Cybercrime in Action

In tandem with the increased use of the internet and developments in technology and capabilities in cyberspace, there has been a significant increase in criminality in the same domain in general and in the context of COVID-19 pandemic in particular. This phenomenon is referred to as cybercrime which covers a multitude of prohibited acts which are often complex and can cross national borders with ease. The impact and consequences of cybercrime are equally diverse and complex including damage to economies, integrity of governance, privacy, national security as well as personal well-being and security to name a few. This timely book provides a powerful combination of multidisciplinary and international expertise from academia and law enforcement sectors. Respected scholars of the book come from variety of global regions offering state of the art research and insights. Each chapter of the book is presented in a way that allows the reader to gain granular details of the subject area analysed therein. While the book does not cover all types of cybercrime (a formidable task which cannot be undertaken in a single volume), it provides important, authoritative and concise findings on contemporary and/or emerging cybercriminal acts and measures that are designed to counter them.
The book is divided into four interrelated thematic areas: victimisation, offending, governance, and security in cyberspace. Accordingly, essential questions pertaining to cybercrime which require urgent answers are addressed. For example, in Chapter 1, the following two questions are addressed:
 What are the factors that render businesses and charities a target of a cy- bercrime attack?
 What are the determinants of being a victim of cybercrime at the aggre- gate level?

The subsequent chapter provides findings related to serious damages caused by cybercrime on economic prosperity, collateral damage on its victims inter alia reputational damage, costs and fines, disruption to business activities and loss of productivity. Chapter 3 focuses on technology-facilitated sexual violence in higher education settings. After providing how this type of violence manifests itself in different forms, it explains the impact on its victims and offers recommendations to university leaders as to how to safeguard students and staff based on evidence-informed practice. Chapter 4 firstly offers a comprehensive literature review on identify theft and pinpoints the novel contribution the chapter makes this area of inquiry; it then provides a detailed analysis of vulnerabilities and necessary conditions pertaining to online identity theft. Chapter 5 turns our attention to yet another form of abuse, revenge porn, which has become more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic, an issue which predominantly affects women. The Republic of Ireland is the key jurisdiction examined in this chapter, where there is no specific revenge porn legislation. The chapter con- ducts a comparative analysis of the UK legislation on revenge porn and draws conclusions and recommendations which may be adopted in Ireland. Chapter 6 focuses on the impact of COVID-19Pandemic on cybercrime. This chapter examines how changes in individuals’ lifestyles effects the likelihood of being a victim of cybercrime. Crime Opportunity Perspective and Contextual Vulnerabilities Approaches are integrated to examine new opportunities created by ‘The New Normal’. In the final chapter of Part 1 of the book, authors compare the performance of different machine learning algorithms in cyberbullying detection by using natural language processing (NLP) techniques specific to the Turkish language and offer feasible methods to increase cyberbullying detection performance.
Proceeding to the theme of offending in cyberspace, Chapter 8 focuses on in- fringements on intellectual property rights in the cyberspace and presents key challenges in policing this type of crime. As an evolving and contemporary type of malfeasant activity, hacking is the key topic of Chapter 9 whereby the author presents the history of the term hacker and explains modus operandi of hacking and explores how the motivation for hacking has evolved over time. It is opined that historical study of this topic can provide context for the present debates and realign some of the misconceptions and our understandings of hackers. In doing so the chapter provides a clear analysis of the motivations behind hacking in different contexts.
Part 3 of the book starts with a chapter devoted to policing cyberspace. This chapter deconstructs the issue of police investigation by looking at police operations, the criminal justice system and other externalities to consider the suitabil- ity of police in cybercrime investigations. The comparison with intelligence agencies will highlight the gaps in concept, funding and methodology inherent in policing. It is concluded that without addressing these gaps, a counter cybercrime strategy is likely to have limited results. In Chapter 11, the focus is shift- ed to internet censorship and access blocks employed by the Great Fire Wall (GFW) in China. This study investigates a possible inequality of GFW bypass- ing. The author provides novel findings as to whether and to what extent GFW- bypassing netizens are more socio-economically advantaged in mainland China. In addition, the author explores whether GFW-bypassing netizens were more engaged in other kinds of “capital-enhancing” uses of the internet, specifically using the internet for work, learning and political expression. Following the theme of human right on information access, Chapter 12 considers the concepts of cybercrime and private life and right to privacy issues. After outlining the legal framework for the right to privacy and policing cybercrimes, the emerging methods/trends for combatting cybercrimes are analysed against the aforemen- tioned legal benchmarks. Chapter 13 addresses an important topic, digital foren- sics, which has been given scant attention in most publications. This chapter first outlines the evolution of digital forensics, before considering current prac- tical challenges. The chapter then looks to the near future by discussing efforts to reconfigure digital forensic work in the form of ‘Digital Forensics as a Ser- vice’, and also considers how sociological conceptual resources may assist in anticipating future developments. Chapter 14 is yet another novel aspect of this book which focuses on the regulation of cyberspace and cybercrime in Vietnam. After providing an overview of the development the relevant legal regime, the chapter critiques some of the key legal, technical and institutional challenges posed by the issue of cybersecurity in the light of Vietnam’s commitments under international trade law. The remaining three chapters of Part 4 of the book focus on security in cyberspace. Chapter 15 is devoted to threats posed by cyberattacks on the critical assets of nation states. The author aptly explains the variety of state and non-state actors behind such attacks and how multitude of high and low level of technical capabilities manifest themselves in lone-wolf and/or organised cybercrime and cyberterrorist organizations. The author puts forward the idea that cyberwarfare is underdeveloped and appropriate tools (cyberweapons) are needed to respond to such high-level threats and in cyber conflicts. Having considered the cybersecurity threats on states, Chapter 16 focuses on the cybersecurity threat landscape for private entities particularly business organisations. The author provides a series of procedural steps to be taken by such organisations in response to cyberattacks. Such ‘incidence responses’ include preparation, identification, containment, eradication, recovery and reporting. In the final chapter of this book, the predictors of and factors behind security intentions along with cyber continuance behaviour are critically examined by utilising the Protection Motivation Theory. In doing so, the authors not only identify the efficacy of the current approaches to cyber-safeguarding and security but also put forward suggestions for future research.
This book is relevant for researchers in criminology and criminal justice, inter- national and comparative law, sociology, public policy, and security studies.