1. By: Susan B, Hayley C & Randall L

2. Description Transnational e-crime refers to illegal acts committed with assistance of, or by means of, computers, computer networks, the internet and web-based information, and communication technologies (ICTs) which extends across national borders (McLaughlin; Muncie, 2010, p. 106). Transnational e-crime often involves money (however, not exclusively) and traditional forms of crime, such as theft. Due to the diversity of global cybercrimes, a more constricted definition would not be adequate. However, the definition is often criticised by criminologists for being too vague and inconsistent. As a result of the definition being deeply contested, there are a range of definitions (Huang; Radkowski; Roman, 2007). For the purpose of this presentation, however, the above definition will be used.

3. Description (Continued) Transnational e-crime involves a vast range of different crimes which can be categorised into three categories. E-crime against the individual and their property. Simply against an individual:  Harassment  Cyber-stalking  Dissemination of obscene material  Defamation  Fraud E-crime against society at large.  Forgery  Online gambling  Financial crimes  Pornography  Organising drug trafficking Against an individual’s property:  Computer vandalism  Transmitting viruses  Identity theft  Gaining unauthorised access over a computer system E-crime against an organisation.  Cyber terrorism  Distribution of pirated software

4. Description (Continued) Some broad examples of transnational e-crime include: Cyber-theft: which involves the use of computer networks for criminal profits. This category includes illegal copyright infringement, identity theft, and internet securities fraud. Cyber-terrorism: this involves intentional acts of widespread disruption of computer networks by the means of viruses. It also includes illegal acts such as a hacker gaining access to government website for example. Dissemination of offensive materials: the internet is a perfect location for selling and distributing obscene material; the computer is a perfect location for storing and viewing it. This category includes sexually explicit materials and other illegal information such as instructions as to how to make a bomb. Harassment: this category involves all the obscene or insulting comments directed towards a specific individual or individuals. It most commonly occurs in chat rooms or through news groups. This category also includes illegal acts such as cyber stalking. (Siegel, 2008).

5. Purpose The purpose of transnational electronic crime is to exploit a network/computer in order to commit crimes in another country. There are various types of electronic crimes that can be committed from another country; with this being said it is not surprising that there are a lot of reasons to why they are committed. Traditionally transnational electronic crime is committed in order to obtain money from others from another country usually preying upon the more developed countries (Das, Roberson & Singer, 2011). However other aims of transnational electronic crime can be: cyber warfare, espionage, copyright infringement, etc. There are rare occasions where the dominating purpose to why individuals commit this crime is because of the challenge. As very few possess the intelligence to hack into such secure networks such as the military’s, some of them do it for the sheer thrill and the intellectual challenge (Albanese, 2011).

6. Target Kshteri states that the main targets of cybercrimes fall into two categories: Businesses, and Consumers, as they are seen as are ideal victims to extract maximum profit from as well as the fact many have “weak technological and behavioral defenses against cyber crimes” (Ksheteri 2010). However, as we know that transnational crime transcends borders, the opportunities for cybercriminals to seek and exploit potential victims for economic crime, and cybercrime more broadly, is likely to rise. Grabosky (2007) suggests that cyber criminals commit cybercrime for the following purposes: Extortion, piracy, stalking, child luring/pornography, cyber terrorism, facilitating terrorism (recruitment, fundraising & training), fraud, credit card theft, identity theft, money laundering/ fraudulent investments, on line share trading (price fixing ), industrial espionage, propaganda, psychological warfare, intelligence and so forth. As we can see the multitude of motives are not only limited to economic crimes but can also affect the individuals personal security and well being, as well as the political landscape of any country. This highlights the overall vulnerability of society at large to fall victim to transnational e- crime. (Please also refer to “ Who is affected?”)

7. The Offence That Will Be Committed As transnational e-crime does not entail one specific crime, many laws are broken when people become involved in cyber crimes. Secondly, the issue becomes more complex when determining which laws have been broken due to the transnational nature of cyber space. For example, an attack can originate in virtually any country in the world and can then travel across multiple national borders. (“McConnell International”, 2000). This then proposes questions as to where the offence has actually occurred, which countries laws will be enforced and which country will investigate the issue (“Transnational and Organised Crime”, 1998). The Bali Bombing in 2002 for example, involved electronic transfer of funds from the Middle East to Bangkok, yet was organised by a man in Bangkok. This proposed questions to the investigators as to did this constitute to an offence, or offences? Secondly, if so, where did it occur and under which countries law? And finally, who should be the one to prosecute it? (Cowdery, 2008).

