A qualitative enquiry into the threshold of acceptable behaviour on the internet: perceptions of police officers and prosecutors on the barriers to successful investigation and prosecution of cyberstalkers

Cyberstalking is a cyber-enabled crime which can be difficult to investigate and prosecute because offenders engage in the conduct in cyber space. The purpose of this study is to highlight the difficulties which police officers and prosecutors perceive hinder them in the investigation and prosecution of cyberstalkers. The study identifies solutions to the perceived difficulties and makes recommendations. The research participants consisted of 50 London prosecutors and 25 police officers. Participants provided data on the topic under investigation in their roles as the primary law enforcement officials who investigate and prosecute cyberstalkers. A Member of Parliament, probation official and Northern Ireland government policy adviser were also interviewed because they provided data from the perspectives of government and probation officials. The qualitative research method of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was considered most appropriate because the study investigated the lived human experiences of the participants and their perceptions of the topic under investigation. Emergent themes were identified from the numerous interview transcripts and analysed to explore the experiences of the participants in relation to the research questions. The research identified various perceived thresholds for distinguishing rudeness, abuse and unpleasant comments on the internet from cyberstalking. Additionally, the study 6 perceived law enforcement issues which frustrate police officers and prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of cyberstalkers were identified. The research further revealed that lack of resources, lack of knowledge and evidential difficulties are perceived to impede the investigation and prosecution of cyberstalkers. Importantly, the study found that factors such as shortage of manpower, heavy caseloads, anonymity of cyberstalkers and victim behaviour can prevent police officers from risk assessing victims. The thesis therefore makes recommendations for the recruitment of additional staff, the regular training of police officers and prosecutors on cyberstalking and the education of victims by police officers of the risks posed by cyberstalkers and the implications of not supporting the prosecution of offenders. Importantly, the thesis recommends that police officers should be trained on how to identify, monitor and manage the risks posed by anonymous and mentally ill cyberstalkers. The recommendation for the CPS is based on the researcher’s personal view of the research. The researcher concedes that the research was conducted at a specific time and that a limited number of prosecutors were interviewed for the research. The researcher acknowledges that there has been a lot of training of prosecutors by both the prosecution college and the central training team subsequent to the conclusion of this research. The researcher also recognises that the department is in the process of actively recruiting more prosecutors

Educating the effective digital forensics practitioner: academic, professional, graduate and student perspectives

Over the years, digital forensics has become an important and sought-after profession where the gateway of training and education has developed vastly over the past decade. Many UK higher education (HE) institutions now deliver courses that prepare students for careers in digital forensics and, in most recent advances, cyber security. Skills shortages and external influences attributed within the field of cyber security, and its relationship as a discipline with digital forensics, has shifted the dynamic of UK higher education provisions. The implications of this now sees the route to becoming a digital forensic practitioner, be it in law enforcement or business, transform from on-the-job training to university educated, trained analysts. This thesis examined courses within HE and discovered that the delivery of these courses often overlooked areas such as mobile forensics, live data forensics, Linux and Mac knowledge. This research also considered current standards available across HE to understand whether educational programmes are delivering what is documented as relevant curriculum. Cyber security was found to be the central focus of these standards within inclusion of digital forensics, adding further to the debate and lack of distinctive nature of digital forensics as its own discipline. Few standards demonstrated how the topics, knowledge, skills and competences drawn were identified as relevant and effective for producing digital forensic practitioners. Additionally, this thesis analyses and discusses results from 201 participants across five stakeholder groups: graduates, professionals, academics, students and the public. These areas were selected due to being underdeveloped in existing literature and the crucial role they play in the cycle of producing effective practitioners. Analysis on stakeholder views, experiences and thoughts surrounding education and training offer unique insight, theoretical underpinnings and original contributions not seen in existing literature. For example, challenges, costs and initial issues with introducing graduates to employment for the employers and/or supervising practitioners, the lack of awareness and contextualisation on behalf of students and graduates towards what knowledge and skills they have learned and acquired on a course and its practical application on-the-job which often lead to suggestions of a lack of fundamental knowledge and skills. This is evidenced throughout the thesis, but examples include graduates: for their reflections on education based on their new on-the-job experiences and practices; professionals: for their job experiences and requirements, academics: for their educational practices and challenges; students: their initial expectations and views; and, the public: for their general understanding. This research uniquely captures these perspectives, bolstering the development of digital forensics as an academic discipline, along with the importance these diverse views play in the overall approach to delivering skilled practitioners. While the main contribution to knowledge within this thesis is its narrative focusing on the education of effective digital forensic practitioners and its major stakeholders, this thesis also makes additional contributions both academically and professionally; including the discussion, analysis and reflection of: - improvements for education and digital forensics topics for research and curriculum development; - where course offerings can be improved for institutions offering digital forensic degree programmes; - the need for further collaboration between industry and academia to provide students and graduates with greater understanding of the real-life role of a digital forensic practitioner and the expectations in employment; - continuous and unique challenges within both academia and the industry which digital forensics possess and the need for improved facilities and tool development to curate and share problem and scenario-based learning studies

Police functional adaptation to the digital or post digital age: discussions with cybercrime experts.

