Lawrence Peter Ampofo
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Defining CybercrimeThe tendency to utilise the internet and the Web for illegal purposes is a broad definition of cybercrime, a loaded phrase that is full of uncertain, speculative, imprecise and complex definitions and terminology. The complexity of arriving at a universal definition of cybercrime is illustrated in the approaches taken by different public and private organisations. Private cybersecurity corporations such as Symantec provide their own definitions, such as the example below: ‘Symantec defines cybercrime as any crime that is committed using a computer, network, or hardware device. The computer or device may be the agent of the crime, the facilitator of the crime, or the target of the crime. The crime may take place on the computer alone or in addition to other locations’ (Fossi et al., 2008: 4). However, supranational political organisations such as the International Telecommunications Union define the term as: ‘An activity that is carried out using a computer that is illicit or some parties consider illicit and which can be carried out across global electronic networks’ (ITU, 2009: 19).70 The discord over a universal definition of cybercrime can also lead to instances of commensuration, where certain independent variables are conflated to constitute one overarching dependent variable, such as terrorism and cybercrime. In the absence of a universal definition of cybercrime, it is useful to re-examine the theoretical frameworks offered by Barnett (2005) and Bobbitt (2008) who outline how internet and Web technologies support the activities of contemporary terrorist organisations. It is clear that in the theoretical frameworks offered by Bobbitt and Barnett, the internet and the Web are perceived as tools which help terrorist organisations more easily achieve their strategic objectives. In their estimation, the internet and the Web are force multipliers which help terrorist organisations generate more money, extend their geographical reach to conduct their activities across the world, and conduct more targeted propaganda, amongst other things. However, the complexity and difficulty of commensurating the two issues of terrorism and cybercrime is again demonstrated in discussions concerning cyberterrorism as currently, it remains only a theoretical possibility (Denning, 2003, Zunzunegui, 2008). Barnett argued that internet and Web technologies would make the task of conducting international terrorism fundamentally easier as it gave organisations with a previously national purview, global reach (Barnett, 2005). Bobbitt on the other hand claimed, as will be outlined in greater detail in this chapter, that the internet-enabled market state terrorist organisation could commit eminently more dangerous attacks than they had done previously. He put it that: ‘Market state terrorists evade attempts to suppress them and enhance their power through the adroit use of modern communications technology, especially the internet. Paradoxically, the very decentralised network of communication that the US security services created out of fear of the Soviet Union now serves the interests of the greatest foe of the West’s security services since the end of the Cold War: international terror’ (Bobbitt, 2008: 55). The notion that the internet and the Web are force multipliers, allowing international terrorist organisations to flourish in a veritable “underbelly of globalisation” (Owens, 2004) is something that underpins the arguments of both Bobbitt and Barnett. Indeed, it was demonstrated in Chapter Five that the adroit use of new communications technologies, in tandem with an understanding of the demands and behaviour of their target audiences whilst using the medium, could provide terrorist organisations with the potential to exert greater control and manipulate the interpretation and uptake of their core narratives. An example of this is seen in the widespread use of the terrorist narrative ‘Al-Qaeda to continue Jihad’ following the discovery of a video in which the attackers pledged more attacks if Spanish troops were not withdrawn from Afghanistan. This ability to develop relationships with influential online audience groups suggests that terrorist organisations can develop an increasingly effective understanding of digital communication strategy in the same way that their government counterparts do. The democratisation of internet and Web technologies, and the considerable opportunity for innovation they afford to all organisations including terrorist organisations, should not mean that these technologies be jettisoned, or that the medium should become a more securitised space, with net neutrality71 becoming an element of the past as a result. Rather, it is critical that security services and other relevant actors develop a similar understanding of the nature of online behaviour globally and how they can go about generating and exerting compelling online behaviour and narratives to positively affect the attitudes and behaviours of online