NCJ Number
222477
Date Published
2008
Length
224 pages
Annotation
This literature review focuses on research pertinent to the characteristics of high-tech crimes and their perpetrators, expectations for the future, and current research gaps.
Abstract
The research shows the difficulty in defining the nature and scope of high-tech crime. The distinctive features of high-tech crime are difficult to define, given the close relationship between traditional crime defined in current law (such as fraud and theft) and advanced information/communication technologies (ICT) and digital technologies. This poses the need to distinguish between the crime itself, its tools/methods of commission, and the context in which it occurred. For the current review "high-tech crime" is the umbrella term that refers to a range of criminal activities that use ICT. These crimes may target individuals, property, and organizations by using ICT as a means, or electronic communication networks and information systems, with ICT being both the means and the objective. What distinguishes these crimes is their reliance on or targeting of activities based in the use of ICT. Within the concept of "high-tech crime," this review distinguishes "cyber crime" and "computer crime." "Cyber crime" refers to legal communication and covert shielding, illegal trade, economic and financial crime, and illegal communication. "Computer crime" refers to unauthorized access to ICT, ICT failure due to data traffic, ICT failure due to data and system manipulation, and service performers. Research on each of these types of crime is reviewed. A review of the literature on the characteristics of perpetrators of high-tech crime concludes that there is very little research on this topic. The information currently available is generally superficial, unstructured, and limited. In some cases it is based on anecdotes and hypotheses whose reliability and validity are difficult or impossible to establish through empirical research. 259 references