NESTA Crime Online - University of Brighton Repository
NESTA Crime Online - University of Brighton Repository
NESTA Crime Online - University of Brighton Repository
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we focus on financial cybercrime. Other types <strong>of</strong> cybercrime such as <strong>of</strong>fences against the<br />
person (cyberstalking, harassment, blackmailing), computer misuse (denial <strong>of</strong> service 4<br />
and s<strong>of</strong>tware piracy), and distribution <strong>of</strong> illicit material (child pornography and promotion<br />
<strong>of</strong> activities amongst paedophiles), are beyond our scope.<br />
What is it?<br />
“Cybercrimes are criminal or harmful activities that are informational, global and<br />
networked and are to be distinguished from crimes that simply use computers. They are<br />
the product <strong>of</strong> networked technologies that have transformed the division <strong>of</strong> criminal<br />
labour to provide entirely new opportunities and new forms <strong>of</strong> crime which typically<br />
involve the acquisition or manipulation <strong>of</strong> information and its value across global<br />
networks for gain. They can be broken down into crimes that are related to the integrity<br />
<strong>of</strong> the system, crimes in which networked computers are used to assist the perpetration<br />
<strong>of</strong> crime, and crimes which relate to the content <strong>of</strong> computers.”<br />
Source: David S Wall (2007). Cybercrime, Polity Press Cambridge, p221.<br />
We focus specifically on credit card fraud and identity theft. 5 The choice <strong>of</strong> these two<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten interrelated cybercrimes is deliberate because they share with legitimate<br />
businesses the ultimate goal <strong>of</strong> financial pr<strong>of</strong>it, allowing us to apply business and<br />
innovation theory to understand their dynamics. These examples also help illustrate<br />
some <strong>of</strong> the more general problems facing law enforcement agencies charged with<br />
dealing with the problem. Despite this being a phenomenon involving the use <strong>of</strong><br />
information across borders, there is no uniformity <strong>of</strong> legislative approach. This has led to<br />
an extremely permissive cybercrime environment in some countries which is <strong>of</strong> great<br />
concern to many ‘stakeholders’.<br />
Earlier research has typically been by criminologists, information technology specialists,<br />
private security firms, the financial services sector and journalists. Although, as we shall<br />
see, innovation is at the heart <strong>of</strong> these cybercrime activities, those involved in the field<br />
4 There have been several well publishes attacks on gaming website which effectively close down the sites until<br />
a ransom has been paid.<br />
5 We use the term ‘credit card fraud’ to encompass all forms <strong>of</strong> fraud involving credit, debit and charge cards.<br />
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