SUAGM Technology And Cybercrime Implications On Society Discussion

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Explain how technology has affected human behavior . Identify the difference between digital natives and digital immigrants . Discuss the three ways in which technology can be abused by individuals . Recognize a subculture and its role in offending behaviors . Identify the differences between cyber deviance, cybercrime, and cyberterror . Understand how computers and technology produce digital evidence and its value in a criminal investigation. Explain the factors that make cybercrimes attractive to certain people. • Explore the various forms of cybercrime that occur across the worldDefinition of these words according to the booktechnicwayscomputer-mediated communicationsdigital nativesdigital immigrantsDark WebThe Onion RouterTOR serviceSilk RoadbitcoinsDread Pirate Robertssubculturesweb defacementdeviancecyberdeviancecybercrimecomputer crimecyber terrorismanonymousspamproxy serverincidentaldigital evidencecyber trespasscyber-deceptiontheftphishingcyber-porncyber-violenceflash mobsdistributed denial-of-serviceChapter
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TECHNOLOGY
AND
CYBERCRIME
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Technology and cybercrime
Chapter goals
•
•
•
•
•
Explain how technology has affected human behavior.
Identify the difference between digital natives and digital immigrants.
Discuss the three ways in which technology can be abused by individuals.
Recognize a subculture and their role in offending behaviors.
Identify the differences between cyberdeviance, cybercrime, and
cyberterror.
• Understand how computers and technology produce digital evidence
and its value in criminal investigation.
• Explain the factors that make cybercrimes attractive to certain people.
• Explore the various forms of cybercrime that occur across the world.
Introduction
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The Internet, computers, and mobile technologies have dramatically reshaped
modern society. Although it is difficult to comprehend, less than two decades
ago most individuals did not own a cell phone and personal computers were still
somewhat expensive pieces of equipment. Individuals could not text and email
was uncommon. Internet connectivity was possible through dial-up modems
or Ethernet cabling and people paid by the hour for access to the Web. Video
game systems used 16-bit graphics and did not connect to other devices. Global
Positioning Systems (GPS) were largely used in military applications only.
Today, most of the world now depends on computers, the Internet, and
cellular technology. Individuals now own laptops that are connected via Wi-Fi,
cell phones that may also connect to the Internet, and one or more video
game systems that may be networked. In addition, people have multiple email
accounts for personal and business use, as well as social networking profiles in
multiple platforms. Cell phones have become a preferred method of communication for most people, especially text messages. In fact, individuals under the
age of 20 regularly send more texts than any other age group, and prefer to send
texts rather than make phone calls (Zickuhr, 2011). Individuals also frequently
purchase goods online and are increasingly using e-readers for books and newspapers rather than traditional print media.
It is amazing to consider that the world and human behavior have changed
so quickly through the use of technology. In fact, there are now 3.4 billion
Internet users worldwide, comprising 46.1 percent of the world’s population
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Technology and cybercrime
(Internet Live Stats, 2016). China and India have the largest population of Internet users, though only 55 percent and 34 percent of their total populations have
access (Internet Live Stats, 2016). The USA, Brazil, and Japan have the next
largest populations, though a much greater proportion of their populations have
access (88.5%, 66.4%, and 91.1% respectively: Internet Live Stats, 2016).
The proliferation of technology has led to distinct changes in how individuals engage with the world around them. People now shop, communicate, and
share information in digital formats, which was previously impossible. Additional
changes in behavior are likely to continue in the face of technological innovations
as they are developed and implemented. In fact, the sociologist Howard Odum
referred to this process as technicways, recognizing the ways in which behavior
patterns change in response to, or as consequence of, technological innovations
(Odum, 1937; Parker, 1943; Vance, 1972). From Odum’s perspective, technicways replace existing behavior patterns and force institutional changes in society
(Vance, 1972). For instance, if an individual 30 years ago wanted to communicate with other people, he/she might call them, see them in person if possible, or
more likely send a letter through postal mail. Now, however, that person would
send a text, write an email, instant message, or poke them through Facebook
rather than write a letter through “snail mail.”
The impacts of technicways are evident across all demographic groups in
modern society. For instance, 77 percent of Americans owned a smart phone
as of 2016, with substantial access among younger populations: 92 percent
of 18- to 29-year-olds have one (Smith, 2017). In addition, there are over
1 billion mobile phone subscribers each in China and India (Rai, 2016).
Importantly, China has over 500 million smartphone users, while India has
only 125 million. As these rates continue to increase Internet use will change,
transforming social and economic interactions in unique ways from country
to country (Rai, 2016).
This is evident in the fact that many people around the world use social
media as a means to connect and engage with others in different ways. For
instance, 79 percent of American adults use Facebook, though there has been
a substantial increase in the use of Instagram and LinkedIn as a means to communicate (Greenwood, Perrin, and Duggan, 2016). Adults aged 65 and older
are joining these sites at the highest rates compared to other age groups. In
addition, Americans appear to use the Facebook messenger app more than any
other product available (Schwartz, 2016). WhatsApp is much more popular in
a global context, and is the number one messaging application across much of
South America, Western Europe, Africa, and Asia. Viber, however, is much
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Technology and cybercrime
more popular across Eastern Europe, particularly Belarus, Ukraine, and other
nations in the region (Schwartz, 2016).
Despite regional variations in use, technology has had a massive impact on
youth populations who have never experienced life without the Internet and
computer-mediated communications (CMCs) like email and texting.
Today, youth in the USA acquire their first cell phones when they are between
the ages of 12 and 13 (Lenhart, 2010). Similar use patterns are evident across
the globe, with children in the UK receiving a phone by an average age of 11
(Gibbs, 2013), and 12 in a study of Japan, India, Indonesia, Egypt, and Chile
(GSM Association, 2012).
For more information on statistics of social media and technology
use, go online to:
1 www.pewinternet.org/
2 www.huffingtonpost.com/april-rudin/life-on-a-social-media-is_b_
4600429.html
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Technology has not simply shifted the behaviors of youth, but has actually
shaped and molded their behavior and worldview from the start. Most people
born in the mid- to late 1980s have never lived without computers, the Internet, or cell phones. As a consequence, they do not know a world without these
devices and what life was like without these resources. Thus, Prensky (2001)
argued that these youth are digital natives, in that they were brought into a
world that was already digital, spend large amounts of time in digital environments, and use technological resources in their day-to-day lives. For instance,
individuals between the ages of 18 and 34 are the most heavy Internet users
worldwide (Statistica, 2015). Virtually everyone (96%) aged 16 to 24 in the UK
accesses the Internet on a mobile device (Office for National Statistics, 2015).
Young people are also more likely to use auto-delete messaging applications
like Snapchat, comprising 56 percent of Internet users in a recent US study
(Greenwood et al., 2016). In fact, youth in India and Indonesia send an average
of 51 text or application-based messages a day via a mobile device (GSM Association, 2012).
