Cybercrime Victimization Research Articles

The Spatiotemporal Pattern and Driving Factors of Cyber Fraud Crime in China

As a typical cybercrime, cyber fraud poses severe threats to civilians’ property safety and social stability. Traditional criminological theories such as routine activity theory focus mainly on the effects of individual characteristics on cybercrime victimization and ignore the impacts of macro-level environmental factors. This study aims at exploring the spatiotemporal pattern of cyber fraud crime in China and investigating the relationships between cyber fraud and environmental factors. The results showed that cyber fraud crimes were initially distributed in southeastern China and gradually spread towards the middle and northern regions; spatial autocorrelation analysis revealed that the spatial concentration trend of cyber fraud became more and more strong, and a strong distinction in cyber fraud clustering between the north and the south was identified. To further explain the formative causes of these spatial patterns, a generalized additive model (GAM) was constructed by incorporating natural and social environmental factors. The results suggested that the distribution of cyber fraud was notably affected by the regional economy and population structure. Also, the high incidence of cyber fraud crime was closely associated with a large nonagricultural population, a high proportion of tertiary industry in GDP, a large number of general college students, a longer cable length, and a large numbers of internet users.

Cybercrime Victimization and Problematic Social Media Use: Findings from a Nationally Representative Panel Study

According to criminological research, online environments create new possibilities for criminal activity and deviant behavior. Problematic social media use (PSMU) is a habitual pattern of excessive use of social media platforms. Past research has suggested that PSMU predicts risky online behavior and negative life outcomes, but the relationship between PSMU and cybercrime victimization is not properly understood. In this study, we use the framework of routine activity theory (RAT) and lifestyle-exposure theory (LET) to examine the relationship between PSMU and cybercrime victimization. We analyze how PSMU is linked to cybercrime victimization experiences. We explore how PSMU predicts cybercrime victimization, especially under those risky circumstances that generally increase the probability of victimization. Our data come from nationally representative surveys, collected in Finland in 2017 and 2019. The results of the between-subjects tests show that problematic PSMU correlates relatively strongly with cybercrime victimization. Within-subjects analysis shows that increased PSMU increases the risk of victimization. Overall, the findings indicate that, along with various confounding factors, PSMU has a notable cumulative effect on victimization. The article concludes with a short summary and discussion of the possible avenues for future research on PSMU and cybercrime victimization.

Comparing the victimization impact of cybercrime and traditional crime

This paper addresses the importance of building knowledge on the impact of cybercrime victimization. Because the topic is understudied, it is unclear whether the impact of cybercrime differs from that of traditional crime. Our understanding of potential impact differences needs to be improved, considering that society and criminality are digitizing and, consequently, more people are likely to become victims of cybercrime. From a practical perspective, knowledge about the impact of different crimes is important to develop victim policies within law enforcement and other relevant agencies, and to treat victims appropriately. In this paper, a literature review is provided, as well as future research directions to address the current knowledge gap. The future research directions are divided in three topics: (1) distinguishing between cybercrime and traditional crime, (2) classifying cybercrime and traditional crime, and (3) measuring the victimization impact of cybercrime and traditional crime.

How financial services firms can mitigate the next wave of attacks

Every organisation operating in the world today is a potential victim of cybercrime. However, financial services (FS) firms are a particularly tempting target for those looking to make a profit. This is neither a surprising nor a new concept. Throughout history, the FS sector has been relentlessly targeted by criminals, whether it's the traditional bank robbers of old or the hackers of today, stealing millions through phishing and ransomware attacks.

