Organized Crime and National Security

Abstract

While much of cybercrime is committed by individuals acting alone, a significant amount is accomplished by offenders acting in concert. These groups have tended to vary significantly in terms of their structures, their goals, the criminal activities in which they engage, and their organizational life courses. The nature of these collectivities, and the question of whether cybercrime constitutes a threat, are the subjects of this essay. The answer will depend on one’s definitions of national security and organized cybercrime. Each of these concepts is problematic; the meaning of has been stretched significantly in recent years, while conceptions of crime (terrestrial or in cyberspace) have been overly narrow. The essay concludes that some forms of cybercrime can indeed threaten security, both in a more conventional sense and in ways previously overlooked.