By contrast, digital immigrants are those who were born prior to the creation of the Internet and digital technologies (Prenksy, 2001). These individuals
quite often need to adapt to the digital environment, which changes much more
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Technology and cybercrime
rapidly than they may be prepared for otherwise. This is especially true for many
older individuals who were born decades before the creation and advent of
these technologies. As a consequence, they may be less willing to immediately
adopt these resources or use them in diverse ways. For instance, only 45 percent
of adults in the USA over the age of 65 own either a laptop or desktop computer (Zickuhr, 2011). In addition, some resources may be more difficult for
digital immigrants to understand because of the technologies employed or their
perceived utility. For example, only 9 percent of US adults aged 50 and older
were likely to use an app like Snapchat, and less than 1 percent accessed services
like YikYak (Greenwood et al., 2016). Similarly, only 29 percent of people aged
65 years and older in the UK used the Internet on a mobile device (Office for
National Statistics, 2015). Thus, digital immigrants have a very different pattern
of adoption and use of technologies relative to digital natives.
The proliferation of technology in modern society has had a massive impact
on human behavior. The world is being restructured around the use of CMCs,
affecting the way in which we interact with governments, businesses, and one
another. In addition, technology use is also creating a divide between generations based on the way in which individuals use technology in their day-to-day
lives. In turn, individuals are adapting their behavior in ways that subvert the
original beneficial design and application of computers and the Internet.
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Technology as a landscape for crime
The continuing evolution of human behavior as a result of technological innovations has created unparalleled opportunities for crime and misuse. Over the
past three decades, there has been a substantive increase in the use of technology
by street criminals and novel applications of technology to create new forms
of crime that did not previously exist. The World Wide Web and the Internet also provide a venue for individuals who engage in crime and deviance to
communicate and share information, which is not otherwise possible in the real
world. As a result, it is vital that we begin to understand how these changes are
occurring, and what this means for offending in the twenty-first century. There
are three key ways in which computer and cellular technologies may be abused
or subverted by offenders:
1 as a medium for communication and the development of subcultures online;
2 as a mechanism to target sensitive resources and engage in crime and deviance;
3 as an incidental device to facilitate the offense and provide evidence of criminal activity both online and offline.
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Technology and cybercrime
Technology as a communications medium
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The Internet, telephony, and digital media may be used as a means for communication between individuals in a rapid and decentralized fashion across the
globe. Computers, cell phones, and technological equipment may be obtained
at minimal cost and used with a high degree of anonymity. For instance, major
retailers and convenience stores sell phones that may be used without a contract
through a carrier like Sprint or Verizon. The ability to use the phone depends
on the number of minutes purchased and it can be disposed of after use.
In turn, criminals can use these devices to connect with others and share
information that may be of interest. For example, the customers of prostitutes
use web forums and chatrooms to discuss where sex workers are located, services
provided, pricing, and the police presence in a given area (Holt and Blevins,
2007; Holt, Blevins, and Kuhns, 2008; Sharp and Earle, 2003). This exchange
of first-hand information is difficult to conduct in the real world, as there are
no outward signs to otherwise suggest that someone is interested in or has visited a prostitute. In addition, there is a high degree of social stigma and shame
surrounding paying for sex, so it is unlikely that someone would admit this
behavior to another person in public (McKeganey and Barnard, 1996; O’Connell
Davidson, 1998). The faceless, anonymous nature of the Internet, however,
allows people to talk about such actions with little risk of harm or reprisal.
The sale of illicit narcotics like cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamines
has also moved online with the development of markets where individuals buy
and sell narcotics through various methods. The primary resources used by sellers and buyers are forums operating on the so-called Dark Web, which is
a portion of the Internet that can only be accessed via the use of specialized
encryption software and browser protocols. Individuals can only access these
forums through the use of The Onion Router, or TOR service, which is a
free proxy and encryption protocol that hides the IP address and location details
of the user (Barratt, Ferris, and Winstock, 2014; Dolliver, 2015). In addition,
the content of these sites cannot be indexed by google or other search engines.
As a result, this technology limits the ability of law enforcement agencies to
eliminate illicit content because the hosting source cannot be identified through
traditional means (Dolliver, 2015; Estes, 2014).
For more information on TOR, including how it operates, go
online to: www.torproject.org/about/overview.html.en.
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Technology and cybercrime
One of the first Tor-based narcotics markets that gained prominence was
called the Silk Road. The market gained attention from researchers and the
popular media due to the nature of the products sold, and the fact that transactions were paid using bitcoins, a relatively anonymous form of electronic
currency (Franklin, 2013). The site was created to enable individuals to buy
various materials ranging from computer equipment to clothing, though sellers
offered various narcotics from locations across the globe. In fact, its name was
a reference to the trade routes used to transport goods between Europe, India,
and Asia throughout history (Franklin, 2013).
As the Silk Road gained prominence as a venue for the sale of various
narcotics, law enforcement agencies in both the USA and Australia conducted
sting operations against buyers. In fact, since it opened in 2011 the Silk Road
enabled over one million transactions worth an estimated $1.2 billion in revenue (Barratt, 2012). An FBI investigation into the site administrator, who
used the handle Dread Pirate Roberts, led to the arrest of Ross William
Ulbricht in San Francisco, California on October 2, 2013 (Gibbs, 2013).
Ulbricht was charged with drug trafficking, soliciting murder, enabling computer hacking and money laundering, and had several million dollars’ worth
of bitcoins seized.
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For more information on the arrest of Dread Pirate Roberts, go
online to: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/how-the-fedstook-down-the-dread-pirate-roberts/.
The Silk Road demonstrates that the distributed nature of the Internet and
CMCs enables individuals to connect to other people and groups that share
similar likes, dislikes, behaviors, opinions, and values. As a result, technology
facilitates the creation of subcultures between individuals based on common
behaviors and ideals regardless of geographic or social isolation. From a sociological and criminological perspective, subcultures are groups that have their
own values, norms, traditions, and rituals which set them apart from the dominant culture (Kornblum, 1997; Brake, 1980).
Participants in subcultures generate their own codes of conduct to structure
the ways in which they interact with other members of the subculture and
different groups in society (Foster, 1990). In addition, membership in a subculture influences individual behavior by providing beliefs, goals, and values
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Technology and cybercrime
that approve of and justify activity (Herbert, 1998). For instance, a subculture
may emphasize the development of skills and abilities that may find less value in
the general culture, like an ability to use multiple programming languages and
manipulate hardware and software among computer hackers (Holt, 2007; Jordan and Taylor, 1998; Taylor, 1999). Members of a subculture also have their
own argot or slang to communicate with others and protect their discussions
from outsiders (Maurer, 1981). The use of this language can serve as a practical demonstration of membership in any subculture. Thus, subcultures provide
members with a way to gauge their reputation, status, and adherence to the
values and beliefs of the group.