Cyber Crime Investigation: Landscape, Challenges, and Future Research Directions

As technology has become pivotal a part of life, it has also become a part of criminal life. Criminals use new technology developments to commit crimes, and investigators must adapt to these changes. Many people have, and will become, victims of cybercrime, making it even more important for investigators to understand current methods used in cyber investigations. The two general categories of cyber investigations are digital forensics and open-source intelligence. Cyber investigations are affecting more than just the investigators. They must determine what tools they need to use based on the information that the tools provide and how effectively the tools and methods work. Tools are any application or device used by investigators, while methods are the process or technique of using a tool. This survey compares the most common methods available to investigators to determine what kind of evidence the methods provide, and which of them are the most effective. To accomplish this, the survey establishes criteria for comparison and conducts an analysis of the tools in both mobile digital forensic and open-source intelligence investigations. We found that there is no single tool or method that can gather all the evidence that investigators require. Many of the tools must be combined to be most effective. However, there are some tools that are more useful than others. Out of all the methods used in mobile digital forensics, logical extraction and hex dumps are the most effective and least likely to cause damage to the data. Among those tools used in open-source intelligence, natural language processing has more applications and uses than any of the other options.

UNDERSTANDING CYBERCRIME AND YOUTH: A PERCEPTION BASED APPROACH

In recent years, the issue of cybercrime has overwhelmed everyone who is related to the internet in any capacity. Recent studies have shown that the incidents of cybercrime vastly involve youngsters, which has serious consequences for them as victims and as cyber offenders. The existing body of knowledge related to cybercrime focus upon various issues of internet in general and social media in particular. However, a thorough approach on the issues of cybercrime with relevance to youth is missing. Therefore, this study tries to fill this gap by offering youth and victim-based approach on the issues pertaining to cybercrime. For attaining this purpose, qualitative research approach was adopted in conducting this research project. Semi structured interviews were conducted with 40 young victims of cybercrime. The respondents were recruited through purposive sampling from district Peshawar of 18 to 25 years of age. Furthermore, the respondents were recruited from three clusters of district Peshawar namely Gul Bahar, Hayat Abad, and University town. Various dimensions of cybercrime and involvement of youth as victims and as criminals were explored. It can be concluded that the youth mostly experience cybercrime in the form of cyber bullying, blackmailing and hacking. Further, the findings suggest that many youngsters make their choices on social media and internet without being aware of cybercrimes and thus succumbed to cyber criminals. The participants also reiterated that lack of proper restrictions and policing have created a crime friendly zone for cyber criminals. Based on the findings and participant views, it is recommended that the government, relevant bodies, institutions, and all stake holders including youth should come forward and help in developing a research and technology driven policy backed by separate cybercrime policing system. Key Words: Cyber space, Cybercrime, Victimization, Cybercriminal, Youth

LEOBAT: Lightweight encryption and OTP based authentication technique for securing IoT networks

AbstractAuthentication is one of the foremost pillars in the Internet of Things (IoT) security that authenticates the identity of a device or a person with the help of a unique identification number. If authentication is compromised then an intruder can gain access and launch a variety of attacks on the network. The world of IoT devices is benefiting us in many ways, but the vulnerability of becoming a victim of cybercrime is also increasing at a rapid pace. This research paper proposes an authentication‐based solution for designing a secure communication network to ensure safe access to data and stop attackers from any unauthorized access to various IoT applications using cryptography and cloud computing. The proposed work is then compared with other popular cryptosystems such as Secure Internet of Things (SIT), Data Encryption Standard (DES) and Blowfish. LEOBAT is simulated using MATLAB and proves to be a fast and efficient authentication technique.

Simulation of cyber threats for the Internet of Things

The modern world is impossible to imagine without information technology. Such technologies are based on the use of computer equipment and means of communication. Both in the real world and in the virtual world, there are crimes called "cybercrimes". Thus, energy facilities, transport systems, financial and banking structures, military and law enforcement agencies, trade, medical and scientific institutions are potential victims of cybercrime, including cyberterrorism. Surveillance cameras, motion sensors, biochips, smart appliances - all these things simplify our daily lives and make our modern life more comfortable. As the number of devices connected to the network grows, so does the number of cyber threats. For example, the smart refrigerator became part of the botnet and began to spread spam, and the smart coffee machine was the cause of the attack on industrial networks with the subsequent infection of computers. The Internet of Things, which in turn is simple and difficult to implement, also has some problems with information security. Sometimes developers, intentionally or unintentionally, leave an undocumented channel, which not only collects information about the use of the device, but also allows you to penetrate into the personal space of the end user. In case of personal data leakage, the purpose of fraudsters is usually personal data: names, postal addresses, e-mail addresses, credit card details or account information. This allows you to order goods online under someone else's name and pay for them using someone else's debit card or debiting a certain account. For the same purpose, phishing can be used, which involves the use of fictitious websites, e-mails or text messages to access personal data.

