The last twenty years have seen an explosion in the development of information technology, to the point that people spend a major portion of waking life in online spaces. While there are enormous benefits associated with this technology, there are also risks that can affect the most vulnerable in our society but also the most confident. Cybercrime and its victims explores the social construction of violence and victimisation in online spaces and brings together scholars from many areas of inquiry, including criminology, sociology, and cultural, media, and gender studies. The book is organised thematically into five parts. Part one addresses some broad conceptual and theoretical issues. Part two is concerned with issues relating to sexual violence, abuse, and exploitation, as well as to sexual expression online. Part three addresses issues related to race and culture. Part four addresses concerns around cyberbullying and online suicide, grouped together as ‘social violence’. The final part argues that victims of cybercrime are, in general, neglected and not receiving the recognition and support they need and deserve. It concludes that in the volatile and complex world of cyberspace continued awareness-raising is essential for bringing attention to the plight of victims. It also argues that there needs to be more support of all kinds for victims, as well as an increase in the exposure and punishment of perpetrators. Drawing on a range of pressing contemporary issues such as online grooming, sexting, cyber-hate, cyber-bulling and online radicalization, this book examines how cyberspace makes us more vulnerable to crime and violence, how it gives rise to new forms of surveillance and social control and how cybercrime can be prevented.

Designed to serve as a reference work for practitioners, academics, and scholars worldwide, this book is the first of its kind to explain complex cybercrimes from the perspectives of multiple disciplines (computer science, law, economics, psychology, etc.) and scientifically analyze their impact on individuals, society, and nations holistically and comprehensively. In particular, the book shows: How multiple disciplines concurrently bring out the complex, subtle, and elusive nature of cybercrimes How cybercrimes will affect every human endeavor, at the level of individuals, societies, and nations How to legislate proactive cyberlaws, building on a fundamental grasp of computers and networking, and stop reacting to every new cyberattack How conventional laws and traditional thinking fall short in protecting us from cybercrimes How we may be able to transform the destructive potential of cybercrimes into amazing innovations in cyberspace that can lead to explosive technological growth and prosperity

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.

Blackhatonomics explains the basic economic truths of the underworld of hacking, and why people around the world devote tremendous resources to developing and implementing malware. The book provides an economic view of the evolving business of cybercrime, showing the methods and motivations behind organized cybercrime attacks, and the changing tendencies towards cyber-warfare. Written by an exceptional author team of Will Gragido, Daniel J Molina, John Pirc and Nick Selby, Blackhatonomics takes practical academic principles and backs them up with use cases and extensive interviews, placing you right into the mindset of the cyber criminal. - Historical perspectives of the development of malware as it evolved into a viable economic endeavour - Country specific cyber-crime analysis of the United States, China, and Russia, as well as an analysis of the impact of Globalization on cyber-crime - Presents the behind the scenes methods used to successfully execute financially motivated attacks in a globalized cybercrime economy - Provides unique insights, analysis, and useful tools for justifying corporate information security budgets - Provides multiple points of view, from pure research, to corporate, to academic, to law enforcement - Includes real world cybercrime case studies and profiles of high-profile cybercriminals

In Russia, there are people who earn their living trading in personal information belonging to American citizens. They maintain websites where one can buy names, addresses, and Social Security and credit card numbers. Cybercrime flourishes? Both transnationally and within our own borders. It is time to arm ourselves with the information we need to remain safe. Cybercrime: Criminal Threats from Cyberspace is intended to explain two things: what cybercrime is and why the average citizen should care about it. To accomplish that task, the book offers an overview of cybercrime and an in-depth discussion of the legal and policy issues surrounding it. Enhancing her narrative with real-life stories, author Susan W. Brenner traces the rise of cybercrime from mainframe computer hacking in the 1950s to the organized, professional, and often transnational cybercrime that has become the norm in the 21st century. She explains the many different types of computer-facilitated crime, including identity theft, stalking, extortion, and the use of viruses and worms to damage computers, and outlines and analyzes the challenges cybercrime poses for law enforcement officers at the national and international levels. Finally, she considers the inherent tension between improving law enforcement`s ability to pursue cybercriminals and protecting the privacy of U.S. citizens.

In May 2021, Jim Gosler, known as the Godfather and commander of US agencies’ cyber offensive capability, said, ''Either the Intelligence Community (IC) would grow and adapt, or the Internet would eat us alive.'' Mr Gosler was speaking at his retirement only several months before the terrorist attacks of 9/11. He possibly did not realise the catalyst or the tsunami that he and his tens of thousands of US IC offensive website operatives had created and commenced. Over the last two decades, what Mr Gosler and his army of Internet keyboard warriors created would become the modus operandi for every faceless, nameless, state-sponsored or individual cybercriminal to replicate against an unwary, ill-protected, and ignorant group of executives and security professionals who knew little to nothing about the clandestine methods of infiltration and weaponisation of the Internet that the US and UK agencies led, all in the name of security. This book covers many cyber and ransomware attacks and events, including how we have gotten to the point of massive digital utilisation, particularly during the global lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic, to online spending that will see twice the monetary amount lost to cybercrime than what is spent online. There is little to no attribution, and with the IC themselves suffering cyberattacks, they are all blamed on being sophisticated ones, of course. We are witnessing the undermining of our entire way of life, our economies, and even our liberties. The IC has lots to answer for and unequivocally created the disastrous situation we are currently in. They currently have little to no answer. We need—no, we must demand—change. That change must start by ensuring the Internet and all connections to it are secure and no longer allow easy access and exfiltration for both the ICs and cybercriminals.

The Internet’s rapid diffusion and digitization of economic activities have led to the emergence of a new breed of criminals. Economic, political, and social impacts impacts of these cyber-criminals’ activities have received considerable attention in recent years. Individuals, businesses, and governments rightfully worry about the security of their systems, networks, and IT infrastructures. Looking at the patterns of cybercrimes, it is apparent that many underlying assumptions about crimes are ?awed, unrealistic, and implausible to explain this new form of criminality. The empirical records regarding crime patterns and stra- gies to avoid and ?ght crimes run counter to the functioning of the cyberworld. The ?elds of hacking and cybercrime have also undergone political, social, and psychological metamorphosis. The cybercrime industry is a comparatively young area of inquiry. While there has been an agreement that the global cybercrime industry is tremendously huge, little is known about its exact size and structure. Very few published studies have examined economic and institutional factors that in?uence strategies and behaviors of various actors associated with the cybercrime industry. Theorists are also debating as to the best way to comprehend the actions of cyber criminals and hackers and the symbiotic relationships they have with various players.