There are myriad subcultures in modern society, many involving both
online and offline experiences. However, not all subcultures are deviant, and
you can also be a member of several subcultures at once. For instance, you
may belong to a subculture of sports team fans (whether football, basketball,
or any athletics) if you: (1) enjoy watching their games, (2) know the statistics
for your favorite players, (3) know the historic events in your team’s previous
seasons, and (4) you debate with others over who may be the best players in
certain positions. Similar subcultures exist for gardening, fashion, cars, movies,
and other behaviors. Finding others who share your interests can be beneficial,
as it allows for social connectivity and a way to channel your interests in positive ways.
Copyright © 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
For examples of various subcultures with a heavy online presence,
go online to: http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/Entertainment/
subcultures-strong-online-presence/story?id=18511594#1.
In much the same way, subcultures can emerge on and offline for those with
an interest in certain forms of crime and deviance (Quinn and Forsyth, 2005).
Technology allows individuals to connect to others without fear of reprisal or
social rejection, and even enables individuals who are curious about a behavior
or activity to learn more in an online environment without fear of detection
(Blevins and Holt, 2009; Holt, 2007; Quinn and Forsyth, 2005). New technologies also enable the formation of and participation in multiple subcultures with
greater ease than is otherwise possible offline. In fact, individuals can readily
communicate subcultural knowledge through email and other CMCs, such as
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Technology and cybercrime
techniques of offending, which may reduce their risk of detection from victims
and law enforcement (Holt et al., 2008; Holt and Copes, 2010). Because of the
prominence of technology as a means to communicate with others, this book
will focus extensively on the role of online subcultures to facilitate crime and
deviance in virtual and real-world environments.
For more information on the current state of online subcultures,
go online to: www.highsnobiety.com/2015/03/11/internet-subcultureshealth-goth-seapunk/.
Copyright © 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
Technology as a target of or means
to engage in crime
The second way in which technology can be misused is much more insidious –
as a resource for individuals to attack and to cause harm to individuals,
businesses, and governments both online and offline. Many devices in our daily
lives have the capability to connect to the Internet, from mp3 players to desktop
computers. These technologies contain sensitive pieces of information, ranging from our shopping habits to usernames and passwords for bank and email
accounts. Since these devices can communicate with one another, individuals
can potentially gain access to this information through various methods of computer hacking (see Chapter 3 for more details).
While hacking is often thought to involve highly skilled individuals with a
significant understanding of technology, the simple act of guessing someone’s
email or computer password could be defined as a hack (Bossler and Burruss,
2011; Skinner and Fream, 1997). Gaining unauthorized access to personal
information online is often key to definitions of hacking, as an individual is
attempting to gain entry into protected systems or data (see Schell and Dodge,
2002; Wall, 2001). In turn, that information, such as who a person talks to
or which financial institution they choose for banking purposes, can be used
to cause additional harm. In fact, research on college students suggests that
between 10 and 25 percent of undergraduates have tried to guess someone
else’s password (Holt, Burruss, and Bossler 2010; Rogers, Smoak, and Liu,
2006; Skinner and Fream, 1997). Thus, the information that can be assembled
about our activities online may be compromised and used by others to cause
financial or emotional harm.
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Technology and cybercrime
For more information on creating passwords, go online to: http://
passwordsgenerator.net/.
Copyright © 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
Similarly, some hackers target websites and resources in order to cause harm
or to express a political or ideological message. Often, the hacker and activist
community use web defacement in order to spread a message and cause harm
at the same time (Brenner, 2008; Denning, 2001, 2011; Kilger, 2011). Web
defacements are an act of online vandalism wherein an individual replaces the
existing HTML code for a web page with an image and message that they create. For example, a person may try to deface the website for the White House
(www.whitehouse.gov) and replace the content with a message that they want
others to see. Although this is an inconvenience and embarrassment to the site
owner, it may be more malicious if the defacer chooses to delete the original
content entirely.
Defacements have become a regular tool for politically motivated hackers and actors to express their opinions, and have been used around many
hot-button social events. For instance, the Turkish hacker community began
a widespread campaign of web defacements following the publication of a cartoon featuring an image of the prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban
(Holt, 2009; Ward, 2006). Many Muslims were deeply offended by this image,
and Turkish hackers began to deface websites owned by the Danish newspaper which published the cartoon, along with any other site that reposted the
image. The defacements were conducted in support of the Islamic religion
and to express outrage over the way in which their faith was being portrayed
in the popular media (Holt, 2009; Ward, 2006). Thus, motivated actors who
want to cause harm or express an opinion may view various resources online
as a target.
For more on web defacements and images of such content, go
online to: www.zone-h.org.
Defining computer misuse and abuse
Since technology may be used both as a communications medium and a target
for attacks against digital targets and infrastructure, it is vital to delineate what
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Technology and cybercrime
constitutes the abuse and misuse of technology. For instance, the term deviance is used to refer to a behavior that may not be illegal, though it is outside
of the formal and informal norms or beliefs of the prevailing culture. There are
many forms of deviance, depending on societal norms and societal contexts. For
instance, texting and using Facebook while in class may not be illegal, but it is
disruptive and generally frowned upon by faculty and administrators. The same
is true in movie theaters and other public settings. Therefore, texting and using
Facebook could be viewed as deviant in the context of certain situations and
locations, but may not be illegal otherwise. The fact that this activity is engendered by technology may allow it to be referred to as cyberdeviance.
A more pertinent example of cyberdeviance is evident in the creation and
use of pornography. The Internet has made it exceedingly easy for individuals
to view pornographic images and videos, as well as to make these materials
through the use of webcams, cell phone cameras, and digital photography. It is
legal for anyone over the age of 18 to either access pornographic images or star
in these films and media. If the larger community shares the view that pornography is morally wrong, then viewing these materials may be considered deviant
in that area. Therefore, it is not illegal to engage in this activity; rather it simply
violates local norms and belief systems, making it a deviant behavior.
Activities that violate codified legal statutes move from deviance to criminal
acts. In the context of pornography, if an individual is under the age of 18 in the
USA, they are not legally allowed to either create or view pornographic images.
Therefore, such an act is considered a crime because it carries legal sanctions.
The criminal statutes in the USA at both the state and federal level recognize a
variety of offenses in the real world.
The rapid adoption and use of technology in order to facilitate criminal
activity, however, have led to the creation of several terms in order to properly
classify these behaviors. Specifically, cybercrime and computer crime emerged a
few decades ago to refer to the unique way in which technology is used to facilitate criminal activity. Cybercrime refers to crimes “in which the perpetrator
uses special knowledge of cyberspace,” while computer crimes occur because
“the perpetrator uses special knowledge about computer technology” (Furnell,
2002: 21; Wall, 2001). In the early days of computing, the difference between
these terms was useful to clarify how technology was incorporated into the
offense. The fact that almost every computer is now connected to the Internet
in some way has diminished the need to segment these two acts (Wall, 2007).
In addition, they have become virtually synonymous in both academic circles
and popular media. As a result, this book will use the term “cybercrime” due
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Technology and cybercrime
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to the range of crimes that can occur through the use of online environments
and the massive number of computers and mobile devices that are connected
to the Internet.
