Some Aspects of Using the Concept of «the Internet of Things» in Crime Counteraction

Abstract

The author states that the era of the Internet of Things has come. It is noted that Russian law publications do not pay sufficient attention to the practical issues of law enforcement that arise from the implementation of the Internet of Things, specifically, criminalistic research and the use of smart things by law enforcement bodies. This study a first attempt at a general criminalistic analysis of implementing the concept of the Internet of Things in Russian research publications. While analyzing the practical implementation of this concept, the author concludes that it is necessary not just to single out a smart house, a smart car or smart things as different categories, but to unite them into a system of smart environment. It is noted that the elements of the public sphere of application for the Internet of Things deserve separate studies, while this article will only focus on everyday application. Modern obstacles to a large-scale implementation of the Internet of Things are identified. The criminalistic research of the Internet of Things and smart environment makes it possible to identify key systems that modern appliances form in this sphere, requirements to them, subsystems of a smart house, functions of smart cars and gadgets. It is stated that the criminalistic research of the subsystems of smart environment is possible with the help of scientific criminalistic findings in the sphere of electronic digital traces and electronic evidence. Key points of finding these traces are identified. The author methodically analyzes the kinds of criminalistically relevant information that could be obtained through the examination of sensors and the memory of smart things, a smart car and a smart house. The author also determines the functions whose analysis is vital for collecting evidentiary and orientation information. It is stated that all information from sensors and information devices is, in the end, accumulated in the management center, as well as in cloud and network services servers that work with the Internet of Things. It is stressed that all interactions with electronic digital traces in the devices that implement the concept of the Internet of Things should happen with the participation of a specialist to avoid a loss of data.