White-collar crime in cyber time: the role of opportunity in committing financial crime online (original) (raw)
Related papers
2018
This chapter introduces the phenomenon of virtual collar crime, that is quintessentially white collar crimes that are perpetrated entirely in cyberspace. Trust, trust dependency, high skill base criminals and opportunity zones were, and are, the hallmarks of white collar crime. The emerging paradigm of virtual collar crimes negates the requirement that perpetrators be highly skilled. Computer sagacity is no longer the sine qua non for cybercriminals-the phenomenon of 'Crime as a Service' has outsourced the skill requirement to third party providers of the required technological knowhow. Alongside the cascading down of such technical knowledge, twenty-first century society has driven headlong down the information superhighway, with hardly any area of human activity left unexposed to the effects of the ether. This perfect storm of increased virtuality and democratisation of online crime poses immense challenges to the entire twenty-first century society substratum, risking the future ability and desire of humans to interact with each other, have mutual trust and respect for one another and to have faith in established governmental institutions, commercial corporations and law enforcement. Legal systems must ensure that lives lived virtually are only exposed to an acceptable level of risk. In the 21 st Century, individuals, corporations and governments are becoming increasingly exposed to the risk of becoming victims of financial crime. The rise in white collar crime can be largely attributed to modern society's increasing reliance on electronic communications systems to control, monitor and deliver fundamental services. Schools, hospitals, companies, governments and households all rely on electronic communication networks to function properly. The exponential rise in ownership of powerful smartphones, tablets, portable gaming consoles, wearable computers and Smart TVs, allied with the growing availability of Wi-Fi hotspots and the phenomenon of the Internet of Things, have coalesced to revolutionise mobile computing and internet access. People are accustomed to working, playing, relaxing and socialising remotely and as such are constantly exposed to the danger of financial cybercrime. Beyond the present, the future offers infinitely more opportunities for financial crime, as people's lives will be lived increasingly in the ether, through ubiquitous computing. The general phenomenon of cybercrime, although a relatively recent occurrence, is undergoing a paradigm shift in its modalities. Cybercrime is rapidly evolving to encompass increasing virtuality. Virtual money and financial systems, virtual representatives such as avatars, virtual memory and virtual imagery are just some examples of the increasing dimensions of electronic communications. Virtual money can be stolen or used to launder real-world money, avatars can be attacked, destroyed or controlled by others and virtual intellectual property can be misappropriated. Further, virtual imagery that is illegal or offensive may be used and distributed for the purposes of blackmail and extortion. Virtual memory and resources hosted in the cloud can be stolen, modified or erased. Such virtual operations are often conducted anonymously or at least semi-anonymously and thus embolden the perpetrators of these white collar crimes that they can remain hidden in cyberspace, thus fuelling the preponderance of this type of crime. Thus, virtuality is promoting the rise of a new phenomenon, coined by the author as virtual collar crime. This chapter outlines the rise of opportunities for virtual crime directed at individuals, corporations and governments and discusses what can be done to counter virtual financial cybercrime.
White Collar Crime: What It Is and Where It's Going
Notre Dame Journal of Law Ethics Public Policy, 2014
We present this work to help clarify the concept of white collar crime, discuss what it has traditionally been perceived to be and what it is becoming in the age of computers, the Internet, and rapidly advancing technology. In the end, the reader will hopefully have a better understanding of the nature of white collar crime, its impact on our society and the direction in which it seems to be heading. We begin with a brief discussion of the term "white collar crime," first coined in 1939 by Edwin Sutherland, and further explored, refined, and redefined by a number of successors in various fields. We examine various definitions, as well as the reasons why so many different definitions exist, and discuss both efforts to unify these definitions and to work with terminology that means different things to different criminal justice stakeholders. We then move on to discussing the general shape of white collar crime in America, the relevant data for various types of activities that meet the criteria for at least some of the most prevalent white collar crime definitions, and how to interpret that data. Finally, we examine two areas of emerging concern in the field of white collar crime-social media and privacy.
Making Sense of White-Collar Crime: Theory and Research
OHIO STATE JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW, 2010
The field of white-collar/corporate crime has been studied by scholars from many disciplinary fields. Yet, the ambiguity and complexity of the subject, dearth ofprogram and policy evaluation, poor or inaccessible data and lack of systematic empirical research has precluded any consensus about its causes or what can be done to prevent and control it. Concern about the global financial crisis of 2008 and its association with fraudulent activities in the mortgage and securities markets has brought white-collar crime back to the forefront of criminological inquiry. New research-particularly evidence-based criminology and criminal justice and vignette studies of corporate crime-has provided insight into some of the longstanding debates in the field while also revealing new and interesting puzzles for scholars to explore. These new developments are summarized along with suggestions for new research on mortgage fraud, including the revitalization of a "criminogenic tier" approach to organizational actors, firms, and markets, and the use of network analysis as a means to map and measure key ties among fraudsters, network centrality, and reach.