The borderless nature of the Internet complicates the criminal justice response
to crime and deviance, since the ways in which nations define an act do not
generally hinder individuals from accessing content. Using the example of pornography, it is legal to produce and access this content in the USA and in most
other parts of the globe. Islamic majority nations like Iran and Saudi Arabia,
however, have banned and made it illegal to access pornography due to their
religious beliefs (Wall, 2001, 2007). Other countries like Sweden, however,
place minimal restrictions on the production of pornographic content, including images of animals or “bestiality.” Although it is illegal to create or view this
content in the USA and in most other nations, individuals can access bestiality,
violent, or unusual pornographic material from across the globe, regardless of
their nation’s laws, due to the connectivity afforded by the Internet (Brenner,
2008; Wall, 2007). Thus, it is difficult to restrict or enforce local laws on individual conduct because of the ability to access content globally.
The intersection of cybercrime and cyberdeviance is also related to the
emerging problem of cyberterrorism (see Figure 1.1 for details). This term
emerged in the mid-1990s as technology began to play an increasingly significant role in all aspects of society (Denning, 2001; Britz, 2010). There is no single
accepted definition of cyberterrorism, though many recognize this behavior
as the use of digital technology or computer-mediated communications to
CYBERCRIME
Fig. 1.1 Venn
diagram of
cybercrime,
cyberterrorism,
and
cyberdeviance
CYBERDEVIANCE
CYBERTERRORISM
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Technology and cybercrime
cause harm and force social change based on ideological or political beliefs
(Brenner, 2008; Britz, 2010). Although there are few known incidents of
cyberterrorism that have occurred over the past two decades, the ubiquity of
technology could allow extremist groups like Al Qaeda to target military systems containing sensitive information, financial service systems that engender
commerce, power grids, switching stations, and other critical infrastructure
necessary to maintain basic services. Criminals may also attack these targets
using similar tactics, making it difficult to separate acts of cyberterror from
cybercrime (Brenner, 2008).
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For more information on the technologies supporting power
grids, go online to: www.tofinosecurity.com/blog/scada-cyber-securityinternational-issue.
In order to classify these phenomena, it is necessary to consider both the
motive of the attacker and the scope of harm caused. For instance, criminal
acts often target single individuals and may be motivated by economic or other
objectives, whereas terrorist attacks are often driven by a political motive and
are designed to not only hurt or kill innocents but also to strike fear into the
larger population (Brenner, 2008; Britz, 2010). In addition, the communications
capability afforded by the Internet creates an interesting intersection between
cyberdeviance and cyberterror. For example, members of extremist and hate
groups increasingly depend on web forums and blogs to post their views to
audiences across the globe. In fact, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS)
uses Twitter and other social media platforms as a means to recruit and radicalize
individuals, as well as to promote their agenda (see Chapter 10 for more details).
The laws of a given country may not allow such language, as in Germany where
it is illegal to post Nazi-related content (Wall, 2001). In the USA, though, such
speech is protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution; therefore,
the act of using online forums to express an opinion largely unsupported by
society is deviant rather than illegal behavior.
It is not always possible to identify cleanly and clearly the nature of some
cyberattacks, as is evident in the substantial number of attacks by hackers around
the world who belong to the collective Anonymous. The origins of Anonymous stem from the image board 4chan, where people upload and share images
with one another without revealing any personal information about themselves
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(Olson, 2012). Individuals continuously posting pictures without identifying
themselves led to the popularity of the idea of Anonymous as a real person.
This crystallized in 2004 when one of the 4chan administrators implemented a
“Forced_Anon” protocol signing all posts to Anonymous (Olson, 2012). As a
result, this led to the acceptance of a collective identity of Anonymous centering
on the idea that the Internet is an outlet that has no limits or boundaries.
The group encourages awareness and recognition of individuals who are
engaging in either illicit activities or unacceptable actions that harm society.
There is no way to identify a member of Anonymous; instead they are a collection of individuals who support an idea or goal without the need for individual
recognition (Olson, 2012). In most of their online communications, they use
the following language as an expression of these values: “We are Anonymous.
We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.” The group
also uses Guy Fawkes masks and a body wearing a black suit with a question
mark for a head in representation of the anonymous nature of the group. There
is also no necessary leadership of Anonymous.
They are often perceived as hacktivists in the general media, since they use
DDoS attacks, group-based research, email hacking, and other techniques in
order to affect a target. For instance, one of the first targets of the group was a
white supremacist radio show host named Hal Turner. Members of Anonymous
DDoSed his site offline, causing thousands of dollars in losses (Olson, 2012).
A subsequent attack by individuals associated with Anonymous targeted the
Support Online Hip Hop (SOHH) website and its forums. Individuals in the
SOHH forum made disparaging comments against Anonymous in June 2008.
Their website was then attacked in two stages. The first attack used DDoS tools
to knock out access followed by a series of web defacements adding Nazi images
and racial language to change the site content (Reid, 2008). Shortly thereafter,
Anonymous accessed and shared personal information for a teenage boy who
ran the site “No Cussing Club” (Olson, 2012). The boy’s family was harassed by
individuals associated with the group, including hate mail and obscene phone
calls.
Following these attacks, the focus of Anonymous turned toward social activism in support of free access to information. For instance, the group engaged in
a DDoS attack against multiple targets in both the music and private industries
in a campaign called “Operation Payback.” The attacks began in September
2010 as retaliation against anti-piracy initiatives started by media companies in
order to reduce access to copyrighted materials online. The attacks expanded
to include Sony and their PlayStation Network in 2011. The company began
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Technology and cybercrime
to crack down on attempts to pirate games and media, such as a lawsuit against
a hacker who released information on techniques to download PlayStation
2 video games (Olson, 2012). Anonymous members used the Low Orbit Ion
Cannon attack tool to engage in a DDoS campaign that took down the PlayStation Network for hours and days at a time. They also accessed and released
personal information of PlayStation users obtained by hacking (Olson, 2012).
Their involvement in a variety of attacks and hacktivist operations has continued throughout the past few years, targeting governments, law enforcement,
and industrial targets.
Taken as a whole, Anonymous does not appear to hack for economic
gain. The absence of consistent ideological justifications for their Anonymous
actions makes it difficult to classify their attacks as acts of cyberterrorism.
Although scholars differ as to whether Anonymous constitutes cybercriminals
or terrorists, their actions demonstrate that cybercrime, terror, and deviance
are all interrelated and share common elements due to the nature of online
environments.
Copyright © 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
What makes cybercrime and deviance attractive?
The rise of cyberdeviance, cybercrime, and cyberterror has led many to question why some people choose to engage in wrongdoing in virtual environments. There are several unique factors that may account for offending online,
most especially the availability of technology in the modern world. First and
foremost, the ubiquity of technology makes it easy for individuals to gain access
to the tools necessary to offend with relative ease. The prices of laptop and
desktop computers have dropped substantially over the past decade, making it
easy to acquire this equipment. For instance, the price of laptop PCs decreased
from an average of $1,640 in 2001 to $1,000 in 2005 (Associated Press, 2005).