Awareness towards cybercrime among secondary school students: the role of gender and school management

PurposeThe study aims to determine the cybercrime awareness among secondary school students with reference to their gender and school management type.Design/methodology/approachFor the purpose, a sample of 100 students from secondary schools situated in Lucknow city, state of Uttar Pradesh, India was selected. To obtain initial data from the respondents and to determine the cybercrime awareness categories a five-point Likert type cybercrime awareness rating scale exclusively constructed to fulfil the purpose of this study was used to determine the cybercrime awareness in five categories viz; excellent, high, above average, average, below average and low cybercrime awareness. Further, “t” test was used to analyse the difference between the means of groups.FindingsResults revealed that gender (male and female) and type of school management (government and self-finance) are not significant predictors of cybercrime awareness among secondary school students.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is limited to the government and self-finance English medium schools of Lucknow city, state of Uttar Pradesh, India.Practical implicationsPolicymakers, various societies involved in investigating cyber behavior/child computer interaction/safer communities, etc. should consider that school management is not a predictor of cybercrime along with gender and can look for other possible visible and latent factors affecting cybercrime awareness among students while formulating a policy or designing a course/prevention program for secondary school students.Social implicationsSchool administration should consider the existing gender and school management roles of the present scenario to make effective policies for the students and providing them effective cybercrime prevention programs and activities. Also, parents can adequately understand the role of school management type and gender of their belongings to understand their cybercrime awareness and take necessary measures accordingly.Originality/valueThe paper is focused on the cybercrime awareness of secondary school students and how their gender and school management type affects their cybercrime awareness. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is first of its kind which investigates the role of school management in cybercrime awareness of the students. As the education sector is depending more and more on the cyber world, this paper is of the great significance for the safety of education sector, organizations and communities involved in making the policies and designing the curriculum to avoid students being a victim of cybercrime and to make education sector a safer community.

Exploring The Correlation between Cyber Security Awareness, Protection Measures and the State of Victimhood: The Case Study of Ambo University’s Academic Staffs

The advancement of information communication technology has triggered a revolution in using the Internet for legitimate educational purposes on university campuses. Therefore, the Internet has changed the way of human communication and contributed to the development of mankind. On the other hand it is regrettable that its revolution has helped malicious users to exploit it for the malign purpose to commit a cyberspace crime that has in turn negatively affected fellow users who were preyed on by cyber predators. This work aimed to examine the awareness of cybersecurity, the measures taken to protect against cyberattacks and the state of victimization among professors at Ambo University. Thus, the present study comes up with the following findings. First, the result shows that the respondents’ cybersecurity awareness was significantly influenced by cyber-crime victimization, fields of study, and protection measures. Second, the current study also depicts that the respondents’ protection measures were connected to and influenced by cyber-crime victimization, education level, and cyber-security awareness. Finally, the study’s findings show that being a cyber-crime victim has been linked to predictors’ variables: protection measures and the level of cybersecurity awareness.

Cyber Crimes and Cyber Laws : A Perspective of Women Victimization

Women from all the parts of society are facing cybercrime against them. Being a victim of cyber crime, women experiences several psychological impact which deeply effects their life. Sometimes they even commit suicide. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has reported increased rate of cyber crime against women in the last few years. Cyber crime against women takes place in the form of cyber defamation, sexual harassment and abuse, email-misrepresentation and so forth . Cyber crime itself is traumatic for women to deal with and on the other side the challenges that are encountered by a women to proceed for a legal action against the culprit is also matter of concern for them. This research paper is an attempt to discuss upon the various types of cybercrimes that are inflicted upon women in India. It is also brief analysis of the legal rights of women to protect against cyber crime, its application and challenges that are experienced by women to get those rights.

