NCJ Number
203682
Date Published
2003
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines some of the distinctive challenges that face the British police in addressing cybercrime (computer-mediated crime).
Abstract
Throughout the chapter, the term "cybercrime" is used to describe two categories of crime, i.e., crimes in which a computer is the target of the offense, as in unauthorized access to systems, tampering with programs and data, and planting viruses; and familiar or conventional crimes that are facilitated by computer and information technologies. In some cases, criminal activities may encompass theft, stalking, etc. In Great Britain, the most high-profile form of policing aimed at the Internet to date has focused on pornography, particularly material that exploits children. The promotion of racial hatred is also widespread on the Internet. Other types of crime on which the British police have focused are electronic theft and intellectual property rights; the invasion of privacy and theft of identity; information security, personal security, and cyber-trespass; and industrial espionage and workplace sabotage. Specialist units have been established and trained for policing cybercrime. In discussing problems with policing cyberspace, the chapter addresses the volume and scope of cybercrime and the problem of jurisdiction, the under-reporting of cybercrime, police culture, and limited resources. One section of the chapter covers Operation Ore, which was launched in the United Kingdom in May 2002 after the FBI informed Britain's National Criminal Intelligence Service of the details of 7,272 British subscribers who had accessed a Texas-based subscription Web site called Landslide, a gateway to child pornography sites. Operation Ore has alerted police to the significance of this type of cybercrime, but it has also exposed the inadequacy of current funding strategy, as the policing of other types of cybercrime have been under-funded. 44 references