The price has continued to drop, and these devices now compete with even
smaller portable computers, like the iPad and smart phones, that can connect
to the Internet through cellular technology. As a result, offenders can readily
acquire and access information from anywhere through these resources. If a
person cannot afford to buy these devices on their own, they can always use
computers in Internet cafés and public libraries for free or for a small cost. Thus,
there are minimal barriers to computer technology globally.
In addition, there is a wide range of cybercrimes that can be performed
dependent upon the individual’s technical skill. Some forms of cybercrime
require a great deal of skill and proficiency, though simple offenses may be
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Technology and cybercrime
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performed with minimal investment on the part of the offender. For instance,
anyone can download pirated music or movies from online environments or
post an ad for sexual encounters on craigslist or another website.
Technology also acts as a force multiplier in that computers and CMCs allow
a single person to engage in crimes that otherwise involve multiple people or
complex schemes in order to target victims (Brenner, 2008; Taylor, Fritsch,
Liederbach, and Holt, 2010). For instance, if a criminal attempts to rob a person
in the real world, they must often target single individuals due to the difficulty
in intimidating and managing groups of people. The offender must also try to
determine in advance if the individual he is attempting to rob has money, jewelry, or other goods that are of value.
In online environments, offenders can target thousands of victims at a time,
worldwide, within seconds. For example, individuals regularly send out unsolicited emails, called spam, to thousands of victims using addresses harvested
from information posted on public websites (Holt and Graves, 2007; King and
Thomas, 2009; Wall, 2004). For instance, public universities often post the
addresses of professors, faculty, and staff on their websites. In turn, individuals
can copy and collate these addresses into lists and use them to send a variety
of different spam messages. In fact, one of the most common forms of spam
message appears to originate in part from Nigeria, where the sender claims to
be foreign royalty, bankers, or attorneys who need assistance in moving large
sums of money (Holt and Graves, 2007; King and Thomas, 2009; Wall, 2004).
They request information from the email recipients like names, addresses,
phone numbers, and bank account details so that they can reuse the information
to commit identity theft or bank fraud. Since few people fall for this sort of
scheme, sending out thousands of messages increases the likelihood that a victim
may respond. Thus, fraudsters increase the likelihood of success by targeting
thousands of victims simultaneously.
For more information on the rate of spam distribution, go online
to: https://securelist.com/all/?category=442.
The risk of detection from law enforcement is much lower in online environments than in the real world. Offenders in the real world must take several
steps to reduce the likelihood that their actual identity can be determined. For
example, robbers may wear a mask or baggy clothing to conceal their face and
build (Miller, 1998; Wright and Decker, 1997). They may also try to disguise
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Technology and cybercrime
their voice by speaking in a higher or lower tone. Victims may be able to recall
information about the offender and video cameras may capture the incident on
film, making it harder to hide the offense from police.
These issues are largely absent in online environments, since it is easier for
offenders to conceal their real identity (Wall, 2001). The faceless nature of the
Internet makes it easy for individuals to hide their gender, age, or race in various
ways. A profile in a social networking site like Facebook or email account can
be created using false information through Google, Yahoo, or Hotmail. This
false account may be used to send threatening or harassing messages to others to
help conceal their true identity (Bocij, 2004). Similarly, various technological
resources are designed to hide a person’s location from others. For example,
Tor, the service used by individuals to access the Silk Road, is a form of proxy
server that may be used to hide a computer’s location by acting as an intermediary between a computer and the servers and systems to which it connects
through the Internet. If we try to access Google from a PC using a proxy, the
command will be routed through a service that will make the request on our
behalf and send the information back to us. In turn, the servers at Google will
not register our computer as the one making the request, but rather associate
it with the proxy server. Some offenders are even able to route their web and
email traffic through other people’s computers in order to minimize the likelihood that they are caught (see Chapter 4 for more details).
For more on proxy servers, go online to:
Copyright © 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
1 www.publicproxyservers.com.
2 http://proxy4free.com.
Cybercrimes are also attractive for some actors based on the laws of their
nation. Since individuals can target victims across the world, local laws make
a significant difference to who and what an offender targets. Many industrialized nations have laws against cybercrimes, increasing the risk of prosecution
and investigation for offenders if caught (Brenner, 2008). Therefore, attacking
people within that country may increase the likelihood of being prosecuted.
If, however, a country does not allow their citizens to be extradited to another
country to face prosecution for crimes, then the actor cannot be successfully
investigated (Brenner, 2008). For instance, there is no treaty allowing Russian citizens who engage in attacks against US citizens to be brought to the
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Technology and cybercrime
USA for prosecution. Russian criminals cannot be extradited for these offenses
and may generally receive no punishment for their actions (see Box 1.1 for an
example). In turn, it is extremely difficult to deter or sanction cybercriminals in
foreign countries, which may encourage attacks against certain countries with
no consequences.
Box 1.1
Getting around Russian extradition laws
www.nbcnews.com/id/3078784#.WNbZom_ytQI.
FBI agent charged with hacking
Russia alleges agent broke law by downloading evidence
In a first in the rapidly evolving field of cyberspace law, Russia’s counterintelligence service on Thursday filed criminal charges against an
FBI agent it says lured two Russian hackers to the United States, then
illegally seized evidence against them by downloading data from their
computers in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
This article provides interesting insights into the challenges posed by
cybercrime investigations that cross national boundaries.
Copyright © 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
By contrast, some developing nations may not have laws against computer
misuse. If there are no laws, then the nation serves as a sort of “safe haven” for
actors where they can operate with minimal risk of legal sanctions (Brenner,
2008; Holt, 2003). This was exemplified in the creation of the ILOVEYOU
virus that spread around the world in 2000. This form of malware attacked
millions of computers and spread through infected email attachments, effectively crippling the Internet at the time (Poulsen, 2010). The program started
in the Philippines on May 4, 2000 and spread across the world in a single day.
It is thought to have been created by a Filipino college student named Onel
de Guzman, based on the start of the program from Manila and his interest
in hacking (Poulsen, 2010). At the time, there were no laws against writing
malware in the Philippines, making prosecutors unable to pursue de Guzman.
Thus, the absence of laws can make it extremely difficult to combat cybercrimes
internationally.
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Technology and cybercrime
Taken as a whole, the global reach of the Internet has created substantial
difficulties for law enforcement agencies at home and abroad to enforce cybercrime laws globally. The structure of policing, especially in the USA, establishes
guidelines for the investigation of crimes at the local, state, and federal level.
