Cybercrime Through An Interdisciplinary Lens

Research on cybercrime has been largely bifurcated, with social science and computer science researchers working with different research agendas. These fields have produced parallel scholarship to understand cybercrime offending and victimization, as well as techniques to harden systems from compromise and understand the tools used by cybercriminals. The literature developed from these two fields is diverse and informative, but until now there has been minimal interdisciplinary scholarship combining their insights in order to create a more informed and robust body of knowledge. This book offers an interdisciplinary approach to research on cybercrime and lays out frameworks for collaboration between the fields. Bringing together international experts, this book explores a range of issues from malicious software and hacking to victimization and fraud. This work also provides direction for policy changes to both cybersecurity and criminal justice practice based on the enhanced understanding of cybercrime that can be derived from integrated research from both the technical and social sciences. The authors demonstrate the breadth of contemporary scholarship as well as identifying key questions that could be addressed in the future or unique methods that could benefit the wider research community. This edited collection will be key reading for academics, researchers, and practitioners in both computer security and law enforcement. This book is also a comprehensive resource for postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students undertaking courses in social and technical studies.

This edited book promotes and facilitates cybercrime research by providing a cutting-edge collection of perspectives on the critical usage of online data across platforms, as well as the implementation of both traditional and innovative analysis methods. The accessibility, variety and wealth of data available online presents substantial opportunities for researchers from different disciplines to study cybercrimes and, more generally, human behavior in cyberspace. The unique and dynamic characteristics of cyberspace often demand cross-disciplinary and cross-national research endeavors, but disciplinary, cultural and legal differences can hinder the ability of researchers to collaborate. This work also provides a review of the ethics associated with the use of online data sources across the globe. The authors are drawn from multiple disciplines and nations, providing unique insights into the value and challenges evident in online data use for cybercrime scholarship. It is a key text for researchers at the upper undergraduate level and above.

This book advances a theoretically informed realist criminology of computer crime. Looking beyond current strategies of online crime control, this book argues for a new sort of policy that addresses the root causes of computer crime and criminality, reduces the harms experienced by the victims of such crimes, and does not unduly contribute to state and corporate power and surveillance. Drawing both on the proponents of realist criminology and on those who have leveled critiques of the approach, Steinmetz illustrates the contours of a realist criminology of computer crime by considering definitions of harm with online crime, the idiosyncrasies of online locality and community, the social relations of computer crime, the tension between piecemeal reform and structural changes, and other matters. Furthermore, Steinmetz surveys the methodological dimensions of computer crime research, offers a critique of positivist “computational criminology,” and posits an agenda for computer crime policy. Against Cybercrime is an essential reading for all those engaged with cybercrime, realist criminology, criminological theory, and social harm online.

This book is about the human factor in cybercrime: its offenders, victims and parties involved in tackling cybercrime. It takes a diverse international perspective of the response to and prevention of cybercrime by seeking to understand not just the technological, but the human decision-making involved. This edited volume represents the state of the art of research on the human factor in cybercrime, addressing its victims, offenders, and policing. It originated at the Second annual Conference on the Human Factor in Cybercrime, held in The Netherlands in October 2019, bringing together empirical research from a variety of disciplines, and theoretical and methodological approaches. This volume will be of particular interest to researchers and students in cybercrime and the psychology of cybercrime, as well as policy makers and law enforcement interested in prevention and detection.

This important reference work is an extensive, up-to-date resource for students who want to investigate the world of cybercrime or for those seeking further knowledge of specific attacks both domestically and internationally. Cybercrime is characterized by criminal acts that take place in the borderless digital realm. It takes on many forms, and its perpetrators and victims are varied. From financial theft, destruction of systems, fraud, corporate espionage, and ransoming of information to the more personal, such as stalking and web-cam spying as well as cyberterrorism, this work covers the full spectrum of crimes committed via cyberspace. This comprehensive encyclopedia covers the most noteworthy attacks while also focusing on the myriad issues that surround cybercrime. It includes entries on such topics as the different types of cyberattacks, cybercrime techniques, specific cybercriminals and cybercrime groups, and cybercrime investigations. While objective in its approach, this book does not shy away from covering such relevant, controversial topics as Julian Assange and Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It also provides detailed information on all of the latest developments in this constantly evolving field.

Extensively updated and expanded to reflect the evolving landscape of online crime, this fourth edition of Cybercrime and Society is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to this complex and fascinating topic. But just what are cybercrimes? And who are the cybercriminals? You will learn how the internet and communication technologies present new challenges to individual and collective safety, social order and stability, economic prosperity and political liberty. From hacktivism and digital disobedience to online harassment and sexual exploitation, Cybercrime and Society is the definitive book for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying modules in cybercrime and cybersecurity. The fourth edition covers new and contemporary issues such as AI and preventative approaches to counter cybercrimes and also includes two new chapters: • Online Falsehoods provides coverage of fake news, disinformation, and conspiracies, each of which have rapidly become a major online problem with significant consequences • Illegal Goods and Illicit Markets combines discussion of issues such as the trade in prohibited goods online and via crypto-markets with discussion of piracy and copyright crime In addition to the extensive updating and expansion of the topics covered in the 2019 edition, all kinds of new developments are introduced and assessed. New case studies and examples are presented, and the international scope and coverage of the book has been further expanded, with treatment of the Canadian and Australian contexts being given greater consideration. Majid Yar is Professor Emeritus of Criminology at Lancaster University. Kevin F. Steinmetz is a Professor of Criminology at Kansas State University.

This new textbook offers a systematic introduction to a wide array of cybercrimes, exploring their diversity and the range of possible responses to them. Combining coverage of theoretical perspectives with more technical knowledge, the book is divided into ten chapters which first lay the foundations of the topic and then consider the most important types of cybercrimes – from crimes against devices to political offences – before finally exploring ways to prevent, disrupt, analyse and better comprehend them. Examples from several countries are included, in the attempt to show how crime and deviance in cyberspace are truly global problems, with different countries experiencing comparable sets of challenges. At the same time, the author illustrates how these challenges manifest themselves differently, depending on the socio-legal culture of reference. This text offers an accessible introduction to the topic for all those studying cybercrimes at undergraduate or postgraduate level. Whether students approach the topic from a criminological, legal or computer science perspective, this multidisciplinary approach of this text provides a common language to guide them through the intricacies of criminal and deviant behaviours in cyberspace.

This book articulates how crime prevention research and practice can be reimagined for an increasingly digital world. This ground-breaking work explores how criminology can apply longstanding, traditional crime prevention techniques to the digital realm. It provides an overview of the key principles, concepts and research literature associated with crime prevention, and discusses the interventions most commonly applied to crime problems. The authors review the theoretical underpinnings of these and analyses evidence for their efficacy. Cybercrime Prevention is split into three sections which examine primary prevention, secondary prevention and tertiary prevention. It provides a thorough discussion of what works and what does not, and offers a formulaic account of how traditional crime prevention interventions can be reimagined to apply to the digital realm.