William Whitehurst
April 14, 2025
Cybercrime Career Paper
Introduction
There are many professions in the field of cybersecurity. As it is a new and developing field there will be more types of jobs that will be made. The job I will be focusing on is cybercrime. Cybercrime is any type of criminal activity that is done using a computer or computer network. Cybercrime is nothing new, but it is a major issue as more people connect to the internet and more technology becomes available. In this paper I will focus on how cybercrime is connected to the social sciences, specifically psychology, finances/economy, and criminology.
Main body
Psychology is a key factor that cybercrime experts use to find cybercriminals. This does not just apply to cybercrime, but any kind of crime. You can build a psychological profile based on the crime and how it was committed to narrow down the suspects. Of course this is harder to do with cybercrime, but we can find out what kind of behaviors lead to cybercrime. For example, reinforcement sensitivity theory by Michael Palmieri found that impulsive individuals are more likely to commit cybercrimes. Psychology is not just limited to cyber offenders; the victims often feel psychological impacts. They might have a lower sense of online security. These could also lead to physical problems like lack of sleep.
Psychology is just one part, finance and economy are another tool that cybercrime experts use. Many companies and individuals are victims of cybercrimes that result in monetary loss. “As stated in that report, consumers who were victims of cybercrime globally lost $172 billion, which means, on average each victim lost $142” (Farahbod et al., 2020). This number will continue to rise, as we have seen over the past couple of years. It is estimated that by the end of 2025 companies globally will lose $10.5 trillion to cyber-attacks. “Customers lose faith in businesses if they feel that their personal information and transactions are not secure” (Smith et al., 2019). This will also lead to an economic loss as well. Cybercrime experts can use this information to understand what targets are most likely to be hit. For example, financial institutions will be big targets because of how much money could be taken. Similarly, hospitals are also big targets because patient or employee information could be sold for substantial amounts of money. This could cost the hospitals thousands in lawsuits. This means there will be more invested in cybersecurity at these types of institutions. Cybercrime experts can use this knowledge and set up traps to catch cybercriminals.
It is expected that criminology would be used in the cybercrime field. Similarly to psychology criminology can be used to understand why people commit cybercrimes. Understanding why people commit crime in general can help us to find ways to prevent more people from committing the same crime. “Criminal law is only as good as the theory underlying the behavior it is intended to deter or limit” (Kigerl, 2011). Having criminology theories can help law enforcement to better understand what kinds of places will be attacked and when. For example, with routine activity theory your home is more likely to be attacked while you are away at work. Businesses are more likely to be attacked when everyone has gone home for the day. This is just one theory, there are several more.
Marginalized groups can be impacted by cybercrime. They are more likely to fall victim to cyber-attacks or frauds. This could be seen as they might not have any kind of digital safety education. This could also cause some law enforcement to be less interested in helping marginalized groups. They might be more interested in catching bigger criminals. On the other hand, since more cybercrimes happen to these people there could be more help. Law enforcement might also provide digital/online safety education for marginalized groups.
Conclusion
In conclusion, cybercrime is a field that uses several of the social sciences. I mentioned that they use psychology, finance/economy, and criminology. There are still others that law enforcement uses to help catch and prevent cybercrime. Cybercrime affects marginalized groups more often, but cybercriminals will go after anyone. To fully understand cybercrime, you must understand more than just cybersecurity. That is where social sciences come into play.
References
Borwell, J., Jansen, J., & Stol, W. (2022). The Psychological and Financial Impact of Cybercrime Victimization: A Novel Application of the Shattered Assumptions Theory. Social science computer review, 40(4), 933-954. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439320983828
Farahbod, K., Shayo, C., & Varzandeh, J. (2020). CYBERSECURITY INDICES AND CYBERCRIME ANNUAL LOSS AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS. Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences, 32(1), 63-71.
Kigerl, A. (2012). Routine Activity Theory and the Determinants of High Cybercrime Countries. Social science computer review, 30(4), 470-486. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439311422689
Smith, K. T., Jones, A., Johnson, L., & Smith, L. M. (2019). Examination of cybercrime and its effects on corporate stock value. Journal of information, communication & ethics in society (Online), 17(1), 42-60. https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-02-2018-0010