Offenses that occur within a single jurisdictional boundary are often the responsibility of local municipal police departments or sheriffs’ departments, while
those that cross state or national boundaries are handled by state or federal agencies. Many cybercriminals may not live within the same region as their victim
(Holt, 2003; Wall, 1998), though, even if they were in the same region, a victim
may have no idea where the offender actually resides. This creates significant
confusion as to the appropriate agency to contact, and diminishes the amount of
cybercrime reported to law enforcement (Goodman, 1997; Wall, 1998). In fact,
this under-counting is referred to as “the dark figure” of cybercrime, in that the
true number of offenses is unknown.
One reason for the lack of reporting is the inherent difficulty in recognizing
when illegal activities have taken place. Individuals may be completely unaware
that they have been the victim of cybercrime until it is too late. For example,
failures in computer hardware and software may be either the result of an error
in the equipment, or a direct result of criminal activities designed to hide their
occurrence. Many in the general public do not have the skills necessary to discern the root cause, making it hard to know when some sort of compromise has
taken place. Since cybercriminals attempt to target as many victims as possible,
it is also difficult to identify any patterns for risky behavior online (Bossler and
Holt, 2009). Finally, protective software programs designed to reduce individual
risk of victimization do not always work. Approximately 25 percent of personal
computers around the world that use a variety of security solutions have malicious software, such as a virus, loaded into their memory (PandaLabs, 2007).
The embarrassment, shame, or harm that may come from reporting cybercrime victimization also reduces the likelihood of contacting law enforcement.
For instance, Nigerian email scams often target naïve individuals who believe
that an unlikely claim may be valid. Reporting that they have been defrauded
may be substantially embarrassing and thereby diminish the likelihood of reporting. Within corporate and government computing environments, there are several issues that may reduce the likelihood of reporting when a cybercrime has
occurred. For instance, a company may lose customers or overall stock value if
they report that their systems have been compromised. Embarrassment over the
loss of sensitive information may engender cover-ups or diminished reporting
in order to reduce the loss of business.
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Technology and cybercrime
Taken as a whole, technology affords multiple unique advantages for offenders that are not necessarily present in the real world. Technology is readily available across the globe, providing offenders with widespread access to resources.
The number of people online provides a wealth of prospective victims that can
be affected with greater ease than is possible in the real world. Technology also
offers people the ability to hide their actual identity behind a variety of false
names and locations, making it difficult to determine who is responsible for a
criminal incident. Finally, the different legal structures and cooperative agreements in place across the globe make it difficult to successfully prosecute cybercrimes. As a result, individuals who engage in cybercrime and deviance face a
much lower risk of detection and arrest, and may experience greater monetary
or emotional rewards from cybercrime.
For more information on the challenges of prosecuting cybercrimes,
go online to: www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/docs/ccmanual.pdf.
Technology as evidence
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The third and final way that technology may be used in the course of an offense
is through its incidental role or involvement in a crime. In this case, the
computer may either be involved in the commission of a crime or is being
used merely as a storage device (Maras, 2012). For instance, the presence of
child pornography on a laptop or cell phone suggests that it is incidental to
the offence. This information, wherever it is stored, constitutes digital evidence, defined as information that is either transferred or stored in a binary
form (Casey, 2011). Digital evidence may be anything from the browser history
of an individual to the emails, chat logs, photos present on mobile phones, GPS
devices, IoT devices, and cell phone cameras of both the victim and offenders
(see Chapter 12). Computers, in the traditional sense, are no longer the only
devices capable of sending emails, chatting, and browsing the Internet. Tablets,
music players, and various other devices can be connected to the Internet and
provide some evidence of an individual’s behaviors.
There are several valuable examples that help clarify what is digital evidence and when it may be pertinent for various forms of crime both online
and offline (Clifford, 2006; Maras, 2012). For example, BTK (Bind, Torture,
Kill) was a serial killer in Kansas (USA) from 1974 until 2005 when he was
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Technology and cybercrime
arrested and convicted of ten homicides (Williams and Landwehr, 2006). The
killer murdered ten people in Kansas between 1974 and 1991 and then went
dormant, though he constantly wrote letters to the media and police describing
his exploits. The investigation went cold, though the BTK Killer indicated that
he had committed another murder that had not been attributed to him.
Police then began communicating directly with BTK, when the killer asked
if it was possible to trace his identity on the basis of data on floppy disks. The
agency erroneously said that they could not, and BTK sent them a disk with a
document discussing his behaviors. Using specialized computer forensic software to help process the data and evidence located on the disk, investigators
determined the location of the computer where the disk had been opened,
as well as the person who created the document. In turn, they were able to
develop detailed information about the killer and gather enough circumstantial
evidence to suggest a prospective identity, which turned out to be a man named
Dennis Rader. He was subsequently arrested and pled guilty to the murders,
receiving ten consecutive life sentences, one for each murder (Williams and
Landwehr, 2006).
Digital evidence may also be derived from online sources that may be present on websites and social media. In fact, digital evidence collected from social
media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, has been influential in law enforcement over the past few years. Following the Vancouver Canucks’ loss to the
Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals in 2011, a massive riot broke out in
Vancouver with fans setting vehicles on fire, breaking windows, looting stores,
and dancing atop overturned cars (CBC News, 2011). Within hours of the riot,
police received over 3,500 emails that included videos, photos, and web links
to various social media sites. In addition, a “Vancouver Riot Pics” Facebook
page was created to identify those individuals involved in the riots by allowing
the public to “tag” the pictures and videos (Leger, 2011). More than 100 people
were arrested through the assistance of social media.
With virtually every crime incorporating some form of digital evidence, it is
up to law enforcement to be able to identify the possible sources of information
and the locations where such information may be found. Various peripheral
devices like flash drives, CDs, DVDs, and even gaming systems may contain
digital evidence that can be collected. Some companies even produce removable storage media that are easily disguised, such as a pair of sunglasses or a wristband that contains a flash drive. With digital devices being increasingly used to
target, act as a tool, or provide support for criminal activities, law enforcement
and investigators must understand the nature of the digital crime scene.
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Technology and cybercrime
For more on hidden media devices, go online to: www.trendhunter
.com/slideshow/disguised-usb-drives.
A typology of cybercrime
In light of the various ways in which technology engenders crime and deviance
as well as fostering unique tactics for offending, it is necessary to understand
the wide range of behaviors that constitute cybercrime. David Wall (2001) created one of the most recognized typologies of cybercrime, which encapsulates
behavior into one of four categories: (1) cyber-trespass; (2) cyber-deception
and theft; (3) cyber-porn and obscenity; and (4) cyber-violence. These categories reference the wide range of deviant, criminal, and terrorist behaviors that
have emerged using technology, as well as the subcultures supporting offenders
throughout the world.
Cyber-trespass
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The first category is cyber-trespass, referring to the act of crossing boundaries
of ownership in online environments. This may seem confusing at first. If you
go to a coffee shop or restaurant, you may notice that they offer free Wi-Fi.
