Understanding Cybercrime in UK: Impact, Perpetrators, and Interventions

This report discusses the definition of cybercrime, changes in its volume over time, likely victims, impact on victims and society, perpetrators of crime, relationship between victims and perpetrators, research evidence on why people commit this crime, punishment offered by the government, and two interventions to minimize the chances of crime.

Assessment 1- Crime Type report

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Definition of a cybercrime...........................................................................................................3
changes over the time and presenting accuracy...........................................................................4
Likely victims of such crime and impact on victim as well as society........................................5
Perpetrators of crime....................................................................................................................5
Relationship between victims and perpetrators...........................................................................6
Impact of crime............................................................................................................................6
Information about what research evidence tells us about why people commit this crime..........7
Summary of punishment..............................................................................................................7
Presenting two intervention.........................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
With the changing era, entire system is based upon advance technology in order to
smoothing the business operations. However, this rise cybercrime as well which affect different
business in negative manner. That is why, the present report will help to understand the reason
behind the crime and who are responsible for such issues. The entire study will shed a light upon
why cybercrime is increases after pandemic and provide intervention which decrease the chances
of crime. For that, report will use secondary sources that tells about the volume of cybercrime in
UK and discuss about the perpetrators of crime along with impact over society and victims. Also,
study describe the punishment offered by government as per the defined law and discussing two
interventions that helps to minimize the chance.
Definition of a cybercrime
According to Umanailo and et.al., (2019) cybercrime is also called computer crime which
is all about the use of computer as an instrument to further illegal ends like committing fraud,
trafficking in child pornography and intellectual property etc. On the other side, Chandra and
Snowe (2020) presented in their study that cybercrime is any criminal activity which involves a
computer, network device that damages entire systems. Thus, it can be stated that the primary
effect of cybercrime is financial that helps to gather information and misuse the same for
personal use.

changes over the time and presenting accuracy
Figure 1: Volume of cybercrime in UK
Source: Statistica, 2021
As per the above graph, it has been interpreted that it is the estimated total revenue of
cyber security sector in UK which was increased year by year because it increases the crime rate.
However, research also indicates that at global level, the information security technology market
is all set for rapid growth and it is also forecasted to hit 175 billion dollars by 2024 ( Estimated
revenue of the cyber security sector in the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2020, 2020).
The data also indicated that UK business have lost over £6.2 million to cyber scams in
past year which entails that there is 31% increase in cases during height of pandemic. Also,
around 3445 UK business also fell victim to cyber scams at the time of 2019, September to 2020.
The most common type of attack found in the cybercrime was hacking through email and social

media which leads to loss of £2.9 million (UK sees a 31% increase in cyber crime amid the
pandemic, 2021). This in turn reflected that the cybercrime rate is increases by the years and
years, that is why there is a need to control over the issues so that it does not create any negative
impact over the results.
Likely victims of such crime and impact on victim as well as society
The analysis shows that under 25 age group are most vulnerable to fraud attacks while
oldest age group are the second most vulnerable and loses their money. On the other side, there
is no specific age group who are target for such crime because most of the businesses are also
affected due to cybercrime. This in turn reflected that almost each age group and different
businesses are affected due to cybercrime. Further, the scale and complexity of a cyber-attacks is
wide ranging and there is a need to solve the issue in order to generate the best outcomes. It has
been examined that it creates a direct impact over the victims such that research shows that the
strongest reactions among them is feeling angry and annoyed, whereas most of them felt cheated
when they are attacked. This in turn reflected that people are highly affected with such crimes.
On the other side, victims of online attacks might suffer emotional trauma which further
lead to depression. for an example, impact of identity theft on a victim at an emotional level
might lead a person to become a distressed and this left a feeling of powerless, vulnerable and
betrayed. Apart from this, the crime also impacts negatively upon society. Such that it increases
serious problem on a society in a form of economical disrupt, psychological disorder that
misbalance the entire systems. Hence, controlling on such aspects will help to create a positive
impression over teenagers and this leads to generate the best outcomes as well.
Perpetrators of crime
There are four types of perpetrators of crime which are as mentioned below:
 Identity thieves: Such criminals are those who try to gain the access of their victim’s
personal information which includes name, address, phone number and bank account etc.
Such type of information is used to make financial transactions and this is one of the
oldest crime who found when internet emerge (5 Reasons Why Cyber Criminals Attack,
2020).
 Internet stalkers: Another type of perpetrators who keeps monitoring the online activity
of their victim in order to acquire the personal information. This is mainly performed