8. Detection, Investigation and Prosecution Detection and investigation Cybercrime is executed and carried out more rapidly in comparison to the implementation of legislation that seeks to regulate and combat its existence. for this reason it is difficult to investigate cyber criminal activity on a transnational scale. However, authorities are able to locate criminals by identifying IP addresses and also in the case of halting child pornographers/groomers, have implemented online sting operations in order to detect would be offenders before they make contact with child victims (Moore, 2011). The difficulties though, still remain. Investigations are often hampered by the following factors. 1.The ‘virtuality’ of the computer connection – the cybercrime can be separate from the criminal as the connection can be streamlined and routed across different continents and jurisdictions making it difficult to locate criminal. This eliminates nexus of offender and the crime scene. 2.Legal assistance – lack of uniformity or mutual legal assistance measures in combating transnational e – crime with different jurisdictions. 3.court process is dependent on physical evidence and digital evidence can be volatile and accidently altered by forensic staff. 4.Evidence can be circumstantial, and digital footprints can be erased by criminals 5.ISP data laws - vital information in tracing illegal activity stored by ISP’s for billing purposes must be deleted after billing is completed, although EU legislation now stipulates data retention period as being between six months and two years. 6.Victims can suffer ‘Zombie attacks’ and ‘denial of service attacks’ from skilled Cyber criminals, whereby they can infiltrate and control the victim’s computers via viruses and create slave networks (botnets) on unsuspecting victims.

9. Detection, Investigation and Prosecution (continued) To effectively detect and deter cyber criminals, all international law enforcement agencies and legislators must collaborate with each other in order to establish a global framework of e crime laws. By having a uniform and parallel of laws that take into consideration Criminal procedure and law, undercover investigations, Computer searches and seizures, Compulsory disclosure of cryptology; this will assist the legal community worldwide, in investigating transnational e crime. (Grabosky, 2007). Prosecution Role of prosecution/prosecutors is vital in ‘eliminating ‘but will vary from jurisdiction especially in context of transnational crime. There is a complex problem when regarding the role of the prosecutor/s and prosecution of transnational e crime and the guidelines will contrast and differ from “jurisdiction to jurisdiction” (McCusker, 2007). Some jurisdictions, are actively involved in implementing safeguards, drafting legislation, and policy development (especially when it comes to internet child pornography and criminal law), whilst others can be seen as are passive recipients of information passed onto them by police such as Northern Ireland, India and Singapore (Grabosky, 2007).

10. Detection, Investigation and Prosecution (continued) Prosecution (continued) Prosecutors will either decide to take on cases, based on workload, funds, resources. Grabosky (2007) suggests that the “cost of bringing an Internet Service Provider from France to testify in an Australian court is not trivial”, and can quickly deplete the budget of investigating transnational e –crime. Certain factors such as the impact that the offence has had on society, the potential of a successful conviction may deter or educate the public, and whether any mitigating factors might be in favour of or against prosecution may sway prosecutors to pursue legal action. Prosecutorial decisions in effect, are influenced by criminal justice policies based on a variety of criteria such as, the nation’s values and interests, the social and economic impact of the offence, etc. (Grabosky 2007) Furthermore, in other legal systems prosecutors are at mercy of evidence at hand and depending on jurisdictional law or policy will dictate prosecution.

11. Improvements When your personal details are uploaded onto the internet by the use of hacking or other means of obtaining one’s personal information, it is most likely that individual who illegally acquired it is viewing/distributing/using it in a matter of seconds. This means that there are little ways of detecting transnational e-crime offenders, as the process for acquiring information is short and often untraceable (Das, Roberson & Singer, 2011). Although the law enforcement agencies in the criminal justice system already have ways to deal with transnational e-crime, there can be improvements. Tracing devices that use satellites have been able to pin point the location of transactions that contain specific personal information used by unknown/unfamiliar users. Also there are several ongoing researches in ways to track where the information taken from your computer via key logging and various other forms of hacking are being sent. Although the technology exists there are many consequences of using this such as costs and authorisation (Robert, 2011). Finding the offender doesn’t necessarily mean the offender can be prosecuted due to the fact the crime was committed in another country. The prosecution of a transnational e-crime offender is highly dependant on the relationship between the two countries as it is hard to decide which country the offender will be prosecuted in; especially if the individual has committed e crimes in numerous countries all over the world. With this being said there have been several ideas to co-ordinate e-crime on a global scale, one of which is The Global Prosecutors E-Crime Network (GPEN) initiative. GPEN is promotes the sharing of resources and information of e crime between co-operating countries, making it more efficient and faster to prosecute offenders. However the best way to tackle the crime is to promote prevention (Menn, 2010).