The Protection of Children against Cybercrimes and Cyberbullying: International and European Obligations to Criminalize and the Uncertain Prospects of their Implementation in the Italian Legal System

Abstract The increasing use of the internet by minors has made public the risk they run of becoming victims of serious cyber-crime. This awareness has led to the adoption of binding and soft-law instruments in the field of International and EU law aimed at combating new forms of crime and protecting minors in the cyberspace. This paper, after having critically analysed the main acts adopted at International and EU level, focuses on their implementation in the Italian legal system. In doing so, cybercrimes committed by adults against children and those committed among peers will be separately considered. The study shows that, despite the legislator’s attempt to carry out the obligations deriving from International and EU Law, there are still several critical profiles in the national law.

The effect of digital mass media on mental health of children and youth

The article considers the impact of digital media on mental health of children and the youth based on the analysis of studies of national and foreign researchers. On the one hand, the application of information technologies by children and the youth is related to requirements of actual reality that allows them to be active and independent in virtual space and contributes to development of special skills and abilities, exchange of knowledge and experience, broadens scope of interests. On the other hand, the information media establish conditions of high risk for health. The article presents the results of an empirical study, carried out in 2019 at the Balashov Institute of the Saratov State University. The questionnaire survey was applied to sampling of 386 respondents to identify the relationship between the amount of time spent online by young people and the feeling of loneliness. The study discovered that the higher is the user Internet activity that is not accompanied by sense of satisfaction, the higher is the level of frustration and loneliness. The problem areas are identified that make it difficult to ensure the effective safety of users and the timely identification of threats to their mental health: the shortage and fragmentation of scientific research; the ambiguity of opinions of expert community regarding the impact of digital technologies on the development of children and adolescents; the complexity of social control of online users due to their social demographic and sociocultural heterogeneity; the conflict of interests between providers, business structures, advertisers and other subjects of virtual reality and underage users; low level of internet literacy of parents and teachers. All these factors hinder the development of adequate technologies of early detection, prevention and support of victims of cyberaggression or cybercrimes.

Cyber-victimization Trends in Trinidad & Tobago: The Results of An Empirical Research

Cybertechnology has brought benefits to the Caribbean in the form of new regional economic and social growth. In the last years, Caribbean countries have also become attractive targets for cybercrime due to increased economic success and online presence with a low level of cyber resilience. This study examines the online-related activities that affect cybercrime victimization by using the Routine Activity Theory (RAT). The present study seeks to identify activities that contribute to different forms of cybercrime victimization and develop risk models for these crimes, particularly the understudied cyber-dependent crimes of Hacking and Malware. It also aims to explore if there are similarities or differences in factors leading to victimization, which correlate to the classification of crimes as either cyber-dependent or cyber-enabled. The data analysis suggests that there is significant applicability for RAT in explaining Online Harassment victimization, while the usability of the RAT for predicting Malware victimization proved to be minimal, with only two significant variables being identified, with both being associated with Capable Guardianship.

Smartphone Addiction and Cybercrime Victimization in the Context of Lifestyles Routine Activities and Self-Control Theories: The User's Dual Vulnerability Model of Cybercrime Victimization.

(1) Background: This paper combines lifestyle-routine activities (L-RAT) and self-control (SCT) theories along with the literature on smartphone addiction in a joint model that addresses the multiple vulnerabilities that make the smartphone user a potential victim of cybercrime. This model, which we call the dual vulnerability model of cybercrime victimization, was subjected to empirical testing on a nationally representative sample of smartphone users. (2) Methods: Data from 2837 participants from a nationally representative sample of Spanish smartphone users were modeled using Mplus causal modeling software. (3) Results: The results of the study confirm the predictions of L-RAT and SCT in explaining cybercrime victimization (higher cybercrime victimization under conditions of high exposure, proximity, and suitability, relative absence of capable guardian, and low self-control). A significant effect of smartphone addiction on cybercrime victimization was also observed above and beyond L-RAT and SCT predictors. (4) Conclusions: The potential victim of cybercrime presents a double vulnerability, on the one hand, those identified by criminological theories such as L-RAT and SCT, and on the other hand, those derived from the deregulated-addicted use of the Internet access device (smartphone in our work).

