Digital Forensics and Computer Crimes: The Case of North Macedonia

Abstract

The subject of the research refers to the aspect of digital forensics and computer crime and the latter is one of the reasons for the evolution of crime in general. Based on the growing trend of technology development and the increase in the number of digital crimes, a special emphasis is given to the statistical aspect of computer crime as well as measures to reduce the impact of computer crime, including the ethical and legal aspects in the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM). To conduct this research, statistical data on computer crime in RNM from 2011 to 2020 were used, based on historical data of analysis, as well as comparison, correlation, and the ANOVA-test. The highest number of crimes were registered in 2020 and a special feature is that a positive linear trend can be observed during the last decade. “Damage and unauthorized access to a computer system” took the first place in computer crimes according to the Criminal Procedure Law.