Their network probably has a name they chose which identifies their network
and indicates who manages and is responsible for that space. In order to use the
service, you must join their network and accept the terms of service that may
come up when you open your web browser. In this instance, the coffee shop
owns and manages this wireless network, but allows others to use the connectivity. By contrast, if the shop did not offer connectivity to customers, but you
attempt to join and use their Wi-Fi anyway, you are trespassing because you
are trying to break into the network that they own without the company’s
permission.
The issue of ownership is critical in instances of trespass, especially for computer hackers who often attempt to access computer systems, email accounts,
or protected systems that they do not own (Furnell, 2002; Jordan and Taylor,
1998). Many in the general public recognize hackers for their involvement in
criminal acts of trespassing sensitive boundaries of ownership, contributing to the
belief that hackers cause significant harm to citizens, industry, and government
alike. Although not all hackers engage in crime, those who do cost individuals
and corporations a great deal of money each year. Individuals who are interested
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Technology and cybercrime
in computer hacking operate within a large online subculture with participants
from across the globe. They often come together online to discuss various techniques of hacking and their attitudes toward hacking with or without permission
from system owners. Because not all hackers engage in crime, there is a rift
within the subculture based on an individual’s willingness to engage in acts of
cyber-trespass in support of hacking (see Chapter 3 for more details).
Copyright © 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
Cyber-deception and theft
The second category within Wall’s (2001) typology is cyber-deception and
theft, which can extend from hacking and other forms of cyber-trespass. This
category includes all the ways in which individuals may illegally acquire information or resources online, and often goes hand in hand with trespass. For
instance, criminals can use email messages to acquire bank account information
from victims through the use of phishing messages ( James, 2005). In this case,
a criminal sends a message claiming to be from a bank or financial institution
which needs prospective consumers to validate their account information by
clicking on a web link provided in the message. The individuals are then sent to
a fraudulent website that resembles the actual financial institution and are asked
to enter their bank account username, login, and other sensitive information
( James, 2005). This data is then stored and used by the criminal to engage in
fraud, or resold to others through an online black market for stolen data. These
crimes are particularly costly for consumers and businesses; a recent study by
the Ponemon Institute (2015) found that a single phishing attack can cost an
organization approximately $3.7 million due to losses in equipment, employee
productivity, and mitigation costs.
The problem of digital piracy is also included in cyber-theft, encompassing
the illegal copying of digital media, such as computer software, digital sound
recordings, and digital video recordings, without the explicit permission of the
copyright holder (Gopal, Saunders, Bhattacharjee, Agrawal, and Wagner, 2004).
The financial losses stemming from digital piracy are quite high. For instance,
one company estimates that the US recording industry loses over $12 billion each
year from piracy (Siwek, 2007). This is because piracy is an extremely common
activity, as evidenced by one study which found that between 50 and 90 percent
of all broadband Internet traffic involved the transfer of pirated media (Siwek,
2007). In addition, studies of college students in the USA find that between
40 and 60 percent of respondents have engaged in piracy within the past year
(Gunter, 2009; Higgins, 2005; Hinduja, 2003; Skinner and Fream, 1997).
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Technology and cybercrime
For more information on the problem of software piracy, go
online to: http://globalstudy.bsa.org/2016/index.html.
The problem of piracy appears to be facilitated in large part by the subculture of pirates operating online. The participants in this subculture help break
copyright protections on DVDs, Blu-ray disks, and software and distribute
these materials online. In fact, individuals can access pirated media and software
through various outlets, including file-sharing services, torrents, and websites
(Cooper and Harrison, 2001; Holt and Copes, 2010). Participants in this subculture also encourage piracy by sharing their attitudes toward copyright law
and minimizing the harm caused by pirating media (see Chapter 5 for details).
Many young people believe that piracy is an acceptable behavior which has
little impact on artists or private industry (Hinduja, 2003; Ingram and Hinduja,
2008). Thus, cyber-deception and theft involves multiple activities that cause
significant financial harm.
Cyber-porn and obscenity
Copyright © 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
The third category in Wall’s typology of cybercrime is cyber-porn and
obscenity, representing the range of sexually expressive content online. As
noted earlier, sexually explicit content is defined differently based on location.
Thus, porn and obscenity may be deviant or criminal based on local laws. The
relatively legal nature of adult pornography has enabled the development of an
extremely lucrative industry, thanks in part to the availability of streaming web
content and high-speed connectivity (Edelman, 2009; Lane, 2000). In addition, amateurs are increasingly active in the porn industry due to the ease with
which individuals can produce professional quality images and media through
HD digital cameras, web-enabled cameras, and other equipment (Lane, 2000).
While viewing pornographic content is not illegal for individuals over the age
of 18, accessing certain content, such as violent or animal-related material, may
be criminal depending on local laws.
The ability to access pornographic content has also enabled the development
of online subcultures focused on various deviant sexual activities. Individuals
with niche sexual fetishes can identify multiple outlets to discuss their interests
with others in web forums, email lists, and online groups that engender the
exchange of information in near real time (DiMarco, 2003). In turn, these spaces
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Technology and cybercrime
help make people feel they are part of a larger group that validates their beliefs
and attitudes. Sexual subcultures can also move into criminal activity when the
actors victimize children and adults either online or offline. For instance, prostitutes increasingly use the Internet to advertise their services and keep in touch
with clients (Cunningham and Kendall, 2010). The customers of sex workers
also use this technology in order to discuss their experiences, provide detailed
accounts of their interactions, and warn others about police activities in a given
area (Holt and Blevins, 2007; Sharp and Earle, 2003). Similarly, pedophiles who
seek out sexual relationships with children frequently use CMCs in order to
identify and share pornographic and sexual images ( Jenkins, 2001; Quayle and
Taylor, 2002). They may also use forums and instant messaging to connect with
children in an attempt to move into offline relationships (Wolak, Finkelhor, and
Mitchell, 2004; Wolak, Mitchell, and Finkelhor, 2003).
Copyright © 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
Cyber-violence
The final form within Wall’s typology is cyber-violence, referring to the
ability to send or access injurious, hurtful, or dangerous materials online. This
may encompass emotional harm such as embarrassment or shame, and in limited
circumstances physical harm through suicidal ideation (Hinduja and Patchin,
2009). For example, the volume of information available through social networking sites, coupled with the frequent use of CMCs, has increased the likelihood that individuals will be bullied, harassed, or stalked online (Finkelhor,
Mitchell, and Wolak, 2000; Finn, 2004; Hinduja and Patchin, 2009; Holt and
Bossler, 2009). Individuals from various age groups are increasingly receiving
threatening or sexual messages via email, instant message, or texts (Bocij, 2004;
Finn, 2004). People may also use CMCs to post embarrassing video, images,
and text about another person for the public to see. In fact, technology has
greatly increased the likelihood of emotional or psychological harm resulting
from these messages (Finkelhor et al., 2000; Wolak et al., 2004).
Political and social movements also use CMCs in order to spread information
about their causes or beliefs, as well as to engage in attacks against different targets
online and offline (Brenner, 2008; Cere, 2003; Denning, 2011). For instance,
riots in England and Arab states across the Middle East have organized through
the use of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook (Stepanova, 2011). In
fact, CMCs may be used to form flash mobs, or mass organizations of people,
to organize quickly and move rapidly through the use of online media without
alerting local citizens or law enforcement (Taylor et al., 2010).
