With the legal system having difficulties keeping pace with the advancements in technology, this write-up will discuss what the legislative bodies should be doing to respond to these advancements; And the techniques, policies, or procedures that could be deployed.
The Problems
With technology advancing as fast as it is, our legal system is having trouble keeping up with its speed. For example, we have new smartphones come out every year but for our legal system it’s a long process before anything becomes a law. As new technology comes, criminals also come up with new ways to commit their crimes. Now crimes such as fraud, embezzlement, and bullying can be committed over a screen. And new crimes are being made such as distributed denial of service attacks and unauthorized access. In addition, some of the crimes draw a fine line between what is a crime and what is freedom of speech, ex: Lori Drew case.
The Solutions
So how are we going to be able to defend ourselves. Simply fight fire with fire. The government could hire their own hackers. For example, there are state-sponsored hackers and white hat hackers already. Another tactic the government could deploy is to get the police involved in cybercrimes. There could be a special unit of police officers that get calls from only cybercrimes. There could also be another unit like that one but instead of waiting for calls, actively go out and search for cybercrimes. Because the best defense is a good offense.
Conclusion
Technology is advancing at a rapid rate, leaving the legal system struggling to keep pace. Criminals are finding different ways to commit traditional crimes while also creating new types of crimes. But using hackers of our own would be able to defend against these crimes. And having trained police professionals on the scene as well, the legal system will be able to keep up.