12. Improvements (continued) Develop and implement appropriate system failure procedures Review and investigate security violation reports Ensure physical security of equipment and storage devices Don't share identification numbers and passwords Change passwords on a regular basis Install a firewall Install virus protection software and maintaining updates on a regular basis Always check bank account transactions/balances and report discrepancies immediately to your financial institution Report the matter quickly to police if it is a criminal matter Avoid opening unsolicited emails, delete them immediately and do not respond to the inquirer. Retain original offensive/menacing/harassing emails Do not automatically check boxes before reading the contents of any agreement etc Educate yourself on a regular basis of the methods used by offenders to commit this type of crime Do not automatically divulge personal information to persons who have solicited contact with you, without checking their credentials. Store personal information such as passwords on a separate storage device rather than on the computer hard-drive.

13. The Problem The extensive use of both computers and the internet has resulted in a network which has now become a tool for illegal activities and enterprise, hence transnational e-crime is a growing problem (Siegel, 2008). Due to the rapidly developing internet and computer technologies, transnational e-crime proposes an exceptional challenge for law enforcers (Siegel 2008). The advancement of technology has allowed criminals to commit existing offences in new ways (Broadhurst, 2006). Sometimes, the new ways to commit crime are not covered by legislation, presenting law enforcers with a predicament (Huang; Radkowski; Roman, 2007).

14. Who is Affected? A recent research study revealed that 39% of Australian respondents are a victim of cyber crime. Evidently, many people in society are affected by transnational e-crime. Often people are vulnerable of becoming victims of transnational e-crime if they are:  Inexperienced people with computers/ the internet  Elderly people  Gullible people  Large companies (Browne, 2008).

15. Public Opinions Some people consider transnational electronic crime as a problem mostly because of the difficulty that comes with prosecuting and recovering lost information/items. However others view the crime as more than just taking one’s money; that in some aspects of the crime, it can be viewed as stealing another individual’s identity. Also it’s not the financial costs but the emotional and social costs that come with transnational electronic theft that can leave individual’s feeling left with nothing (Albanese, 2011). Other People may not consider transnational e-crime to be a problem due to the fact that it is not widely known to the general public. The prevention for transnational e-crime is not advertised as much as other crimes such as shoplifting, assault, etc. Also many people feel confident in how they have secured their personal information so they do not think of the consequences when purchasing/viewing/downloading ‘infected’ content from the internet (Albanese, 2011; Das, Roberson & Singer, 2011).

16. The Causes It is difficult to say there is simply one ‘cause’ of transnational e-crime as the title encompasses a wide range of different crimes. Some people may commit cyber crimes in a quest to become famous, for financial gains, or for revenge. Some suggest that there are two types of motivations:  Intrinsic Motivation: this is based on the assumption that human need for competence and self-determination are linked with enjoyment. This category can further be broken down into (a enjoyment-based intrinsic motivation, and (b obligation/community based intrinsic motivation.  Extrinsic Motivation: this theory suggests e-crime is committed as a result of incentives applied from outside the person. The incentives may be immediate or delayed. Kshetri, (2010)

17. Role of IT – means or cause? Although there seems to be a fine line between the use of IT as the cause and means of instigating transnational e-crime, the use of information technology, can act as a facilitator in order to commit transnational e- crimes such as fraud, and money laundering etc… and become or is the crime itself through its misuse e.g. hacking (Ogilvie, 2011). However, the role of digital technology in the commission of transnational e-crime is quite multifaceted. This is emphasized by Eogan Casey’s research of computer related crimes, whereby he identified the use of IT with regards to computer crimes and cyber crimes as such: Computer crimes: The computer is the instrument of the crime -Computer is used as a means of engaging in the crime and the crime cannot be committed without the computer being turned on. The computer is the focus of the crime - computer is intended target of crime, but not necessarily used in criminal activity. The computer is the repository of evidence. - Individual has not stolen computer or used computer as a means of committing the crime but Computer has stored evidence of crime on hard drive. E.g. illegally downloaded music on a pc. Cyber Crimes: -Crime that involves a computer and a network, where a computer may or may not have played an instrumental part of the crime. E.g. credit card theft - in obtaining victim’s personal information, offender can use techniques that involve computer/network or use others that are not linked with computers other than information stored “in text files on computer” (Moore, 2011)

