Cybercrime

Cybercrime studies crime that involves computers and networks — its forms, offenders, victims, and control.

Scope

It covers computer-focused and computer-assisted crime, online fraud and abuse, cybersecurity and policing of cyberspace, and digital evidence.

Core questions

• What new forms of crime do networks enable?
• How do cyber-offenders operate?
• How is cybercrime policed across borders?
• Is cybercrime fundamentally new or old crime in new form?

Key concepts

• Cybercrime
• Online fraud
• Hacking
• Cybersecurity
• Digital evidence
• Transnational crime

Key theories

Transformation of crime

Wall analysed how networked technology transforms the scale and nature of crime.

Old wine in new bottles?

Grabosky asked whether cybercrime is genuinely novel or familiar crime in a new medium.

History

Cybercrime studies emerged with the internet, theorizing how networks transform crime (Wall) and debating its novelty (Grabosky), now central to criminology and security.

Debates

Is cybercrime new?

Whether networked crime requires new theories or extends existing criminological concepts.

Key figures

• David Wall
• Peter Grabosky

Seminal works

• wall-2007
• grabosky-2001

Frequently asked questions

What is cybercrime?

Crime that targets or uses computers and networks, ranging from hacking to online fraud and abuse.