Summary
Summary KRM 320(B) Cyber crime: Study unit 2
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A complete summary on the role of technology in the criminal justice system and the biggest challenges South Africa is facing with regard to cyber crime.
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TECHNOLOGY’S ROLE IN THE CJS & BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACED BY SA 1. INTRODUCTION
Cybercrime has existed from the early 1990s and is defined as any illegal act where a computer,
network or electronic device with a memory or processing capability is the object or target of the crime;
the instrument used to commit the crime; or used as a repository of evidence relating to a crime
Cybercrime poses many challenges, especially in the economic sphere that result in individuals and
companies taking dear steps to ensure their safety
Cybercrime has two categories, namely
New crimes that can only be committed with computers for example hacking & disseminate malicious
code or virus
Old crimes existing for centuries but are now committed in the cyber environment for ex. fraud & child
pornography
Cybercrime is part of the manmade risk in the risk society
Termed risk society as a society that is organised in response to risk
Manmade risks are produced by the modernisation process, specifically developments in technology
Manmade risks construct a risk society as they are very unpredictable as the environments they create
have little historical reference
The cyber threat landscape is changing as it has expanded over time and criminals use more refined
techniques
This changing landscape makes the crime difficult to police
Currently technology advancements pose a 360 degree challenge because threats to our cyber security
come from unexpected directions and sources
Cyber exploitation & malicious activity are becoming more sophisticated, targeted & serious
2. CONCEPTS AND CHALLENGES PERTAINING TO CYBERCRIME
Cybercrime is an invisible enemy and a major threat globally – as it is mostly anonymous
Chouhan states that because institutions, businesses, economic activities and government organisations
are becoming more dependent on the internet, cyber criminals exploit numerous security issues that
lead to many cybercrime variants arising
He described different cybercrime variants including cyber stalking, hacking, phishing, cyber
squatting, email bombing, virus, worms, Trojan attacks etc.
Cybercrime detection & the role of the police are crucial in the CJS
Compared to other sections of CJS, technology has the most far reaching effect on realm of policing
Technology and new ways of obtaining information has enhanced the capacity of the police to
“collect, retrieve and analyze information” by using cyber analysts
Cyber analysts have not yet been introduced in SA that makes detection of cybercrime difficult as
cyber criminals may have better software than the police
Cybercrime has an increasingly challenging policy area for government and has many issues concerned
with crime and security today
Technical issues are concerned with hardware and software issues and a user’s choice of
appropriate systems to protect their data - most reliable and prevalent hardware tool is the FRED
Global issues include further investigations of cybercrime being blocked or closed because maximum
IP addresses are retrieved where the servers or computers are detected abroad and have no identity
It is also time-consuming to correspond with professional bodies (Google/Yahoo/Hotmail) & may
delay the investigation
Cybercrime is causing global anxiety as initially viruses & opportunistic hacking (website defacing)
occurred but now hackers are targeting companies for financial gain & starting a cyber-war
, Raises the question: will WW3 maybe be in the form of cybercrime by crashing a country’s
financial/ transport system?
Malware, or malicious software, is a major cyber threat that poses a huge challenge to cyber security
Choo categorises malware into generic malware that targets the general public/customised information-
stealing malware that targets specific institutions
Generic malware can be hosted on web-servers that infect unsuspecting visitors to website hosted
on the compromised servers and whose internet browsers & operating system are unpatched
Bot malware creator kits are easily bought and used by individuals to steal sensitive information or
online banking credentials, even if they have limited programming skills = can turn a computer into
a zombie to perform malicious tasks under remote direction
Virus is another example and copies itself and can spread to other computers
Worm spreads over computer networks by exploiting operating system vulnerabilities
Trojan disguises itself as a normal file/program to trick users into downloading & installing malware
An example of a customised malware is a phishing-based key logger, where specific organisations
are targeted by a program that monitors user activity and key strokes.
Phishing attacks are unsolicited messages from scammers that pose as “legitimate” organisations to
attain personal and/or financial information from a victim
There are three types of phishing attacks:
Syntactic attack exploits technical vulnerabilities of soft- and hardware (ex. installation of malware to
steal data)
Semantic attack exploits social vulnerabilities to gain personal info (ex. scam solicitation/online
auction fraud)
Blended attacks are combinations of syntactic and semantic attacks (ex. phishing attacks {social-
engineering} facilitated by publicly available personal info from new media channels like social
networking sites)
Unfortunately, there are many challenges pertaining to cybercrime
Computers are not the only technology at risk. Malware is designed and spread onto smart devices,
as well as apps that are malicious. Insiders or individuals with physical access to ATM’s or point-of-
sale mechanisms upload malware to devices
The criminal conduct may also not be noticed & the victim might not know that the observed conduct
is criminal
The ECT Act states that data messages are admissible evidence only if reliable in manner of storage,
generation, communication, maintenance of integrity of message & manner in which originator is
identified (police need to confiscate in the correct way)
Cyber inspectors have authority with a warrant, to enter any premises/access info that has bearing on
an investigation of a possible cybercrime
These inspectors have not yet been introduced in SA that can make an investigation difficult
Law enforcement faces challenges as most of the public are unaware or afraid to report cybercrimes,
and are not aware of services and resources that law enforcement could provide them
South Africa has the jurisdiction to try a case that happened in SA, or in flight to or from SA, has
effects on SA, or SA citizens
However, the borderless nature of cybercrime poses a challenge because of international law
Collaboration between police forces of different nations & discrepancies between laws of the
retrospective jurisdictions would be necessary
Victims often do not report a cybercrime because they believe the incident was not serious enough,
or they believe there is little chance for a successful prosecution, or that they fear negative publicity
The Electronic Communications & Transactions Act 25 2002 (ECT) states that one may not intentionally
intercept communication and that one may not intentionally monitor conversations with device
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