18. Role of IT – means or cause? (continued) As we can see from the previous examples, computer/cyber crimes are dependent and reliant on the dynamic nature of IT ( internet and network connections) as a means to bring the motivations and causes of the criminal activity into fruition. The broad nature of the information technology and the digital landscape now bestows ordinary citizens of all ages with the power to inflict immense harm to individuals, businesses, and governmental institutions from any location in the world. Every advancement of digital technology “creates new opportunities for criminal exploitation.” (Grabosky, 2007) In the realm of global e- crime, this is highlighted the affect of globalization (one cause of transnational e crime) and its growth especially in cyberspace. The evolution of globalization calls for the “free movement of capital between the world’s developed and underdeveloped Economies” (McCusker, 2007). Globalization “requires, and will continue to necessitate, an increased connectivity of the world’s computer, banking and financial systems”. (McCusker, 2007) As cyberspace is “borderless” and extraterritorial, globalization effectively operates in a landscape that sees laws and regulations bypassed easily, criminals can operate more efficiently using digital tools such as wireless technology and encryption codes to commit transnational e – crimes such as password hacking and identity theft and facilitating terrorism. This is how the role of IT can act as a facilitator in propagating transnational e crime.

19. The Costs Transnational e - crime has economically has a far reaching impact on a global scale, with it having a “higher financial turnover than drug trafficking” (Brown 2010). In the UK, e – crime accounted for £6 billion loss in the economy for the 2008 financial year. Whilst in the US, it is estimated that cyber/computer crimes result in a $400 billion deficit annually (3.4 % of the GDP) (Kshetri, 2010). In Australia, 2007 saw 221 financial and insurance institutions who participated in the Australian Business Assessment of Computer User Security (ABABCUS) survey indicate that during a 12 month period, a financial deficit of approximately $49 million was incurred, due to “computer security incidents” that took place during this time. (AIC, 2011) It was also reported that Australians lost an estimation of $170 million loss due to fraud committed in Australia and overseas on “Australian-issued credit/charge and debit cards in 2009” (AIC 2011). In addition to accumulating such direct financial losses, “the cost of preventing, investigating and prosecuting fraud cases” (Woods, 1998) are also incurred.

20. The Costs (continued) However, the costs of transnational e-crime are not only limited to financial loss. Victims of transnational e-crime can suffer the burden of emotional cost of trauma and stress after falling prey to computer/cyber crime. Victims can often feel isolated, stigmatized, embarrassed and often “report feelings of violation, anger, anxiety, betrayal of trust, and even self-blame or hopelessness” (President’s Identity theft task force, 2007). Victims may often have to deal with the stress of correcting credit reports, challenge charges with individual creditors, close and reopen bank accounts, and monitoring and dealing with a tainted credit ratings for future problems as a result of transnational e- crimes. Furthermore, the victim’s stolen information can still have the capacity to be used even after a crime has been identified and offenders have been caught with the possibility of the information being sold onto multiple parties for unlawful use. Other repercussions of transnational e – crime can also result in victims suffering the ignominy of being “mistaken for the criminal who stole their identi­ties, and have been wrongfully arrested” (President’s Identity theft task force, 2007).

21. ‘Love Bug’ Case Study The ‘love bug’ is a computer virus which was successful in hacking tens of millions of Microsoft Windows computers in 2000. The virus was sent through an email with the subject labelled “ILOVEYOU” and an attachment with the text “LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU”. The virus began on 4 th May 2000 in the city of Manilla in the Philippines. Once an individual opened the attachment, the virus accessed their address book and then sent the email on to everyone in their address book. It also caused widespread damages to their computer including overwriting important files (such as music files) with a copy of itself. The virus spread across the world in just one day affecting more than 20 countries. It is estimated the ‘love bug’ could have cost up to $10 billion dollars. Within a week 50 million infections had been reported. Investigations pinpointed a computer in an apartment in Manilla as the source of the bug. Onel de Guzman, a 24 year-old computer software student admitted to accidently releasing the virus.

