Q: How does cyber technology impact interactions between offenders and victims?

A: Technology has granted us the ability to do a plethora of tasks that would be impossible otherwise, such as storing thousands of files in a centralized location, communicating instantly with someone miles away, and generally continuing to make our lives much easier. However, while technology has many advantages that people can use for good, technology has also opened the door for new ways to take advantage of and hurt people while using technology and the internet. Offenses and crimes ranging anywhere from bullying, stalking, harassment, fraud, prostitution, terrorism, and many more are found more and more through cyber devices. Furthermore, while these types of crimes are starting to become more recognized and prevented through recent laws and statutes, most cyber crime goes undetected and out of the radar of the criminal justice system (CJ). The reason why this is because of how much easier it is for offenders to commit these types of cybercrimes, and how victims are more likely to be targeted by these crimes as well. While on the Internet, it’s harder to identify who a person actually is, whether or not a “business” is really what it says it is, and to discern what tones and emotions are being received from messages; furthermore, this miscommunication online can have serious consequences, since it creates a window of opportunity for offenders to target potential victims where there’s little security to stop them (also known as routine activities theory). These sorts of crimes that online offenders commit, while permanent, are harder to detect than non-cyber crime, use different methods of committing these crimes, and victims are easier to target to low security measures protecting them against potential offenders. Through the advancements of technology, it’s easier and more likely that an offender will commit cybercrimes against victims, whether they’re ordinary people or even large businesses.