CybercrimeCybercrime encompasses any criminal act dealing with computers and networks.
Cybercrimes have been defined as offences that are committed against individuals or groups of individuals with a criminal motive to intentionally harm the reputation of the victim or cause physical harm to the victim directly or indirectly, using modern telecommunication networks such as the Internet (emails, chat rooms, notice boards and groups) and mobile phones (SMS/MMS) (Halder and Jaishankar, 2011). These crimes may pose a threat to a nation’s security and financial health. Issues surrounding cybercrimes such as copyright infringement, child pornography, cracking and child grooming, have become high-profile. Also, problems of privacy arise when confidential information is lost or intercepted, lawfully or otherwise. Cybercrime is one of the most rapid growing areas of crime. The speed, convenience and anonymity that modern technologies offer are being exploited more and more by criminals in order to commit a wide and diverse range of criminal activities. These include attacks against computer data and systems, identity theft, internet auction fraud, the penetration of online financial services, as well as the deployment of viruses, Botnets, and various email scams. |