罪的比例、他们再次犯罪的频率以及他们产生的攻击的严重程度降低。然而，在黑客的 Facebook 墙上张贴类似的八卦对于限制恶意黑客活动是无效的。讨论了网络空间执法行动的理论意义和实践建议。