users. The technologically deterministic proclivity of some internet and terrorism scholars to argue that technologies would directly augment the abilities of terrorist organisations to carry out their operations has been refuted by others. The think tank analyst Jamie Bartlett claimed that technology in actuality has nothing to do with either augmenting or decreasing the capabilities of terrorist organisations because terrorism is still fundamentally about meeting with like-minded people face-to-face in communities: “[Technology makes] [r]ecruitment…easier, radicalisation is easier because you can get like-minded people together who become more bold when they’re online and not face to face…Then you’ve got ease of access to bomb-making material and radical literature that you didn’t have access to before on YouTube, the Anarchists Cookbook, the al-Qaeda training manual, and this makes it much more difficult for government as well as if it spreads all over the place then its difficult to know what to do. But I do think, and it’s the point I keep reiterating, it’s hard to meet people, it’s hard to make bombs, I’ve only seen…one case…of someone completely self-radicalising online and going on to commit an action. You normally train overseas, 70% of people train overseas, and they normally have to meet their co-conspirators in person because it’s a big commitment”.72 Although it is beyond the scope of this thesis to analyse Bartlett’s assertion of the correlation between the rate of technology penetration and frequency of terrorist attack, he nonetheless makes a noteworthy point that technology on its own does not have a direct effect on terrorist organisations. This argument dovetails well with the socio-technical theory outlined in Chapter One that it is both social interactions and technological development which together have a direct effect on the activities of human beings. Spain has over 29 million internet users, representing a penetration rate of more than 60 per cent of the population, one of the highest in the OECD, as seen in Figures One and Two. The notion that the internet traverses geographic boundaries easily and quickly and offers its users economic, social and political opportunities has been outlined in detail during the course of this thesis, particularly through analysis of the theoretical frameworks offered by Philip Bobbitt and Thomas Barnett. However, it has been discussed in this thesis that the converse of this vision of a global digital utopia is developing just as quickly, if not quicker (Council Of Europe, 2004). Cybercrime is a significant problem in Spain with the country having the highest level of copyright piracy in Western Europe (Intellectual Property Alliance, 2010). Reliance on such assertions is, however, problematic for a number of reasons, one being the notion that an agreed upon definition of the types of crime that constitute cybercrime has not yet been fulfilled. In addition, many people or organisations that might have been victims of cybercrime do not report it (Europa, 2007). Different ministerial departments have created specific cyber security legislation such as the Esquema Nacional de Seguridad which regulates secure access to electronic mediums such as the internet and the Web, the Civil Guard’s Telematic Crime Group (Grupo de Delitos Telemáticos de la Guardia Civil) which combats online crime and the Spanish Data Protection Agency (Agencia Española de Protección de Datos) which enforces data protection regulations. However, the Spanish Government as a unit has not as yet created and implemented a national, overarching cyber security strategy in the same fashion as the UK (Chamorro &Villalba, 2010). Nevertheless, the approval of the Sustainable Economy Law which attempts to counter cybercrime in the country (Ley Economía Sostenible or Ley Sinde) was announced in February 2011 and will discussed later in this chapter. The absence of a Spanish cybersecurity strategy highlights the importance of analysing the extent to which terrorist organisations utilise cybercriminal techniques as a method of increasing their influence and achieving their strategic objectives. It has been speculated that techniques such as identity theft, credit card fraud, phishing and copyright piracy73 are used by terrorist organisations, blurring the lines of common definition between terrorist organisations and organised crime syndicates (Bobbitt, 2008, Shelley, 2003, Wiemann, 2007). It has also been posited that the widespread proliferation of internet and Web technologies has played a major role in helping terrorist organisations and organised criminal syndicates to operate alike and indeed learn from each other. In the 2005 United Nations Congress for the Prevention of Crime and Penal Justice, the United Nations Office against Drugs and Crime outlined the findings of research conducted into data submitted by member states into the possible relationship between organised crime, drug trafficking and terrorism. It outlined that such a relationship does in fact exist: ‘[T]he nexus between terrorism