A Sociological Perspective of Cybercrime - Essay Example

Running Head: Cybercrime: A Sociological perspective A nasty and fast growing aspect compute technology facingsociety, the business community and governments the world over is cybercrime. As technology continues to grow, even criminals are enhancing their tricks. Media coverage of the WikiLeaks for instance provoked everyone to focus on the state of vulnerability that corporate and governments are placed in by criminals working online. Retail and financial organizations are not spared by the growing menace of cyber; MasterCard international, PayPal and Amazon are some organizations that have encountered the threat of cyber crime recently. There is therefore no doubt that this form of deviance is on the rise and it causes a lot of inconvenience as well as damage to the society’s well being. it is therefore important that we understand how cybercriminals affect society. The term cybercrime is a broad one and is used in reference to crime computer on a computer, some hardware or the internet. Cybercrime has been identified as the fastest growing form of criminal behavior on earth. It covers so many illegal activities which included but not limited to cyber bullying, financial fraud, traditional hacking, distribution of pornography, spread of computer viruses, creation of websites for spread of hate and trading in economic secretes. Academic institutions have also seen a rise in criminal behavior related to technology; students are forging admission papers, hacking institutional systems to access classified information such as examinations, falsifying fees receipts and even certificates. The trend is worrisome and shows the how technology despite its many benefits to society is aiding the deterioration of moral standards in the same society. The kind and rise of criminal behavior aided by the internet and technology is alarming and calls for measures to curb its continuing proliferation. Illegal activities taking place on the internet have escalated and significantly altered the structure of society. Criminals are going to the internet with the aim of hacking into government systems, company systems or even stalking on others to obtain important information for financial benefits. Sociologically such behavior can be explained by the very nature of our society in which inequality is rife and as such some of the criminals do this to earn a living. In some cases the behavior is perpetrated by employees who are disgruntled with their employers and would like to revenge. There is also the aspect of terrorism where terror groups target government systems in order to gain access to secretes and use the same to cause harm (Pinguelo and Muller, 2011). In economic perspectives there are also those criminals targeting organizations with the aim of obtaining important operation information such as formulas and strategies which they then trade for financial gains. Some employees who are not satisfied with the remuneration offered by their employers who leave for other jobs may work in cahoots with other individuals to harm organizations significantly. The objective is almost the same for individuals engaging in card fraud targeting bank systems as well as cards belonging to individuals. Social engineering is used by the criminals to obtain useful information either from non-suspecting employees or card owners themselves which is used to access bank systems or produce duplicate cards enabling financial theft. This comes with a lot of negative ramifications such as financial loss, stress, depression and sometimes legal suits. In terms of media coverage, we see a lot happening on television, newspapers, radio stations and other magazines in terms cybercrime. The WikiLeaks case for instance as well as recent attacks on banks and organizations such as PayPal and MasterCard have received a lot of media coverage. Mainstream media began publishing cybercrime issues such as malicious spread of viruses, sexual abuse and hacking in the 1980s and this led to a radical change in terms of public view of the behavior. As a result of media coverage the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was passed outlawing such behavior targeting government systems and computers. a dominant message especially for businesses is the need to be aware of internal disgruntled employees who may leak organizational information to outsiders or work in collaboration or even individually to perpetrate fraud (Rodgers and Smoak, 2006). The media has also been on the forefront in highlighting cases of cyber criminology and educating the public about its effects as well as trends. A lot of awareness was attained in the 90s with increase in usage of the internet. But the behavior continues to rise; today crime committed electronically has grown so widespread and profitable that it looks normal. Cases of online merchandisers not delivering products to their clients after payments have been made are o the rise. Media again plays a very important role of educating the public on how to go about when purchasing things online. a research in 2008 revealed to American consumers that 66% of individuals engaging in cybercriminolgy were male and most of them resided in California. California alone accounted for 14.7% of the criminals while Columbia District suffered the most effect. Nationally the US accounted toe 65.4% of the global cybercrime incidents. Turning to sociological theories may be helpful in understanding the motivations behind crime and in this case cybercrime for the benefit of public policy. According to the structural-functional theory, in order to curb crime governments need to enact legislations and put in places organizational frameworks for the implementation of the same. The united has enacted acts such as the CAN-SPAM act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the president has stressed that cybercrime is among the biggest economic challenges the nation and cyber security is important economic prosperity. Marxian theory on the other hand holds that what is regarded criminal activity is just mere actions that do not favor interests of elites and as such crime will seize with the disappearance of capitalism. Most cybercriminals think the Marxist way; it is their source of daily bread in the tough economic times whose repercussions must be borne by the elite. In many instances criminals are motivated by lack of employment, inequalities in society and the desire to attain better socio-economic class enjoyed by others whom they think can’t justify their opulence. Finally the theory of Technology-Enable Crime offers a platform for our understanding of criminality especially in the ICT perspective. Globalization, rise of emerging economies, the digital information era, increased used of internet and mobile technology, advent of e-commerce and electronic payments permits individuals to transact business with agencies of government. Although beneficial to society, this comes with its risks such as the online fraud we see in e-commerce, financial harassment, and identity theft, scandals involving employment, phishing expeditions and many others. In conclusion therefore, cybercrime is real and the society must find a way of addressing it before it escalates to the level of completely harm our peace. It poses a huge threat to national economies, peaceful coexistence in society and ultimately the security of nations and individuals. This creates a significant for reviewing existing and enacting more laws to deal with cybercriminals. It also necessitates the existence of mutual relationships between organization, the ICT sector, government agencies and civil society groups so as to firm the legal strategies against cybercrime. Most important is the fact that increasing occurrence of crimes such as cybercrime can never be dissociated with inequality in income distribution, widespread poverty and the tough economic times. References. . 1. Fernando M. Pinguelo and Bradford W. Muller. (2011). Virtual Crimes, Real Damages: A Primer on Cybercrimes in the United States and Efforts to Combat Cybercriminals. University of Virginia. Virginia Journal of Las and Technology; Vol. 16, No. 01. Retrieved at: http://ellblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/PingueloUVA%20JoLT%20Spring%202011.pdf 2. Mar D. Goodman and Susan W. Brenner. (2002). The Emerging Consensus on Criminal Conduct in Cyberspace. UCLA. Available at: http://www.lawtechjournal.com/articles/2002/03_020625_goodmanbrenner.pdf 3. Rodgers, M.K., Smoak, N., l. (2006). Self Reported Criminal Computer Behavior: A Big-5 Moral Choice and Manipulative Exploitive Behavior Analysis. Journal of Deviant Behavior, 27(3), 245-268 4. Yar M. (2005). The Novelty of Cybercrime: An Assessment in Light of Routine Activity Theory. Eur. J. Criminal. 2(4): 407-427. Read More