The career that I’ll be describing is a Cyber Crime Investigator. The job of this field is to identify, collect, examine, and preserve evidence. It relates to relativism because the ways to find evidence is consistently advancing as well as crime and security issues. The job also requires the person to trust in the supplier or product so that they can ensure that the data they’re getting is correct. The way that they also need to perform their job is to perform it with objectivity so that they don’t stir up any trouble while doing their job, trying to figure out the most feasible and humane outcome for the attacker they’re gathering information about. The way that they work also defines the interdependence of people who have no cyber knowledge and those who have the much-acquired knowledge to perform the attacks. While also working with those who have little knowledge, they must use parsimony so they can understand what’s going on. They also use empiricism if they need to perform anything in the real world to base some information on what kinds of evidence they’re given, i.e., USB sticks, floppy drives, hard drives, and compromising equipment.
The concept of archival research applies to this career because when going about the dark web using the tor browser, you look for forums and markets that have been used for long times as well as using digital media on separate operating systems. The career also relates to the psychodynamic theory because when viewing the forums as well as electronic devices for information, you could find out that the stuff that they criminals have been collecting could relate to their past or potential childhood experiences. Integrity and risk is also very crucial to the career because when searching through the information, you have to also make sure that the information that you’re finding is true to the information that you’re looking for as well as the risk of what could be used against you if you found the wrong information, because if you find information on the criminal and it turns out to be untrue based on forums, you could be in a lot of trouble. Risk management applies to this career because when looking for your information on the tor browser or what you’re viewing your information on, you have to ensure that you’re realizing the risks of where you’re searching on as well as the information you’re gathering and knowing the risks and consequences that could come with it.
One of the marginalized groups that are challenged with cybercrime investigators are those who are in low-income areas or households. When it comes to the low-income groups, they run risks of having no or very little protection against crimes, because they can’t keep up to date on their technology and become easier targets for malware. They also run risk of their phones being tampered with or stolen when having to bring their phone to a company for repair if need, thus starting more issues that could arise for the investigators. The homeless make it a challenge for cybercrime investigators because with them not having any outcome, they could have their devices deactivated and if they were to lose their devices, it’d make it harder for the device to be tracked and found since it has no signaling data for the investigator to work with. Those who are gifted and talented in the cyber world could also prove a challenge with cybercrime investigators because if they were to use that talent for wrongdoings, it could make an investigator’s job a lot harder. They could use their talents to make it harder for the investigator to find evidence and stop them in their tracks, causing lots of time to be lost from them reaching many dead ends.
In a scholarly document called “Combating Cybercrime: Economic and Legal Aspects” by O. Sviatun, O. Goncharuk, C. Roman, O. Kuzmenko, and I. Kozych, they explained that since 2013, cybercrime has cost the world billions and in 2020 had an estimated $945 billion and as the years go by its constantly rising. The cost of companies and governments that come after the attacks come with long-term economic losses. This causes cybercrime investigators to have to work much harder because of the low amount of knowledge that the companies and governments have on cyber protection, when if they were to look into it they could potentially cut those costs in half. In an article called “Cybercrime Investigators are Users Too! Understanding the Socio-Technical Challenges Faced by Law Enforcement” by M. Nouh, J.R.C. Nurse, H. Webb, and M. Goldsmith, they stated that the investigators that they had within their collection had 90% less investigation leads due to cybercriminals being able to hide their tracks easier or lack of victim awareness. It’s much easier to hide your footprints online compared to in real life, and doing so makes it harder for investigators to do their work. In an article called “Introduction: new directions in cybercrime research” by Adam M. Bossler and Tamar Berenblum, they found that with a study that they found from Madarie, Ruiter, Steenbeek, and Kleemans within their article that they were able to find forums that had frequently asked for and purchased stolen account information to prove how important account information is for the reader to keep it safe. With how often people are unaware of the importance of credentials, this allows for criminals to do their wrongdoings much faster and easier, but also making it easier for cybercrime investigators if they post it on forum websites.
Work’s Cited
https://niccs.cisa.gov/workforce-development/nice-framework/specialty-areas/cyber-investigation
Anthony, Aubra. “Cyber Resilience Must Focus on Marginalized Individuals, Not Just Institutions.” Cyber Resilience Must Focus On Marginalized Individuals, Not Just Institutions, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 13 Mar. 2023, carnegieendowment.org/2023/03/13/cyber-resilience-must-focus-on-marginalized-individuals-not-just-institutions-pub-89254.
Sviatun, Olena V, et al. “Combating Cybercrime: Economic and Legal Aspects.” Academia.Edu, WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS , 21 Apr. 2021, d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/77267023/b465107-1330-libre.pdf?1640353001=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DCombating_Cybercrime_Economic_and_Legal.pdf&Expires=1701119647&Signature=d9Fj3o4Ui76dgMnqoIHHpo9-awG-dCUdIn1YdcPjA0Ww52teinz8gX5srNSxZfWLTZ1NIGM-4ltJuAxe4RpXANjIx4ZbybAooFK9M~wjx1Qur9p5lsr-b2JoIc5rINfkF3EavBrNEJweuUozReufRyE-s3fY6Z499uqmcKwqOcZaMLEMtgnkFxWiNUamsfU6d4jYSSgZV23uaDqhJY1eo9OY89eQGTGjbCRMO1eu8F2AZJMcjOK3V5TiX1FrbgUhUItqjB58xPFSxlTHngGvugvJB1Tc9RK~HCIZrae3MJIBxLkqwpGSlWPCVKPu8wQS39E2lmYwpDf6tcK0qncY9A__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA.
Nouh, Mariam, et al. “Cybercrime Investigators Are Users Too! Understanding the Socio-Technical Challenges Faced by Law Enforcement.” arXiv.Org, 19 Feb. 2019, arxiv.org/abs/1902.06961.
Bossler, Adam M, and Tamar Berenblum. “Introduction: New Directions in Cybercrime Research.” Introduction: New Directions in Cybercrime Research, Taylor & Francis Online, 18 Nov. 2019, www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0735648X.2019.1692426.