Research Note: An Investigation of Cybercrime Victims’ Reporting Behavior

Abstract Even though the dark number is especially high for cybercrimes, it is unclear by whom and to whom cybercrime is reported. Therefore, this study will answer the following questions: (1) who reports cybercrime incidents, and (2) to whom do victims report cybercrime? Analyses based on survey data including 334 recent cybercrime victims, indicate that 73.4% of victims do not report the incident. Cybercrime victims who do report are significantly older. In addition, 40.4% of the reporting victims notified the police, while others contacted a wide diversity of organizations. Based on these results, awareness raising campaigns should especially encourage young victims to report cybercrime incidents to the police. It would moreover be useful to appoint and promote a more centralized reporting channel.

Los menores víctimas de la ciberdelincuencia, medidas preventivas en el ámbito internacional

El presente artículo identificó las medidas preventivas adoptadas en el ámbito internacional para la protección de los menores de edad víctimas de ciberdelitos. Se utilizó un enfoque cualitativo, se conocen estadísticas de ciberdelitos a nivel mundial. Se utilizó el método de análisis, jurídico deductivo, ya que se reflexiona en cuanto al uso de dichas medidas. Se constató que los instrumentos internacionales se centran más en la respuesta y sanción, sin embargo, vemos que han surgido medidas preventivas que protegen a menores de edad contra los ciberdelitos: Declaración de Río 2008; SaferNet; programa ThinkUKnow; Línea de ayuda a los menores a través del número 116111, las cuales han sido impulsadas por la Organización de Naciones Unidas; Brasil; Reino Unido y la organización internacional I-Safe4; Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones; Cumbre Mundial sobre la Sociedad de la Información (CMSI) celebrada en Túnez en noviembre de 2005.

The Psychological and Financial Impact of Cybercrime Victimization: A Novel Application of the Shattered Assumptions Theory

While criminality is digitizing, a theory-based understanding of the impact of cybercrime on victims is lacking. Therefore, this study addresses the psychological and financial impact of cybercrime on victims, applying the shattered assumptions theory (SAT) to predict that impact. A secondary analysis was performed on a representative data set of Dutch citizens ( N = 33,702), exploring the psychological and financial impact for different groups of cybercrime victims. The results showed a higher negative impact on emotional well-being for victims of person-centered cybercrime, victims for whom the offender was an acquaintance, and victims whose financial loss was not compensated and a lower negative impact on emotional well-being for victims with a higher income. The study led to novel scientific insights and showed the applicability of the SAT for developing hypotheses about cybercrime victimization impact. In this study, most hypotheses had to be rejected, leading to the conclusion that more work has to be done to test the applicability of the SAT in the field of cybercrime. Furthermore, policy implications were identified considering the prioritization of and approach to specific cybercrimes, treatment of victims, and financial loss compensation.

Cybercrime victims: victim policy through a vulnerability lens

Many initiatives in England and Wales (EW MOJ, 2015) and demonstrates how current victim policy is ill suited to providing an adequate response to victims of cybercrime. Secondly, it introduces Fineman’s (2008; 2017) vulnerability theory as a lens to better understand cybercrime vulnerability. Finally, with reference to three scenarios based on real cases reported in Wales, it shows how a broader vulnerability framework provides a lens through which to identify areas for intervention, aimed at increasing victim resilience are addressing victims’ immediate needs, in E&W and beyond.

Causes and Effects of Cyber-Crime Victimization among Educated Youth: A Study of BZU, Multan

Causes and Effects of Cyber-Crime Victimization among Educated Youth: A Study of BZU, Multan