Cybertechnology impacts interactions between offenders and victims by creating a means by which contact can be made much easier and more frequent. There is also the possibility of anonymity on the part of the offender. These factors can combine to create a feeling of fear in an intended target. Before technology became an everyday use item, subjects needed to either use a phone to contact a victim or get physically near enough to the target to initiate fear. In such cases, the subject would most likely be opened up to witnesses or at least leave behind some sort of evidence that could help investigators lead them to the right suspect. This made harassment and stalking much harder. In the age of the Internet of things, there are so many means by which an offender can initiate contact with a victim. These types of interactions can also be made by people who would not normally become offenders. Social media is a great example of an arena where intentional offenders and people who are normally considered reasonable can initiate harassment. Vogels, (2021), an associate at the Pew Research Center points to a survey in which 75 percent of surveyed adults admitted to being harassed on social media. Simply making a comment on social media can instigate a series of people who wish to make their condescending opinions known even well after the original post is forgotten or removed. These disdainful people might not even personally know the original poster. The offenders just think their opinion is more important and they should win the argument that was created. This can lead to behaviors that cross the line of what’s legal.

With the age of wire communications, the world got a bit smaller. With the invention of the internet, all people practically live next door to one another. This is because communication is so much faster and more reliable than decades ago. No longer do people have to call into a switchboard or even dial out through a rotary phone. Applications like text and instant messengers make chatting an instantaneous action. Offenders can take advantage of this as well. Decades ago, an offender might have been able to get in a quick strike or maybe even two or three in one night. Now, subjects can send a slew of offensive communications in a matter of a few minutes. It all depends on how fast they type.

Arguably the most frightening impact of cyber technology on interactions between offenders and victims is that offenders can become anonymous. There are numerous ways that subjects can hide their identities online. According to Hazelwood & Koon-Magnin (2013), offenders can buy cell unregistered cell phones to use only for an attack. These means of hiding affect investigations as well. Hazelwood & Koon-Magnin (2013) discuss the ability to use pseudonyms in place of names for online accounts. This makes investigations much harder by creating an alias that is not used anywhere else. Also, some sites do not require the use of registration at all (Hazelwood & Koon-Magnin, 2013). In this case, there is little way to be sure of who created and who used these accounts. This factor combined with others can create a web of fear surrounding the victim. There is no way of knowing who the victim is or where they’re at. This is the ultimate terror situation.

Vogels, E. A. (2021). Online harassment occurs most often on social media, but strikes in other places, too. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/02/16/online-harassment-occurs-most-often-on-social-media-but-strikes-in-other-places-too/

Hazelwood, S., & Koon-Magnin, S. (2013). Cyber Stalking and Cyber Harassment Legislation in the United States: A Qualitative Analysis. International Journal of Cyber Criminology. All Rights Reserved. Under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike, 7(5), 155–168. https://cybercrimejournal.com/pdf/hazelwoodkoonmagninijcc2013vol7issue2.pdf