Criminal Investigations: Changes in Cybercrime
The rate at which internet usage is growing is expeditious. The World Wide Web is fast eliminating the physical borders that originally existed between nations and individuals, and rapidly transforming the world into a global village. The conduct of business has been made easier, and so has education, sports, communication, to mention but a few. Thanks to the internet, people located miles away from each other, who would have otherwise been oblivious of each other's existence, or been able to communicate, can now relate at the touch of a button. This high degree of interaction is, however, also the cause of one of the most damaging cyber related concerns -- cybercrime.
Definition
Cybercrime, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is a crime "carried out by means of computers or the internet." Thus, any crime that makes use of a computer, either as a target, instrument, or as a medium for further crime perpetuation, falls within the confines of cybercrime (the Legal Dictionary, 2014). Therefore, unlike conventional crimes such as stealing, mugging, or robbing, cybercrime does not require the criminal's physical presence, which explains why its control and regulation is proving difficult (the Legal Dictionary, 2014).
Cybercrime against Persons
There are 3 key cybercrime categories. These include; cybercrime against persons, against property, and against government (Nandini, n.d.). Cybercrime against persons is the most common of the three, and law enforcement agencies all over the world are working hand-in-hand towards reducing its prevalence (the Legal Dictionary, 2014). The most common forms of cybercrimes against persons are; cyber-stalking, harassment via electronic mail, and "trafficking, distribution, posting and dissemination of obscene material, including pornography and indecent exposure" (Nandini, n.d.). In the...
The famous Ahmadabad case where a minor was almost Gang raped after being lured through a chat room conversation is a perfect example (Nandini, n.d).
How IT Prevalence has Changed Cybercrimes against Persons
Cybercrime against persons involves "infiltrating the trust of other users of a computer network for profit or gain" (Criminal Lawyer Group, 2014). In order to bring out the change brought about by IT prevalence, two periods (pre-2000 period and post-2000 period) which had different IT prevalence levels will be compared.
Pre-2000: In the pre-2000 period, cybercrimes were mostly one-man operations - centered at taking advantage of the glaring weaknesses in computer networks (Criminal Lawyer Group, 2014). Such crimes were, in most cases, carried out by computer nerds who were out to prove their toughness by revealing the weaknesses in computer systems (hacking). Rarely was cybercrime committed for profit or gain (Criminal Lawyer Group, 2014). Cybercrime against property was, therefore, more prevalent than that against persons, and was thus not considered a serious crime as such, especially because it usually did not result in tangible intentional damage (Criminal Lawyer Group, 2014).
Post-2000: The new millennium was accompanied by significant technological advancement. Internet usage became more prevalent, and computers became the most significant communication tools. Cybercrime too evolved; it was now no longer driven by ambition, but by the need to gain profit by exploiting other network users (Criminal Lawyer Group, 2014). Hackers realized that the internet provided a safe domain, through which one could gain profit and run a low risk of detection (Criminal Lawyer Group, 2014). The whole idea of hacking then changed;…
