This course introduced the core vocabulary, theories, and data of cybercriminology, with a focus on how everyday people are victimized rather than how corporations and governments protect their data. I learned how the Internet’s architecture allows cybercrimes to happen, explored the four main categories of cybercrime (cybertrespass, cyberpornography, cyberviolence, and cyberdeception), and critiqued the major debates over what should be prohibited, investigated, and prosecuted. As part of ODU’s applied Cybercriminology program, I also worked with real-world material like search warrants and government white papers. This course taught me that cybercrime cannot be understood through the technology alone, and that its impact on individuals and the community matters just as much as how the crime is carried out. The works linked below are two videos I worked on in this class. Feel free to check them out!

Reflection

Before this class, I thought that cybercrime was mostly hackers breaking into systems. The two videos I made showed me that it’s a lot broader than that. Both topics I chose were pretty dense. One being a federal search warrant affidavit and the other was AI deepfakes. I had to turn each one into something a person could follow in a few minutes. That was harder than I expected. I had to cut parts I found interesting and figure out what the audience actually needed to know, then use video editing to keep it moving in a sensible order.

My Silk Road video taught me that catching a cybercriminal isn’t just about the tech. The FBI had to prove to a judge why they should be allowed to search the server, and there are rules for how to do that. I also thought it was ironic that Tor and Bitcoin, which the site used to stay hidden, ended up helping the FBI once they found the backup server. For my deepfake video, I started with the people getting hurt. Learning how scammers clone voices to trick older people in Hampton Roads, and how fake audio can be used in politics, made me realize the laws can’t keep up with the technology. That’s why my solution was education instead of a immediate technical fix.

Overall, this class made me think about cybercrime as something that happens to real people, and that the way we respond to it is still being figured out. It also made me a lot more comfortable explaining technical topics to people who don’t know them, which I think will help me later no matter what job I end up in.