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Technology and cybercrime
Copyright © 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
Various extremist groups with their own subcultural norms and values use
the Internet in order to promote their beliefs and connect interested parties
(see Chapter 10 for details). Social media sites like Facebook, video-sharing
sites like YouTube, and various web forums are used by extremist groups to
promote their ideological beliefs (Hegghammer, 2013; Holt, 2012; Weimann,
2011). For instance, Dylann Roof shot and killed nine African Americans in a
church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015 (Hankes, 2015). His
attack was racially motivated, and it was discovered shortly after his arrest that
he operated a website where he posted pictures of himself with guns, Confederate flags, and neo-Nazi and white supremacist paraphernalia, along with
a manifesto explaining his views. He also posted on a white supremacist web
forum called The Daily Stormer and used it as a vehicle to express his racist
beliefs (Hankes, 2015).
In addition, extremist groups have used the Internet in order to engage in
attacks against governmental targets worldwide. The hacker group Anonymous
has engaged in a variety of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks
against governments, the recording industry, and private businesses (Correll,
2010; Poulsen, 2011). In a DDoS attack, individuals send multiple requests
to servers that house online content to the point where these servers become
overloaded and are unable to be used by others. As a consequence, these attacks
can completely knock a service offline, causing companies to lose money and,
potentially, customer confidence. The group Anonymous uses these attacks as
a protest against attempts to reduce the distribution of pirated media online.
Anonymous believes intellectual property laws are unfair, that governments are
stifling the activities of consumers, so the group wishes to elicit a direct response
from the general public to stand up against this supposed tyranny (Correll, 2010;
Poulsen, 2011). Thus, the use of technology has expanded the capability of
extremist groups to affect populations and targets well beyond their overall
capacity in the real world.
This text
Given the range of criminal and deviant acts that are enabled by the Internet
and CMCs, it is critical that we understand as much about these phenomena
as possible. Thus, this book will explore the spectrum of cybercrimes in detail,
considering how real-world crimes have incorporated technology, as well as the
unique forms of offending that have emerged as a direct result of technology. In
addition, each chapter will consider the unique subcultures that have emerged in
26
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Technology and cybercrime
online environments around a form of deviance, crime, or a specific ideology.
The subcultural norms of each group will be explored in order to understand
how involvement in this subculture affects behavior both online and offline, as
well as its influence on attitudes toward crime and deviance. Finally, statutes
in the USA and abroad that have been created to address these issues will be
covered, along with the local, state, national, and international law enforcement
agencies that have responsibilities to investigate and enforce those laws.
Chapter 2, “Law enforcement, privacy, and security in dealing with cybercrime,” provides an overview of the various entities involved in policing cybercrimes. This includes traditional local, state, and federal law enforcement, as
well as organizations and industry bodies that actively attempt to mitigate cybercrimes without a legal mandate from the state.
Chapter 3, “Computer hackers and hacking,” explores computer hacking
in depth, including its role in attacks against individuals and corporations alike.
Chapter 4, “Malware and automated computer attacks,” explores the problem
of malicious software and its evolution over time. Chapter 5, “Digital piracy
and intellectual property theft,” considers the issue of digital piracy, including
the theft and release of software, music, movies, television, and other digital
content. More serious forms of fraud and theft are explored in Chapter 6, “Economic crimes and online fraud,” including the use of email scams in order to
acquire financial information from unsuspecting victims.
Chapter 7, “Pornography, prostitution, and sex crimes,” covers a wide
variety of online sexual behavior, including pornography, how the Internet
has affected traditional prostitution, and how the criminal justice system has
attempted to evolve to address these issues. Chapter 8, “Child pornography and
sexual exploitation,” considers sexual crimes against children, including child
pornography and child molestation, and the ways in which these offenses are
uniquely engendered by technology. Chapter 9, “Cyberbullying, online harassment, and cyberstalking,” investigates the problem of online harassment, bullying, and stalking, while Chapter 10, “Online extremism, cyberterror, and cyber
warfare,” explores the use of technology to spread hate speech and extremism
across the globe.
Chapter 11, “Cybercrime and criminological theories,” will provide the
reader with an in-depth examination of whether traditional criminological theories can help us understand why individuals commit the wide range of behaviors encompassed in cybercrime. It will also explore the idea of whether new
cybercrime theories are needed or whether our current stock of criminological
theories is adequate in explaining these “new” forms of crime.
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Technology and cybercrime
Chapter 12, “Evolution of digital forensics,” will elaborate the concept
of digital forensics and the process of seizing evidence from various devices.
Chapter 13, “Acquisition and examination of forensic evidence,” details the
various tools used in the process of evidence analysis, as well as the techniques
involved in data recovery and investigation generally. Chapter 14, “Legal challenges in digital forensic investigations,” focuses on the process of evidence
presentation in court, and the laws that affect what is admissible and when by
an analyst. Finally, Chapter 15, “The future of cybercrime, terror, and policy,”
considers the future of cybercrime with a discussion of the ways in which the
global nature of technology hinders our ability to effectively regulate these
offenses.
Key terms
Copyright © 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
Anonymous
Bitcoin
Computer crime
Computer-mediated communications (CMCs)
Cybercrime
Cyber-deception
Cyberdeviance
Cyber-porn
Cyberterrorism
Cyber-trespass
Cyber-violence
Deviance
Digital evidence
Digital immigrant
Digital native
Distributed denial-of-service attack
Dread Pirate Roberts
Flash mob
Incidental
Phishing
Proxy server
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Technology and cybercrime
Silk Road
Spam
Subculture
Technicways
The Onion Router, or Tor Service
Web defacement
Copyright © 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
Discussion questions
1 Think carefully about your current access to technology. How many
laptops, desktops, tablets, and mobile devices do you own? How much
time do you spend online? How would you compare your use of technology to your peers’?
2 Take a few moments to think critically about the way in which you
share information with the world through online environments. Do
you cautiously share personal information? How much detail do you
place about yourself into Facebook and other social networking sites?
Do you use the same credit card for all online purchases? How often do
you pirate music and media? Keeping this in mind, detail the various
ways in which you could become a victim of as many forms of cybercrime as is possible.
3 Do you belong to any subcultures, either online or offline? What are
they, and how do you think they affect your activities and attitudes
toward the world around you?
4 How much overlap do you see between real-world crimes and cybercrimes? Should we have distinct terms to recognize crime or deviance
in online environments, or should all offenses just be classified as crimes,
regardless of where and how they occur?
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http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uestepr-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5107356.
Created from uestepr-ebooks on 2023-03-08 18:27:22.
Copyright © 2017. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
Holt, Thomas J., et al. Cybercrime and Digital Forensics : An Introduction, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central,
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uestepr-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5107356.
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