and organised crime is intense. There are many crime-related stories that have become clear in the 11th United Nations Congress about Penal Justice and the Prevention of Crime. In the doctrine, there are studies related to the transformation of terrorists into criminals although it can happen the other way round. For this reason, terrorists and criminals learn reciprocally from one another, especially when they have to establish illicit avenues for their criminal activities’ (Úbeda-Portugués, 2009: 3).74 Úbeda-Portugués’ argument above adds an extra dimension to the assertion offered by other terrorism, internet and globalisation scholars, that terrorist organisations’ use of internet and Web technologies has broadened to include cybercrime amongst other things (Conway, 2005, Revisión Estratégica de Defensa, 2003, Napoleoni, 2004). At this juncture, it is worth reiterating the point made in Chapter Two concerning the complexity involved in adequately defining the term terrorism, in order to provide conceptual clarity for the reader. A universally accepted definition of the term terrorism is widely noted by terrorism scholars, sociologists and practitioners as extremely problematic (Stampnitzky, 2010). The problem of definition was identified by the terrorism scholar Bruce Hoffman in his analysis on the nature of global terrorism: ‘one can find such disparate acts as the bombing of a building, the assassination of a head of state, the massacre of civilians by a military unit, the poisoning of produce on supermarket shelves, or the deliberate contamination of over-the-counter medication in a drugstore, all described as acts of terrorism’ (Hoffmann, 2005: 1). The very ambiguity of the nature of terrorism can lead to confusion between the kinds of acts that can be denoted as such and those which are otherwise criminal activities. As a result of the inherent complexity in defining terrorist acts, this thesis will utilise the definitions of terrorism (terrorismo exterior, terrorismo interior) as offered by the Spanish Government: ‘External Terrorism is that which is committed outside the borders of the state of origin or within countries of origin but against the interests of other countries…such as attacks, sabotage, assassinations and kidnappings…[t]here are other aspects, which are linked in respect to international terrorism which should be taken into account. The existence of mercenaries and dangerous material that is very sophisticated…as well as the possibilities that new technologies offer to obtain information about material that could be involved in international terrorism adds another factor to the terrorism phenomenon. Interior Terrorism is that which is born inside a state and is conducted against a specific state…This terrorism can maintain international links of support between groups, use training camps or take refuge in sanctuaries’75 (Revisión Estratégica de Defensa, 2003: 127). This definition of terrorism provided by the Spanish Government also emphasises its dual terrorism problem with both national and international terrorism (Celso, 2006). Philip Bobbitt argued that the Spanish security services were focused on countering the threat posed by ETA and disregarded the threat posed by international terrorist organisations before 2004 (Bobbitt, 2008). However, the above definition is more closely aligned with the assertion from the scholar Anthony Celso who claimed that Spain currently faces a dual security threat that relies on the availability of high technology (Celso, 2006). One encounters similar definitional problems when attempting to arrive at a universally agreed upon explanation for the nature of crime or criminal actions, as they comprise a wealth of actions and interpretations. The difficulty of this endeavour is compounded by the assertion of crime experts, particularly criminologists, who claim that the definition of crime is not given by scientists but has rather been subsumed by governments, ‘[t]he state, not the scientist, determines the nature or the definition of crime’ (Gottfredson & Hirsch, 1990: 3). Therefore, for the purpose of this thesis, crime will be defined along the lines of the politico-criminal definition as provided by the Spanish Government and from the theory of crime causation as: ‘illicit or anti-juridical acts that threaten public order, territory or the state’ (Witker, date unknown: 3). Directory: portal -> files -> 4733003 files -> Impact case study (ref3b) files -> Ethics and Factual Television: a short history files -> P. O. Box 27, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland tel. 358-9-191 58080 / 22216; fax 358-9-191 58096 / 23008 files -> The impact of a pledge campaign and the promise of publicity: a randomized controlled trial of charitable donations files -> Diversity and Voice: the Political Participation of Young People in the European Union files -> Chapter 15 a voice in Decision Making: young children in Denmark Stig Broström Introduction Download 1.29 Mb. Share with your friends:
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