through the use of social networking platforms that are able to track the individual’s
computer activity. Such type of information is used for bribery, slander purpose and
businesses should be aware of such scams because employees might be victim of this
cyber-attack.
 Phishing Scammers: This type of cyber criminals is attempt to get personal or sensitive
information through a victim’s computers. This is mainly done though phishing websites
which are designed to copycat small business and different government websites.
Therefore, such type of scams leads to affect the brand image of a company and
decreases in earnings.
 Cyber Terrorists: This criminal generally steal the data and corrupt the corporate or
government computer that results in company’s brand image at different country. Such
cyber terrorists main motive is to affect the entire business because they are seeking to
financial gain (Buil-Gil and et.al., 2021). Hence, there is a major difference between
regular cyberattack and cyber terrorism but both have main motive is to financially gain.
Relationship between victims and perpetrators
The relationship between victims and perpetrators is stranger because both parties do not
know about each other and that is why, the crime performed. However, it has been analyzed that
victim like company feed their personal data into the computer and with proper monitoring,
perpetrator uses the same information that affect the entire relationship between each other. This
in turn reveals that both shared a stranger relationship with each other.
Impact of crime
There are many adverse impact identified of cybercrime because it is not limited to
decline in profit, but it also creates a long term damage to company’s reputation and competency
to grow (AKDEMİR, SUNGUR and BAŞARANEL, 2020). Research indicates that many small
business owners find themselves unable to protect themselves from such issue, as they do not
have enough resources to monitor such crime. Though government makes different ways in order
to minimize the impact over the companies but still it has an impact over the business.
In addition to this, due to pandemic most of the companies start offering work from home
facilities to their employees and this in turn increase the chances of cybercrime (Furnell, 2020).
Thus, it depicts that companies are facing high level of attacks which need to be minimized so

that it does not causes any negative impact. For that, company also start focusing upon training
session which ensures that employees are well aware about the threats which might cause
adverse impact over the business performance.
Moreover, it can be stated that the cyberattacks always impact the physical safety of
European people and this in turn cause negative impact over the mental health. Hence, it can be
stated that there is only negative impact identified over the people and society which needs to be
controlled by implementing effective measures either from government side or company.
Information about what research evidence tells us about why people commit this crime
The official government sites of UK entails that criminals perform cybercrime due to
either get revenge from other companies. Hackers mainly attack upon websites with a particular
reasons and this might be either for political reasons, beliefs or personal grudges (Holt and
Bossler, 2020). However, site also reveals that 59% of the ex-employees uses their insiders’
information for the revenge when they get a new job. Therefore, they steal the data simply to
transmitting files over internet and then use information for other company. So, this entails that
hackers uses such information in order to access the same for their personal use.
In addition to this, another rationale for committing this crime is related to lack of
security assistance which is another step to raise cybercrime. As, it has been also identified that
23 million online accounts were still using simple password which can be hacked by criminals.
Thus, there is a need to provide effective training that helps to make them aware about the
minimizing cybercrime (Eboibi, 2020). Another reason of compelling this crime is money such
that the transaction will often use a cryptocurrency and if the smaller in transaction size,
criminals got attacked in such money. This in turn shows that if criminals will make money
through extracting money from their victim directly or can capitalize on the sale of their data
within an underground market.
Summary of punishment
As per the government rules of UK, if anyone found with an intention to commit a crime,
he or she is liable for 5-year prison or unlimited fine. However, if an individual found with
aiding in computer misuse, a 10-year sentence or else unlimited fine. This shows that
government has made strict laws that assists to minimize the chances of cybercrime. Therefore,
there are many laws designed like Data Protection Act, 1998 which is used for safeguarding all