The Reaction Towards White Collar Crime: When White Collar Crime Matters
The Open Criminology Journal, 2013
In the present article, we analyze socio-demographic profiles regarding wrongful attitudes toward white-collar crime. This is a well-researched area, however where the vast majority of the studies comes from the USA and UK. In this paper we will investigate wrongful attitudes in a different context-Sweden. We will furthermore not only focus on those having a restricted view of white collar crime, but also people with a liberal view, i.e. people who do not consider white collar crime to be seriously wrong. To identify different groups regarding attitudes towards white collar crime we have used Latent Class Analyses, with the result that we can identify four different groups, among which we focus on a large group (containing 35 % of the sample) having the most restricted view of white collar crime, and a small group (4.5 % of the sample) having the most liberal view of white collar crime. The socio-demographic profile of people having a restricted view of white collar crime is quite similar to the previous research. The restricted group consists in general of elderly women that infrequently uses Internet. The liberal group is in great extent an opposite group-containing young men regularly using Internet. We conclude that it is the latter group that is of most interest for future research, not the least because it is a group that may be breeding general distrust, which may strain the society's social solidarity and trustfulness.
Executives’ knowledge of white-collar crime: learning to prevent criminal behaviour
Department of Leadership and Organization at the Norwegian School of Management. She publishes and teaches organizational learning, knowledge sharing and leadership in organizations and the police force. She has written several books on these topics. Petter Gottschalk is Professor of information systems and knowledge management in the department of leadership and organizational management at the Norwegian School of Management. Dr. Gottschalk has published several books and research articles on crime and policing. Hans Solli-Saether has a MSc degree from the University of Oslo and a PhD degree from the Norwegian School of Management. He has been the CIO of Norway Post and has several years of practical experience in management. Dr. Solli-Saether has published several books and research articles on outsourcing and IT management.
Organised Cybercrime and Social Opportunity Structures: A Proposal for Future Research Directions
Little empirical research has been done on organised cybercrime. Anecdotes, unsubstantiated assumptions and unverifiable reports from technology companies dominate views on this topic. This article goes back to basics and outlines what the expectations are according to criminological theory. These expectations can be used as a framework for empirical studies. Theory shows that at least two different types of networks are likely to exist: (1) locally rooted all-rounders and (2) international specialists. This is confirmed by a number of case studies analysed in this article. Offender convergence settings seem to play a crucial role. Therefore, perhaps the most important question for future empirical research is what role these meeting places play in the development of cybercriminal networks. Furthermore, the question is whether more types of networks exist and if they have different characteristics (structure, hierarchy, type of offenders). Systematic analyses of cybercriminal networks may provide an important insight into these matters and may help us understand how cybercriminal networks arise and develop.
This chapter has one main objective: to present a succinct overview of key debates and ideas associated with theory, research and practice in the area of white-collar and corporate crimes. First, we think about white-collar and corporate crimes in the 21st Century, contextualising these phenomena and reinforcing their criminological significance, despite their analysis remaining at the margins of mainstream discourse. Second, we revisit on-going conceptual debates, identifying central analytical features of white-collar and corporate crimes before going on to argue in favour of shifting attention towards understanding how white-collar crimes are organised and the conditions that shape this over time. Third, we look at ways of explaining these behaviours, ranging from consideration of individual propensities and rationality, through organisational context and culture, to wider social conditions. Fourth, we analyse current policing and regulation strategies. We conclude with a discussion of key themes in white-collar crime research and scholarship.
Little empirical research has been done on organised cybercrime. Anecdotes, unsubstantiated assumptions and unverifiable reports from technology companies dominate views on this topic. This article goes back to basics and outlines what the expectations are according to criminological theory. These expectations can be used as a framework for empirical studies. Theory shows that at least two different types of networks are likely to exist: (1) locally rooted all-rounders and (2) international specialists. This is confirmed by a number of case studies analysed in this article. Offender convergence settings seem to play a crucial role. Therefore, perhaps the most important question for future empirical research is what role these meeting places play in the development of cybercriminal networks. Furthermore, the question is whether more types of networks exist and if they have different characteristics (structure, hierarchy, type of offenders). Systematic analyses of cybercriminal networks may provide an important insight into these matters and may help us understand how cybercriminal networks arise and develop.