22. Video Policing cybercrimes: Responding to the transnational challenges of cybercrime. (1 hr: 15 min: 14 sec) - click slide show option to view video.

23. Notes As a supplement to this Power Point Presentation, a website has also been created. Please find the website at this address: http://rmitecrime.tumblr.com/ http://rmitecrime.tumblr.com/ It is best viewed in Mozilla or a recent version of IE.

24. Reference List 1. Albanese, J. S. (2011). Transnational crime and the 21st century: criminal enterprise, corruption, and opportunity. New York: Oxford University Press. 2.Australian Inistute of Criminology. (2011). Cyber threat landscape faced by financial and insurance industry. Retrieved on 18/04/2011 from http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tandi/401-420/tandi408.aspx.http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tandi/401-420/tandi408.aspx 3.Australian Inistute of Criminology. (1998). Transnational and Organised Crime. Retrieved on 16/04/2011 from http://www.aic.gov.au/crime_types/cybercrime/transnational.aspx. http://www.aic.gov.au/crime_types/cybercrime/transnational.aspx 4.Australian Inistute of Criminology. (1998). Fraud and the australian banking industry. Retrieved on 16/04/2011 from http://www.aic.gov.au/crime_types/economic/fraud/~/media/conferences/cab/woods.ashx. 5.Broadhurst, R. (2006). Developments in the global law enforcement of cyber-crime [Electronic Version]. Policing : an international journal of police strategies and management, 29(3), 408-433.. Retrieved on 30/3/2011, from ProQuest database. 6.Brown, S,D. (2008). Combating International Crime: The longer arm of the law. Hoboken: Routledge-Cavendish. Retrieved April 15, 2011, from NetLibrary. 7.Browne, M. (2008). Australia's most gullible: Top victims of cybercrime? Retrieved on 16/04/2011 from http://www.zdnet.com.au/australia-s-most-gullible-top-victims-of-cybercrime-339289763.htm 8.Cowdery, N. (2008). Emerging trends in Cyber Crime [Electronic Version]. New Technologies in Crime and Prosecution: Challenges and Opportunities, 1, 1-7. 9.Das, D.K., Roberson, C. & Singer, J. K. (2011). Police without borders: the fading distinction between local and global. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

25. Reference List 10. Grabosky, P (2007). Requirements of prosecution services to deal with cyber crime [ Electronic Version]. Crime Law Soc Change,47:201–223 11.Huang, X., Radkowski, P., & Roman, P. (2007). Computer Crimes [Electronic Version]. The American criminal law review, 44(2), 285. 12.Kshetri, N. (2010). The Global Cybercrime Industry. Breinigsville, Springer. 13.McConnell International. (2000). Cyber Crime... and Punishment? Archiac Laws Threaten Global Information. Retrieved on 16/04/2011 from http://www.witsa.org/papers/McConnell-cybercrime.pdfhttp://www.witsa.org/papers/McConnell-cybercrime.pdf 14. McCusker, R. (2007). Transnational organised cyber crime: distinguishing threat from reality [Electronic Version].Crime Law Soc Change, 46:257–273. Retrieved on 30/3/2011, from ProQuest database. 15. McLaughlin, E., & Muncie, J. (2010). The Sage Dictionary of Criminology (2 nd Edition). London: Sage Publications Ltd. 16. Menn, J. (2010). Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords who are Bringing Down the Internet. New York: Public Affairs. 17. Moorer, R. (2011), Cybercrime: Investigating high-technology computer crime. USA, Elsevier. 18.Ogilive. A. (2011) Week one: Crime and Information Technology: introduction [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from INTE2079_1110, The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Blackboard Online: http://www.rmit.edu.au/. 19.The President’s Identity Theft Task Force. (2007). Combating Identity Theft: A Strategic Plan. Retrieved April 25,2011, from http://www.idtheft.gov/reports/StrategicPlan.pdf. 20. Robert, W. T. (2011). Digital crime and digital terrorism. Boston: Prentice Hall. 21. Siegel, L. (2008). Criminology: The Core (3 rd Edition). Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.

26. The End By: Susan B, Hayley C & Randall L