types of private and confidential business information. With the help of this law, companies
ensured that all data are handled with safe and lawful manner.
On the other side, as per the Data Protection Act 2018, it controls how information is
used by organization, business or government (A guide to UK cybercrime legislation, 2020). This
act is designed with a purpose to control information used by business or government. Therefore,
it is a part of UK’s General Data Protection Regulation which is tough privacy and security law
regulating that helps to use information in effective manner and stored data as well.
Presenting two intervention
It has been clearly analyzed that cybercrime is considered one of the biggest threat within
a country and there are different ways through which the issues can be minimized.
 UK government establish UK Cyber Security Strategy in June 2009 whose main aim is to
provide strategic leadership across government and also develop different ways to
coordinate it with other departments. This in turn assists to create a direct impact over the
UK interest and specifically the citizen. So, Home Office Cyber Crime Strategy also sets
out in department’s plan that helps is coordinating and delivering the policy to others
people (Furnell, 2020). This in turn assists to improve the level of cyber crime within
companies and that is why, it is more interested to people as well as communities that
helps to create bets outcomes. The policy must be review in 6 months so that effective
results can be generated in positive manner to ensure the consistency with a maturing
work as well.
 The government and different companies also focused upon range of campaigns that
helps to let people know about different issues and ways to resolve the same. For
example, Be Cyber Streetwise campaign that provide cyber security advice for business
and public. This includes working to improve the cyber skills, education and professional
opportunities in order to generate the best outcomes. In addition to this, UK business
faces many challenges to determine the ways of defending the government from range of
cyber attacks, but with the help of effective strategies and awareness programs, people
get awareness pertaining to range of strategies that helps to improve the cyber crime
attacks.

CONCLUSION
By summing up above, it has been concluded that cybercrime affected the entire society
and business in adverse manner. That is why, there is a need to use effective laws and legislation
in order to generate the effective results. It has been also summarized that cybercrime affect the
business as well as society in negative manner. So, different laws have implemented that helps to
protect the data from misused.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Buil-Gil, D. and et.al., 2021. Cybercrime and shifts in opportunities during COVID-19: a
preliminary analysis in the UK. European Societies. 23(sup1). pp.S47-S59.
AKDEMİR, N., SUNGUR, B. and BAŞARANEL, B. U., 2020. Examining the Challenges of
Policing Economic Cybercrime in the UK. Güvenlik Bilimleri Dergisi, (International
Security Congress Special Issue), pp.113-134.
Furnell, S., 2020. Technology Use, Abuse, and Public Perceptions of Cybercrime. The Palgrave
Handbook of International Cybercrime and Cyberdeviance, pp.45-66.
Holt, T. J. and Bossler, A. M. eds., 2020. The Palgrave Handbook of International Cybercrime
and Cyberdeviance. palgrave macmillan.
Eboibi, F. E., 2020. Concerns of cyber criminality in South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia and Nigeria:
rethinking cybercrime policy implementation and institutional
accountability. Commonwealth Law Bulletin. 46(1). pp.78-109.
Umanailo, M. C. B. and et.al., 2019. Cybercrime Case as Impact Development of
Communication Technology That Troubling Society. Int. J. Sci. Technol. Res. 8(9).
pp.1224-1228.
Chandra, A. and Snowe, M. J., 2020. A taxonomy of cybercrime: Theory and
design. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems. 38. p.100467.
Online
Estimated revenue of the cyber security sector in the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2020. 2020.
[Online]. Available through: < https://www.statista.com/statistics/1227894/revenue-of-
cyber-security-sector-uk/ >.
5 Reasons Why Cyber Criminals Attack. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<itgovernance.co.uk/blog/5-reasons-why-cyber-criminals-attack>.

A guide to UK cybercrime legislation. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.ramsac.com/blog/cybercrime-legislation-uk/>.
UK sees a 31% increase in cyber crime amid the pandemic. 2021. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/93722-uk-sees-a-31-increase-in-cyber-
crime-amid-the-pandemic>.