Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security

This assignment discusses the contemporary issue of cybercrime, its threats, and possible ways to combat them. It explores the risks associated with cybercrime, such as terrorism, online child abuse, payment fraud, and online criminal markets. The assignment also provides preventive measures to address these threats. The course is MSc in Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety, and Security.

Name: Lee Allison
Course Code & Name:
Module Code:
Module Name: Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety, and Security
Enrolled Level: MSc
Word Count: 2436
CONTEMPORAY ISSUE IN CRIME, SAFETY AND SECURITY

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 1
Course: MSc
Module leader:
Assignment Title: Critically evaluate the threat posed by one crime, safety and security issue of
your choice and compare and contrast some of the possible ways it can be effectively combated.
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Risks/Threats associated with Cybercrime......................................................................................2
Ways to prevent Cyber threats.........................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................11

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 2
Introduction
Criminology is an area of law where one studies different kind of crimes, their theories, impact
on different social groups, and other aspects. Studies of all these factors are important because
crime is increasing in society on a daily basis. Different types of crimes are evident which affect
people in a different and very negative manner. The issue selected for the preparation of this
assignment is cybercrime. It is also known as online crime or digital crime as technology plays
an important role of crime activity. In order to discuss and understand the meaning of
cybercrime, it is important to state that it is categorized as a crime by which it is carried
out/performed with the help of internet or computer. As provided by Bedfordshire police it is an
umbrella term for all those crimes, which takes place online or technology uses as a means
(Bedfordshire.police.uk, 2019). People who perform cybercrimes are known as cybercriminals
(Christiansen and Piekarz, 2018.). Some cybercriminals directly attack devices or computers
with the intention to disable or damage them, whereas some of them use networks to spread
illegal information, viruses, malware, or other adverse materials. Cybercrime brings economic
loss as well as mental stress for the victims. Many of the cases have happened there where
people have committed suicide or became a victim of depression because of cyber-crime
(Nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk, 2019). In the presented essay, the discussion will be made upon
cybercrime, its threats, and the possible ways in which the threats can be effectively combated.
Risks/Threats associated with Cybercrime
Over the past few years, significant growth in cyber criminality can be seen. Not only the
individuals and business but the security of the whole nation is vulnerable and at risk
(Cpni.gov.uk, 2019). Cybercrimes are not necessary to be within the country, but cases have also
reported where cybercriminals made attacks outside of the national border. By stealing

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 3
passwords, money or data, such criminals seek to exploit security or human vulnerabilities
(Nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk, 2019). The number of cybercrimes and criminals are increasing
with the use of the internet. In the word full of economy, technology, and globalization, most of
the transactions such as sale/purchase of goods, banking transaction, and others are completed
with the help of computer and internet. Cybercriminals use different methods to attack systems
and networks and some of the lead methods are mentioned hereunder: -
1. Hacking: - As per crown prosecution service, UK, hacking is an unauthorized access to
mobile, compute or other technological devices by exploiting identified security
vulnerabilities (Cps.gov.uk, 2019).
2. Cyber stalking: - It is an activity where cyber attackers, uses the internet as well as other
online platforms to keep an eye on someone, to harass or bully them.
3. Ransomware attack: - It is a method/technique where the attack inserts a special type of
malware to a device. This malware is known as Ransomware. It blocks the data of user
and users need to pay a particular amount to re-access the computer. As per a report,
because of such attack, people have lost in the region of $5 billion globally in 2017
(Miller, 2018).
4. Phishing: - It is a technique in which attackers or cybercriminals extract confidential
account details of people such as their login credentials or ID password and later on use
their personal information to threaten them (Digit.in, 2019).
Above mentioned are few popular techniques, which are also known as types of cybercrimes.
After understanding the methods, now the other issue is to check the main threats posed by the
selected crime i.e. Cyber-crimes. Many threat assessments have been done in the UK and
afterward, some of the lead threats have been identified. Starting the discussion over the topic, is

