NCJ Number
210163
Journal
Trends in Organized Crime Volume: 8 Issue: 3 Dated: Spring 2005 Pages: 41-50
Date Published
2005
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This overview of the Council of Europe's 2004 report on the organized crime situation in Europe focuses on the general threat of organized crime and the specific threat of "cybercrime."
Abstract
The report is based on contributions from 32 member states as well as a number of other sources. Although organized crime in Europe takes many forms and involves a variety of criminal activities, there are three crime markets that are common to and pose major threats in most European countries. They are fraud and other forms of economic crime, drug production and trafficking, and people as a commodity in the form of smuggling for criminal profit. Tactics in these enterprises include violence and intimidation, corruption and influence, the use of legitimate business fronts for illegal activities, transnational operations, and information and communication technologies. The latter tactic, employed through the Internet, has spawned a wide range of offenses known as "cybercrimes." Cybercrimes can be categorized under the following types of offenses: offenses against the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of computer data and systems; computer-related traditional crimes such as fraud; content-related offenses such as child pornography and recruitment for racist and terrorist crimes; the infringement of copyright and related rights; and the infringement of privacy, including unauthorized access to personal and organizational data. The Internet provides a vehicle for criminals to reach many more victims across national borders while using various means to hide identities and locations. Although most cyber-criminals are individual offenders, there are documented cases in which criminals have organized for fraud schemes on the Internet, the theft of credit cards, and cyber-extortion. This paper notes reasons why cybercrime poses a particular challenge for traditional law enforcement operations and recommends international cooperation in the design and adoption of effective tactics for countering various types of cybercrime. 4 notes and 3 references