In today’s world, technology is everywhere and is constantly advancing. Furthermore, there is a new dynamic between offenders and their victims. With technology, offenders never need to get near the victim. This significantly increases the difficulty for victims in determining whether an offender has impacted them. With bots and artificial intelligence, it’s very hard for someone without cybersecurity knowledge to understand that they were taken advantage of. Nowadays, cybercriminals can do just as much damage or more damage than physical attacks. Access to a domain controller allows an attacker to control everything, enabling them to hold a company to ransom or steal confidential data. Can you believe that all this occurs without a single soul setting foot inside the building? Complete control over a network without ever seeing the inside of the building. That is one-way cybercrime and victims have changed.

Another impact of interactions between offenders and victims is cost. Cost is one of many things you think about when hearing the question. However, it is a significant factor. Cybercrime is expected to hit $10.5 trillion by 2025 (Hawdon, 2021). That is only the estimated cost. What about cyberstalking, online sexual exploitation, cyber-harassment, bullying, and threats made (Hawdon, 2021)? These problems have been growing with the use of technology.

“While finding samples of cybercriminals is always a challenge, the growing body of evidence suggests that the behavior of cybercriminals is largely explained by the same set of factors that can account for the behavior of more traditional criminals” (Hawdon, 2021). The previous quote goes back to the first paragraph, where it’s hard for a cyber victim to determine if they have been involved in a cybercrime.

Another interaction is peer-to-peer networks. Websites like Omegle allowed predators to talk to minors. The minor might not even realize what is happening until it’s too late or never even realize that the person they are talking to is a predator. Technology has made it easier for predators to speak to minors.

References

Hawdon, J. (2021). Cybercrime: Victimization, Perpetration, and Techniques. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 46(6). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-021-09652-7