Cybercrime

Question 1

Castells (1998) Global Criminal Economy;

Answer 1

refers to how internet has facilitated the creation of vast criminal networks, it is an amplification device that has transformed traditional and created new crime types

Question 2

Pease (2001) discusses

Answer 2

“empowered small agents” - any intelligent person with an internet connection can commit cybercrime

Question 3

legal rationalisation…

Answer 3

is the process by which the law updates/forms new laws to respond to modern cybercrimes e.g. possession of obscene electronic online images - not physical photos

Question 4

Cybercrime differs from terrestrial crimes…

Answer 4

time and space are distanciated (Giddens, 1990), there is a lack of social/legal/political recognition, offenders are more likely to be educated and economically privileged

Question 5

cybercrime offenders are most often…

Answer 5

educated males from economically privileged backgrounds

Question 6

defining cybercrime is inherently complex because…

Answer 6

it takes many different forms and blurs the boundary between reality and virtual worlds, plus there is little agreement between regulatory parties

Question 7

Wall (1988) describes 3 categories of cybercrime:

Answer 7

Facilitates existing criminal activity
New crimes recognised by existing laws
New ‘harms’ unrecognised by laws

Question 8

what is the problem with legal rationalisation and cybercrime?

Answer 8

is it a crime or a harm???
some laws such as hacking, are simple to adapt because of existing privacy laws, however the internet has created new crimes that have no existing terrestrial precedent.

Question 9

4 key issues for apprehending cybercriminals

Answer 9

offender and victim do not have to share the same spatial-temporal location - could be anyone/anywhere.
Jurisdiction - cybercrime laws are not universal and relative to the country - who regulates where/what?
Struggle to regulate policing, if O&V are in different countries, or countries with poor working relationships

Question 10

Wall (1990) his typology (4)

Answer 10

Cybertrespass, Cybertheft, Cyber obscenity and Cyberviolence

Question 11

Cyber trespass is…

Answer 11

Hacking, Planting of viruses, Manipulation of data, Espionage, Terrorism

Question 12

Cyber theft is…

Answer 12

Appropriation of Intellectual Property, Online Fraud
Romance Scams (Whitty 2013) Identity or credit card theft,

Question 13

Online Identity Theft is…

Answer 13

Duplication of digital information or the high-jacking of online accounts to commit fraud
Can use keystroke loggers

Question 14

Phishing is…

Answer 14

criminals pose as legit companies/banks

Question 15

Spear Phishing -

Answer 15

targeted profiling of victims based on desires for goods and services

Question 16

Pharming -

Answer 16

bypasses social engineering with software to automatically redirect webpages

Question 17

National Fraud Authority 2012: cost of Cybertheft to the UK economy every year is…

Answer 17

£1.2 billion per year

Question 18

In the UK between 2011-12, the number of phishing incidents rose by

Answer 18

130%

Question 19

Globally between 2012-13, phishing attacks rose by

Answer 19

87% (37 million attacks)

Question 20

Phishing incidents involve sites like…

Answer 20

banks, social media, google…

Question 21

Cyber Obscenity is…

Answer 21

sexual deviance, such as paedophile networks, illegal pornsites or those that exploit women or men sexually - cultural variance in what is acceptable (but never paedophilia)

Question 22

Cyber violence is…

Answer 22

Flaming/Trolling
Hate Speech
Stalking
‘Virtual Rape’ (Dibble 1993, Mackinnon 1997)

Question 23

online identity theft is now…

Answer 23

the #1 acquisitive crime in Europe

Question 24

In the UK, cybercrime prevalence is

Answer 24

growing! with up to 50% on corporations reporting some kind of unauthorised access (hacking) and 40% reporting malware infection

Question 25

BCS (2003) found that

Answer 25

75% anxious about credit card fraud
18% victims of virus attacks
2% victims of hacking
12% victims of email harassment
21% victims of obscenity related crimes

Question 26

risk of victimisation increases if users…

Answer 26

use public computers, regularly access chatrooms or auction sites

Question 27

victims can be ANYONE

Answer 27

individuals, governements, businesses, charities

Question 28

Offending Crime and Justice Survey (2003)

Answer 28

11% admitted to committing a technology crime
and 20% of males and 9% of females commit intellectual property theft - NOW MUCH HIGHER but not financially viable to prosecute everyone who downloads illegally

Question 29

Psychological harms of cyber harassment (stalking, hate speech, obscenity, theft ) include..

Answer 29

Anxiety, sleeplessness, concentration problems, avoidance, relationship breakdown

Question 30

Physical harms of cyber harassment include…

Answer 30

Online grooming, Cyber stalking, Hate crimes, cyber bullying and related violence
but are these just “virtual harms”?

Question 31

Detica/Cabinet Office says that cybercrime costs the UK economy…

Answer 31

£27 billion annually

transfer, anticipatory and reactive costs

Question 32

Cybercrime wastes £27 billion annually, what are the 3 kinds of costs involved?

Answer 32

Transfer costs (direct losses from online fraud from victim to fraudster and from legal to illegal economy)
Anticipatory costs:
defensive (e.g. virus & snooping software) and precautionary (e.g. avoiding ‘unsecure’ websites/services)
Reactive costs: criminal justice costs and civil costs

Question 33

Cybercrime is embedded within a dark figure

Answer 33

because it is inherently difficult to accurately measure, encompasses a broad spectrum of deviant behaviours and can happen without victims even knowing

Question 34

BCS 2003 included a cybercrime section for the first time but…

Answer 34

that data is now 12 years old and useless

Question 35

Routine Activities Theory (Cohen and Felson, 1979) adequately explains cybercrime…

Answer 35

supply of motivated offenders, with access to suitable targets in the absence of capable guardianship

Question 36

Deindividuation (Festinger, 1972) explains cyber harassement and trolling well …

Answer 36

Anonymity, Lack of public self awareness, Disinhibition

Question 37

Katz’ (1988) seductions of crime

Answer 37

criminals are thrill seeking and seduced by the entertainment that hacking and trolling can provide, or by the lucrative prospects of cybercrime (financial or status gain)

Question 38

Control theory Hirschi (1969)
Attachment
Commitent
Involvement
Belief

Answer 38

forming bonds with prosocial values, prosocial people, and prosocial institutions is how we learn to control our behaviour when we are tempted to engage in criminal or deviant acts.

Question 39

how much does the UK spend annually to protect our digital borders?

Answer 39

£800 million - more likely to attract the HQ’s of large corporations if our internet infrastructure is secure

Question 40

Thomas and Loader (2000) define Cybercrime as

Answer 40

“computer-mediated activities which are either illegal or considered illicit by certain parties and which can be conducted through global electronic networks”

Question 41

Governing bodies (such as the EU, UN, Interpol) refuse a set definition and argue it must be subjective so that…

Answer 41

each jurisdiction can apply its own definition based on existing laws