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 4
to mention that the crime is increasing in a very fast method of delivery and not just only young
people but from every age group are being victim. Some of the main threats are as follow: -
 Terrorism: - This threat was selected first for the discussion due to its importance both
nationally as well as an international issue and possibly as well as the most dangerous
threat posed by cybercrime. Because of the use of the internet, exchange of vast
information is possible within a few minutes and in this manner, the issue of terrorism is
not limited to the physical environment. Terrorists use the internet and other technologies
to share crime-related information with each other. Such kind of terrorism is known as
cyber terrorism. The issue was first realized in the early 90s as the network became more
diverse among different nations. Terrorism can be spread by mode of cyber-attacks in
many ways. For instance, in 2007, researchers found that software of a power generator
can be changed remotely and by doing so turbines can be set on fire which can cause
significant damage to the generator (Littlefield.co, 2017). Criminals use different
methods of cyber-crime in order to damage industrial infrastructure. Furthermore, as
mentioned above, information can be shared immediately hence terrorists use the internet
to publish terrorist ideas and ideology. They also use these methods of delivery to recruit
new members (Goodman, 2008). Operational information plays an important role in
terrorist activity. By way of cybercrimes such as hacking, terrorists gain operational
information for instance information regarding particular crowd sizes at an airport or in
public events and plan their strategies accordingly.
Cyber terrorism is the big issue in itself. Particularly it can also be treated as a means to
do politically use of computers and other information technology system to speared the
fear in society. The UK, sixth largest economy of the world is the lead target of

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 5
hacktivists and cyber criminals. Many of the cases of cyber-attacks have happened there.
In August 2019, china distributed malware to Uyghur populations and used to
compromise website for the same. In the same month, hackers infiltrate several networks
at Bahraini government agencies. Even before this, such incidents used to happen. In
December 2018, personal information of nearly 1000 North Korean defectors has been
stole by the hackers (Csis.org, 2019). These are just few examples. In conjunction to
these thousands of other examples are also there. In this manner, it is clear that hackers
are stealing information of nations, encouraging political battles and spreading fear
among public by using different malwares and other techniques.
 Online Child abuse: - This is another threat posed by cybercrime. This is a sad truth that
children and young teens who are using technology without taking care of anything are
being a victim of cyber-attacks on a daily basis (Martellozzo, 2013). Social media plays
an important role here also. With youths use of social media networks and from there
cyber criminals attack their privacy. One must hear the news where teenagers attempt
suicide because of cyberbullying. Sexual exploitation of a child is initially harbored from
being online. Offenders communicate with youth victims pretending themselves to be
their friend and then afterwards luring them towards sex (Vakilno1.com, 2014). Not
because of low and immaturity but children are being a victim of such abuse because of
their blind trust on social sites. Such offenders ask personal details of teenagers and then
use such information for blackmailing. In many of the cases, offenders ask for money in
consideration of prevention of blackmailing. When children fail to provide enough
money to criminals then they make the collected personal information private, which
gives rise to childhood abuse. This kind of incidents badly affects mental health and

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 6
development of youth and is a major threat. In the UK, nearly 91% of children who lives
in a model household has access to the internet. The number of hours teenagers spend
using the internet has increased from 14.9 hours each week to 17.1 hours in the year 2012
(Kuehenie, 2015). With the help of this data, it is far clear that children are getting
affected and being a victim of cyber abuse in an endemic cause from concern.
 Payment Fraud: - In todays fast paced connect society, most of the transactions used are
completed online. From buying vegetables from supermarket to making payment of a big
business deal, people look up to their banking cards and internet banking channels.
Cybercriminals often keep their eyes on such transactions and try to catch password
details and login credentials. They often use Phishing methods for this. Recently it is
reported that over the past 6 months, around 13,357 people became the victim of payment
fraud (BBC.com, 2019). As per action fraud cell of the UK, people lost an amount of
£34.6m during the period between April and September 2018. As per another report
published by the Guardian, people lost £130bn in online payment frauds (Hern, 2018).
Criminals do such financial fraud by using fraudulent credit cards and making a
fraudulent application for government services.
 Online criminal markets: - This is a general threat that can be seen there because of
unethical and irrelevant use of technology and the internet. There are Illicit online
markets, which gives opportunities to criminal vendors to purvey all manner of illicit
commodities. In the darknet market ecosystem, there is a huge instability, and, in this
manner, it creates a criminal environment.
Ways to prevent Cyber threats

