Module 3 Reinvention of crime tools cybercrimes
In this Assignment, you will select a traditional crime that can now be accomplished with the use of technology and compare the two ways of committing the crime.
Week 3: The Reinvention of Crime: Tool Cybercrimes
Although the days of bank heists may never completely end, more and more offenders are finding that stealing from banks online is easier and safer than trying to tunnel under a bank and hack into the vault. Even the most sophisticated bank heists usually end in the apprehension of the thieves because offenders leave behind traceable evidence such as DNA, fingerprints, or appearing on security video footage. Cybercrime, for the skilled technician, can provide anonymity, and the payouts can be amazingly large. The computer can become a tool in committing crimes, or it can be a pathway to finding specific types of victims.
A stranger stalker may use social media venues to locate victims and gather information. Another offender may find the Internet to be a great place to steal identities from unsuspecting victims. The opportunities for someone to use computers for criminal activity are only limited by the imagination of the offender, and the Internet has become a virtual hub for such activities. In fact, violent crime rates in the United States have been dropping for several years, yet the toll of non-violent crimes now runs into hundreds of billions of dollars. Bernie Madoff, the perpetrator of one of largest Ponzi schemes in history, used the Internet as a tool to con thousands of people out of billions of dollars in investments. This is only one of the many examples of offenders using the Internet as a tool in their schemes.
This week, you will focus on the making of cybercriminals, the types of crimes in which they engage, and how offenders are learning to think and behave in a digital world full of opportunities for criminal activity. You will also compare traditional crimes to those perpetrated via the Internet.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Compare traditional crime and cybercrime
Analyze statistics on cybercrime trends
Analyze the role of the Internet in changing the act of committing crime
Learning Resources
REQUIRED READINGS
Brenner, S. W. (2010). Cybercrime: Criminal threats from cyberspace. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
Chapter 5, “Tool Cybercrimes: Fraud, Harassment … Murder?” (pp. 73–102)
Jordan, T. (2016). A genealogy of hacking. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. doi:10.1177/1354856516640710
A genealogy of hacking by Jordan, T. in Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, April 6, 2016. Copyright 2016 by Sage Publications, Ltd. Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Ltd. via the Copyright Clearance Center.
Lavorgna, A. (2015). The online trade in counterfeit pharmaceuticals: New criminal opportunities, trends and challenges. European Journal of Criminology, 12(2), 226–241. doi:10.1177/1477370814554722
Laybats, C. & Tredinnick, L. (2016). Information security. Business Information Review, 33(2), 76–80. doi:10.1177/0266382116653061
Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2016). Cybercrime. Retrieved from http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=41
U.S. Department of Justice: Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2015). 2015 Internet crime report. Retrieved from https://pdf.ic3.gov/2015_IC3Report.pdf
Assignment: Then Versus Now
Mr. Carter is a convicted serial rapist. He would see women at work and follow them to their homes. He used burglar tools to break in while the victims were at work and then came back late at night entering through a window he had unlocked the day before. This was his modus operandi (Howton, 1994). Today, cybercrime has changed how Mr. Carter might have committed his crimes: He could now easily locate potential victims online, gather information about them in chat rooms or social media, and locate their home addresses, all from his computer. Cybercrime has increasingly become a venue for criminal thinking and criminal behavior. What crimes do you see being committed via the Internet?
In this Assignment, you will select a traditional crime that can now be accomplished with the use of technology and compare the two ways of committing the crime.
To prepare for this Assignment:
Select one cybercrime that was once accomplished in a traditional manner. You may choose stalking, extortion, or murder.
Research how these crimes have evolved into cybercrimes.
Consider the planning, research, execution, and cover up of the crime and how these areas have changed with the expansion of technology. Also, consider the scope and depth of cybercrime, in general.
The Assignment:
Write a 2- to 3-page paper that includes the following:
Identify the crime that you selected and compare the traditional crime (pre-computer) to the cybercrime version.
Explain the specific ways in which your chosen crime has changed with the evolution of technology. Include both qualitative and quantitative analyses, as well as statistics on cybercrime versus traditional crime.
BY DAY 7
Complete and submit the activity.
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Grading Criteria
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Assignment Rubric
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Submit Your Assignment by Day 7
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Week 3 Assignment
Answer preview in this Assignment, you will select a traditional crime that can now be accomplished with the use of technology and compare the two ways of committing the crime.
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