CRIM2206 Cybercrime and Society

For all of human history, people have used technology to make their lives easier. Today, this is just as true if not more so as we enter "the information age." In this era, the internet is often the common denominator which these technologies are built upon. Cyberspace is an immense realm that facilitates communications and actions in a vast array of everyday applications. Unfortunately, the opportunities afforded by the internet can also be used for nefarious purposes. This module looks at some of the many crimes which use ICT systems, either fully or in part, to commission a criminal activity and the difficulties in developing responses to these crimes domestically and internationally.

This topic aims to:

• Introduce students to criminological dimensions vis-a-vis cybercrime
• Provide opportunity for students to develop open-source research skills
• Introduce students to various cybercrimes, the actors involved, and how law enforcement investigates them
• Appreciate the rapid social and technological changes that are ongoing due to changes in internet capabilities, shifts in technological adaptation, and how societies adopt those technologies to their lives

1. Describe how cyber technology is, and can be, used to facilitate the commission of crimes
2. Think critically regarding the development of technology and the vulnerabilities it has in terms of facilitating crime
3. Explain the complexities and challenges in accurately identify victims and offenders of cybercrime
4. Assess costs and potential costs of different cybercrimes
5. Evaluate how specific cybercrimes are or are not extensions of existing crimes
6. Use open-source materials to assess past and unfolding events
7. Communicate clearly and succinctly for generalist audiences