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 7
The above-mentioned are some of the major threats that are associated with cybercrime.
Criminals use different methods to commit a crime that further gives rises to these threats. Now
it is far clear that cybercrime is a significant issue within society as every age and social group
deals with it. Different threats can be combated in a different manner and there can be more than
one way to deal with a single type of threat. Starting from the very first identified threat i.e.
cyber terrorism, this is to state that three stages of defense are there to eliminate this threat. The
first Step is prevention. In this step, systems are required to be designed in a manner, which is
secure from risks and attacks. Cyber-terrorism is less sensitive and while designing the systems,
their insensitivity and possible way of attack should be to keep in consideration. Another step is
incident management. In this stage, businesses/governments are required to publish a warning
that is subjected to a cyber-attack. On the happening of any attack, related sites should be
immediately blocked. As discussed earlier, terrorists share information and spread terror via
online channels hence as soon as possible, the government should block such channels. This
technique is actually being implemented in the real world. As the incidents of terrorist attacks,
the government often gives instruction to mobile and network companies to close their services
temporary to deter threat potential. The third step is the consequences of management. As the
name implies at this stage, authorities try to identify the situation earlier to attack. Situations
after cyber terrorism attack becomes worst and hence management of the incident is a necessary
task to do. Cyber green website development is another great initiative. The site provides many
services and capabilities, which helps to reduce the cyber-crime activities and threats such as
cyber terrorism. Helping the public by providing idol ways to use technology, the site plays an
important role. Other threats, i.e. child abuse can also be prevented by adopting different
measures. The first way to prevent this threat is to develop more strict provisions under the

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 8
legislation (Unodc.org. 2015). Government is required to make more law to prevent issues of
child abuse such as exploitation of them, making and distribution of child pornography and so
on. UK Government already had taken some steps ahead in the direction of prevention of child
abuse and exploitation. A global alliance named WeProtect led by the subjective government. In
this summit, a global fund has been launched to support the programs, which protect children.
The main object of the summit was to identify and protect victims of child abuse/exploitation at
global level, to remove child sexual abuse material from the internet and to develop a global
capacity to deal with online child abuse. This is a very significant way to dealing with child
abuse, as the development of more strict law is not likely to prevent online abuse in a manner
that the latter method can effectively accomplish.
Payment fraud is most likely to happen and effect businesspersons. There are many ways by
which using such fraud can be managed and preventable. Keeping a strong password is a very
basic way to deal with the situation. People should not repeat the password and are advised to not
use a similar password on different sites (Us.norton.com, 2019). Payment fraud or attacks can
lead to many negative consequences for a business. Further, by designing a system enable to
detect payment fraud or merchant fraud too, this risk can be minimized. Businesses are required
to have a look at their home network. Many of the frauds happen because of poor encryption
modes. The virtual private network provides additional security
(Searchnetworking.techtarget.com, 2019). In case of VPN, attackers only get encrypted data and
nothing else when they hack a system. Apart from these ways, another way is to keep the
software update. Cybercriminals detect flaws in software and use them to access the whole
system and network (Tiirmaa-Klaar, Gassen, Gerhards-Padilla and Martini, 2013). In such a
situation, payment fraud can be prevented by keeping the software update.

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 9
Here this is to state that all the studied threats posed by cybercrimes and therefore they can be
prevented by preventing cybercrime itself. Cabinet office of UK Government developed the UK
cyber security strategy and provided guidelines to business. To safeguard personal data, valuable
assets and intellectual property of business, 10 steps have been provided by the mentioned office
in 2014. These steps can be useful in minimizing potential threats, see below diagram: -
(Gov.uk, 2015)
The government also developed a national cybersecurity strategy for the year 2016-2021.
Implementation plan of this strategy is divided into three parts namely defend, deter, develop,
and address some of the major cybercrime threats (Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, 2019).

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 10
Conclusion
In order to conclude this discussion piece, this is to state that cybercrime becomes a very
important area of study. Because of this crime, many threats have developed in society, which
directly affects the lives of the public and society in general. These threats mainly include
terrorism, online child abuse, payment fraud and so on. These threats influence different groups
of society. For instance, terrorism is a major issue, which influences national as well as the
international landscape. On the other side, online child abuse affects the mental health of
children and young people adversely influencing their reputation by way of making and
publishing pornography. Lastly, payment fraud mainly affects businesses much in comparison to
the public. The presented discussion also contained some of the ways in which these threats can
be dealt with to minimize risk potential that includes password protection and development of
fraud detection system (Dell.com, 2019). As threats are associated and presented because of
cyber-crime hence the methods to prevent cyber-crime also been discussed. The report also
focused on some of the steps taken by the UK government in this area. In conjunction with this,
national cybersecurity strategies have also been discussed. In a summarized way, this is to state
that network and device security is a much-needed thing to do in order to safeguard data from
unauthorized access and to do so techniques such as password protection, VPN, the software
update can be used.

