Entry Ten

How does cyber technology impact interactions between offenders and victims?

Cyber technology enables offenders to reach their victims faster and easier, as well allowing attacks to occur without being in the same vicinity as the victim. Cyber fraud is one type of cyber crime. Cyber bullying is another use of cyber technology to commit an act online. Sex crimes can also involve cyber technology to commit or distribute digital files. Cyber technology has made it easier to commit sex crimes, as it is easier to find material, meet other like-minded offenders, easier to distribute material, easier to contact victims, and easier to evade law enforcement.

Cyber fraud may occur by a specific attack against a target victim, or by randomly targeting a large group of people and attacking those who respond. In the case of cyber fraud, there is no force, a larger amount of money is stolen from the victim, and no direct contact is required. These crimes deal with the use of technology to deceive individuals in order to steal from them. Examples are phishing attacks, work-at-home scams, catfishing, identity theft, online sales fraud and technology scams to name a few. Many of these types of crimes would not be possible or as believable as those committed by a criminal in person. The anonymity granted to an attacker by cyber technology allows for them to target hundreds of people with little effort, and spend time on the few victims who “bite.”

Cyber bullying uses technology and digital media, and typically involves girls more than traditional bullying. One in four youth experience cyber bullying, and many on more than one occasion. Cyber bullying includes verbal attacks, spreading of rumors, flaming, sexting, outing, masquerading, and exclusion. Cyber bullying has real consequences for the victims, as many victims have died by suicide. Victims may be dependent on the internet, are not popular, have committed cyber bullying, and may have been victims of traditional bullying. Cyber bullying is difficult to detect, usually the bully is persistent, can be permanent and anonymous, and bullies will use different mediums to complete the attacks on the victim (text messages, social media, etc.). The bullies tend to be younger, have been victims themselves and may commit traditional bullying. 

Many criminals use cyber technology to create, distribute or commit sex crimes. Child pornography is commonly distributed via the internet, and can be very difficult to trace back to the offender. Technology is used during the production, storage, and distribution of media, as well as making it easier for offenders to contact potential victims and other pedophiles. Three types of offenders are involved in child sex crimes: those who collect the media, those to engage in criminal offenses, and those who engage in contact offenses and pornography. Revenge porn occurs when intimate photos or videos are shared online without the victim’s permission with the goal to embarrass the victim. This has only recently become a crime in many states. Sexual blackmail occurs when an offender discovers compromising videos or photos of a victim and threatens to publish them unless the victim pays the offender. Sexting is the sending of comments, photos or videos that are sexual in nature. What makes this illegal is when the messages involve a minor. Online prostitution involves the use of online marketing their services and generally is less risky when compared to street prostitution.