Cybercrime

Author:

Charles, Nesson, William, Fisher

Subject:

Social Sciences

Institution Name:

Berkman Center for Internet and Society

Collection:

Harvard Law School

Grade Level:

Post-secondary

Abstract:

"Cybercrime" is not a rigorously defined concept. For our purposes, consider it to embrace criminal acts that can be accomplished while sitting at a computer keyboard. Such acts include gaining unauthorized access to computer files, disrupting the operation of remote computers with viruses, worms, logic bombs, Trojan horses, and denial of service attacks; distributing and creating child pornography, stealing another's identity; selling contraband, and stalking victims. Cybercrime is cheap to commit (if one has the know-how to do it), hard to detect (if one knows how to erase one's tracks), and often hard to locate in jurisdictional terms, given the geographical indeterminacy of the Net. Our purpose in considering the subject of cybercrime is not to catalog it exhaustively, but rather to raise and consider questions of particular interest that are presented by cyber methodologies of committing crimes. The most interesting questions arise at the points where criminal opportunities presented by the new technologies stretch the bounds of our criminal law.

Course Type:

Learning Module

Languages:

English

Material Type:

Readings

Media Format:

Text/HTML, Downloadable docs

Conditions of Use:

Custom Permissions
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