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 11
Bibliography
Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk. (2019) National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-2021. [online]
Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file/567242/national_cyber_security_strategy_2016.pdf (Accessed on
09/07/2019)
Bbc.com. (2019) UK cyber-crime victims lose £190,000 a day. [online] Available from:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47016671 (Accessed on 09/07/2019)
Bedfordshire.police.uk. (2019). What is Cyber Crime? [online] Available from:
https://www.bedfordshire.police.uk/information-and-services/Crime/Cyber-crime-and-online-
safety/What-is-cyber-crime (Accessed on 27/09/2019)
Christiansen, B. and Piekarz, A. (2018). Global cyber security labor shortage and international
business risk. USA: IGI Global.
Cpni.gov.uk. (2019). Cyber. [online] Available from: https://www.cpni.gov.uk/cyber (Accessed
on 27/09/2019)
Cps.gov.uk. (2019). Cybercrime - prosecution guidance. [online] Available from:
https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/cybercrime-prosecution-guidance (Accessed on
27/09/2019)
Csis.org. (2019). Significant Cyber Incidents. [online] Available from:
https://www.csis.org/programs/technology-policy-program/significant-cyber-incidents (Accessed on
17/10/2019)

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 12
Dell.com. (2019). Top 10 Steps To Help Stop Cybercrime. [online] Available from:
dell.com/downloads/ca/support/top_10_steps_to_protect_against_cybercrime_dell_en.pdf
(Accessed on 27/09/2019)
Digit.in. (2019) The 12 types of Cyber Crime. [online] Available from:
https://www.digit.in/technology-guides/fasttrack-to-cyber-crime/the-12-types-of-cyber-
crime.html (Accessed on 09/07/2019)
Goodman, M. (2008) An Introduction to Cyber Crime and Terrorism: Problems and the
Challenges. [online] Available from:
https://www.intgovforum.org/cms/workshops_08/IGF_dimensions_Marc-Goodman.pdf
(Accessed on 09/07/2019)
Gov.uk. (2015) 10 Steps: Summary. [online] Available from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cyber-risk-management-a-board-level-
responsibility/10-steps-summary (Accessed on 09/07/2019)
Hern, A. (2018) This article is more than 1-year old Cybercrime: £130bn stolen from consumers
in 2017, report says [online] Available from:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/23/cybercrime-130bn-stolen-consumers-
2017-report-victims-phishing-ransomware-online-hacking (Accessed on 09/07/2019)
Klein, M. (1995). The American street gang: Its nature, prevalence, and control. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Kuehenie, K. (2015) Public Health for Children. Florida: CRC Press.

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 13
Littlefield.co. (2017) Cyber Terrorism: understanding and preventing acts of terror within our
cyber space. [online] Available from: https://littlefield.co/cyber-terrorism-understanding-and-
preventing-acts-of-terror-within-our-cyber-space-26ae6d53cfbb (Accessed on 09/07/2019)
Martellozzo, E., (2013) Online Child Sexual Abuse: Grooming, Policing and Child Protection in
a Multi-Media World. Oxon: Routledge.
Miller, C. (2018) The Death of the Gods: The New Global Power Grab. US: Random House
Nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk. (2019) Cybercrime. [online] Available from:
https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/what-we-do/crime-threats/cyber-crime (Accessed on
09/07/2019)
Searchnetworking.techtarget.com. (2019) VPN (virtual private network). [online] Available
from: https://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/virtual-private-network (Accessed on
09/07/2019)
Tiirmaa-Klaar, H., Gassen, J., Gerhards-Padilla, E., and Martini, P.(2013). Botnets. Germany:
Springer Science & Business Media.
Unodc.org. (2015) Cybercrime: protecting children from online abuse and exploitation. [online]
Available from: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2015/July/cybercrime_-protecting-
children-from-online-abuse-and-exploitation.html (Accessed on 09/07/2019)
Us.norton.com. (2019) 11 ways to help protect yourself against cybercrime. [online] Available
from: https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-how-to-how-to-recognize-and-protect-yourself-
from-cybercrime.html ([Accessed on 09/07/2019)

Contemporary Issues in Crime, Safety and Security 14
Vakilno1.com. (2014) Cyber Crime and Child Abuse. [online] Available from:
https://www.vakilno1.com/legalviews/cyber-crime-child-abuse.html (Accessed on 09/07/2019)