Applying the gordon & ford categorisation and the routine activities theory to cybercrime: A suitable target

Abstract

This article speaks to the societal implications of technology by discussing the problems presented by cybercrime. It identifies a twofold problem. The first is that the proliferation of cybercrime is outstripping the pace at which governments can respond. The second is that there is a tendency to respond to issues relating to cybercrime on a superficial level without the appropriate technical understanding of the elements of cybercrime. This paper proposes that one of the ways of tackling cybercrime is to adopt the Routine Activities Theory, particularly the element of target suitability. This paper proposes that once a suitable target has been identified, the Gordon & Ford categorisation of cybercrimes be adopted as a policy framework for legislation and conventions. It illustrates the proposition by applying the categorisation to the South African Cybercrimes Bill.

Victimization in Cyberspace: Is It How Long We Spend Online, What We Do Online, or What We Post Online?

“…As an example, in the case of cyber abuse, Reyns and colleagues (2011) maintain that while a message could be posted on the victim's Facebook when the victim is off-line, the moment the victim goes online and reads the message, temporal convergence has occurred. Additionally, it has been argued that since the internet is designed not to be limited by barriers of physical distance, virtually present objects are globally visible, and this global visibility operates to advertise the existence of the targets to the pool of motivated offenders (Mabunda, 2017). Hence, the visibility of the victim, via the types of activities that the victim participates in, contributes to the degree to which the victim is a suitable target from the perspective of a would-be offender (Leukfeldt & Yar, 2016).…”