How Cybercrime Has Impacted Crime Investigations

There are four major categories in computer crime. The first is the computer as a target. Then would come the computer as an instrument of a crime. Followed by computer as an incidental to a crime. Not to mention crimes associated with the prevalence of computers. These four major categories are what contributes to digital crimes, involving the worldwide web.

Cyber-Crime can be defined as the action of making an offence using computers, information technology and virtual reality that is punishable by law. Cyber-Crime can range from fraud, hacking, money laundering and theft, through to cyberstalking, cyberbullying, identity theft, child sexual exploitation and child grooming. The specific type of Cyber- Crime that will be explored sexting. Which can range from sending sexually explicit pictures and messages and also, others taking sexually explicit pictures of you.

When you begin to examine how the internet and crime are related, you must first examine exactly what the internet is and how it works. The internet is a global system of computers and networks that are interconnected and service billions of users at any given time. This could be considered a cybercriminals’ playground. Because billions of computers are connected via a vast array of private and public networks including many government agencies, it is easy to see how a cybercriminal could obtain valuable information or unleash denial of service attacks that could cripple many of these systems.

Criminals have always been around, but cybercrime is something new. It has only been around since the 60s, but it has grown exponentially. Why? Is cybercrime somehow different? Criminals engage in cybercrime for the simple reason that it is easier than conventional crime, there are no witnesses, and they can make more money faster. Cybercrime investigators are few and far between, and there is little cooperation among different jurisdictions. Nevertheless, as technology advances, so does the number of people who see that cybersecurity is a growing field and is needed to maintain the integrity of commerce locally and globally.

Technology is used in this world by many people. They use it to perform research, communicate, teach, perform medical procedures, commit a crime, and so forth. Since it can be used for various reasons, it can be also be used against a person in a court of law as evidence in a case. As technology advances and more people use technology for their own purposes, cybercrime also increases in society.

There are four major types of computer crimes, which are; using the computer as a target, using the computer as an instrument of the crime, using the computer as an incidental to a crime, and crimes associated with the prevalence of computers. These crimes can be committed in many different forms. An example of using the computer as a target would be denial of service or altering data while using the device. Using the computer as an instrument would be Cybercriminal using computers and networks for crimes such as theft, theft of service, fraud, exploitation, and threats or harassment. (Yurieff, 2017). Computers are now often used as instruments to make threats or harass individuals. When using the computer as incidental that could be seen as a pattern or incident of criminality uses a computer simply for ease in maintaining the efficacy of criminal transactions. Lastly an example of crimes

Cyber crime spans not only state and national boundaries, but the international boundaries as well. At the Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders, in a workshop devoted to the issues of crimes related to computer networks, cybercrime was broken into two categories and defined thus:

Computer crimes are criminal activities, which involve the use of information technology to gain an illegal or an unauthorized access to a computer system with intent of damaging, deleting or altering computer data. Computer crimes also include the activities such as electronic frauds, misuse of devices, identity theft and data as well as system interference. Computer crimes involve activities of software theft, whereas the privacy of the users is hampered. These criminal activities involve the breach of human and information privacy, as also the theft and illegal alteration of system critical information. The different types of computer crimes have caused the introduction and use of newer and more effective security measures.

Traditional crimes, otherwise known as street crimes, violate state and federal laws without the use of a computer and/or internet. Rape, homicide, distribution/using of illegal substance, assault, burglary, breaking and entering, possession of unregistered firearm, etc. are some examples of traditional crime. Just like traditional crime, cybercrime is inevitable and unavoidable as long as computers and the internet are around. It can pick and choose its victims at random and although there are ways to lessen the chances, it is still virtually inescapable.

Almost everyone everywhere in the world has either used or owned a computer. If there was an Internet connection, then they have all been connected together across that medium. But when you are just browsing the Internet or looking at your choice of social media site, did you know that you are getting attacked by some sort of malware or could be verbally assaulted by an individual? In Cyber Criminology: Exploring Internet Crimes and Criminal Behavior by K. Jaishankar, he describes all the ways people across the world are attacked everyday by some sort of malware or by an individual, such as a pedophile. Certain topics that will be discussed are subcultures in cyberspace, types of hackers/crackers, virtual sex offenders along with

The Internet is the technological genius of the computer age. Although the Internet is a phenomenal tool, providing access to the world, it has also become a Shangri-La for criminals. The Internet because of the ability to remain anonymous is the perfect playground for this type of mayhem. This

Cyber threats have vastly grown over the past decade, we need to better prepare ourselves and become more aware in the event of future attacks. Cybercrime is not limited to bank fraud or identity theft, it is any crime that is committed by use of an electronic device, such as a computer or cellphone. For example, in August 2001 Rafael Nunez also known as RaFa successfully hacked into a NASA employee’s computer and obtained classified shuttle designs for future space crafts. While this attack did not cause any real harm, he did leak the designs to a local reporter to prove his theory that NASA isn’t as secure as everyone may have thought. Another form of cybercrime would be internet stalking, one out of twelve women experience some type of cyber stalking in their lifetime, and most predators are men. This could lead to cyberbullying, which is something you see occur every day. October 17th, 2006,

For example, “It is estimated that cyber-attacks cost the U.S. $100 billion a year. If you weren’t already convinced of the real threat that cybercrime poses, that number speaks volumes. It is estimated that the annual cost of physical crime is around $177 billion. While this is obviously a lot of money, you'll notice that cybercrime is not far behind. In 2000, the number of internet crime complaints was 16,838, but this number has been steadily rising — in 2013 there were a total of 262,813 complaints to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)” (Blue Coat). Last year, CNBC reported the top five cybercrimes attacks were “password fraud, hacking of the internet of things, larger scale espionage attacks, cyber theft, and malware” (Ellyatt). Cybercrimes should have the same punishment or not high criminal charges as traditional crimes. Laws should be developed for cyberspace as the society and technology is continuous advancing. For instance, cyber terrorism can endangered thousands of individual's life by recruiting malicious individuals across the world which lead to larger traditional crimes such as the Paris

Society is becoming more dependent upon data and networks to operate our businesses, government, national defense and other critical functions. Cybercrime, which is rapidly increasing in frequency and in severity, requires us to rethink how we should enforce our criminal laws. The current model of reactive, police-based enforcement, with its origins in real-world urbanization, does not and cannot protect society from criminals using computer technology. This paper gives detailed information regarding cybercrime, its

How Cyber Crime is the Most Dangerous Crime and how it Affects our Society Today