This article examines the challenges of functional adaptation faced by the police in response to technologically driven changes in the nature of crime. It also recounts how research under the auspices of a ‘dark web’ research project resulted in a search for an effective approach to engaging with investigators dealing with cybercrime. In doing so it tested, as a research methodology, a standard change implementation tool (problem tree analysis) from the Disaster Management and Sustainable Development (DMSD) discipline. This in turn resulted in significant consideration being given to the physical space in which that methodology is used. It presents the results of a workshop held with cybercrime investigators (not all were police officers) in terms of the importance of four key organisational and cultural issues (management, leadership and institutional ethos within the police; the risks of over-complication and exaggerated distinctions between cyber and real world policing; ethics; and knowledge, training and development) alongside the development and acquisition of new technical capabilities

Identity crimes in the UK: An examination of the strategies employed by front-line practitioners in the public and private sector to detect, prevent and mitigate against this crime

Identity related crimes are becoming increasingly prevalent in modern society. It is a crime type that concerns and impacts governments, private institutions and consumers worldwide. The aim of this research was to provide a better insight into how this crime is perceived by government and commercial institutions in the UK (including their views on offenders and victims), to review the processes employed by the public and private sector to assess risk and develop mitigation and prevention strategies and, in doing so, to discover how the most prominent criminological theories contribute to these efforts. Its final aim was to examine the current state and effectiveness of the collaborations and partnerships which have been developed across the public/private sector spectrum to understand and combat this crime. The methodology employed to undertake this research was based on conducting interviews with the key identity fraud and crime practitioners within major public and private organisations. Qualitative research was used in order to generate as much information as possible to form ideas. In addition, documents were also examined to complement the data collected from interviews. The researcher, due to previous employment within the UK financial sector dealing payment fraud, was ideally placed to access, and generate participation across government, law enforcement and other commercial organisations. The study highlights the current thinking and approaches by front-line identity crime prevention practitioners in defining, perceiving, measuring, policing, detecting, preventing and mitigating identity crime. It also highlights how heavily existing situational crime prevention techniques are being used to combat this issue and how they are complemented by partnership approaches and, most importantly, data-sharing which is widely accepted by practitioners as being a vitally effective tool in dealing with this issue. Problems exist in the majority of these areas with the central concern being the lack of leadership from the government in taking ownership of this insidious and escalating crime type which creates commercial and individual victims but also significantly, enables serious crimes such as human and drug trafficking and terrorism. Equally pressing is the need for the commercial sector, instead of treating identity crime as a phenomenon to be denied or ignored (or as one which needs to be accepted as a cost of doing business) to improve data sharing, strengthen its defences and review its approach to the treatment and support of victims

Investigating cybercriminals in Nigeria : a comparative study

The evolution of the Internet amidst a rapidly growing global economy has created a completely new environment in which traditional crime prospers. Equally the convergence of computing and communication has changed the way we live, communicate and commit crime. Cybercriminals in Nigeria commonly known as “419 scammers”; a word coined from the Nigerian criminal code that penalises people from obtaining money under false pretense cost the Nigerian consumer $13.5 billion dollars in losses in 2012. (Clarke, 2004, Sesan et al., 2012; Grabosky, 2001;). Previous studies have focused on the causes and effects of cybercrime in Nigeria (Hassan et al., 2012; Adesina, 2017); laws penalising against misuse of computer (Olusola et. al., 2013b; Saulawa & Abubakar, 2014) and have focused relatively on financial cost and socio-economic effects of cybercrime (WITFOR, 2005; Sesan et. al., 2012). Even though some studies have tried to explore cybercrime from the perspective of law enforcement Agencies in the UAE and Jordan (Maghairah, 2009; Alkaabi, 2010), none has been done holistically from the view of law enforcement and members of the Cybercrime Advisory Council in Nigeria. Adopting a classical criminological framework of Routine Activity Theory (RAT), this thesis examined particularly cyber-enabled crime of advance fee fraud in Nigeria within the scope of RAT which argued that for crime to take place, three requirements must be present namely; a motivated offender, a suitable target and an absence of a capable guardian. The thesis examined the factors that motivates an offender and what elements makes a target (i.e. victim or computer) suitable for a crime. In the process, it considers the suitability of a law enforcement officer and some members of the Cybercrime Advisory Council (CAC) as capable guardians and what factors limits their capabilities in mitigating the activities of cybercriminals. The research has been framed on an interpretivist paradigm and relativist philosophical stance, with focus on an inductive qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews and documentation. These involved policy makers, members of parliament, telecommunications and ICT regulators on one hand; and investigators, prosecutors, forensic analyst and media practitioners particularly from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is a leading law enforcement agency in the fight against cybercrime. The multi-dimensional evidence explains the role played by each of the stakeholders, the measures and partnership deployed in tackling cybercrime, and the challenges and recommendations needed in the international effort to tackle cybercrime globally. Findings suggests that the proliferation and lack of effective policing of the internet enabled by the greed of individuals and lack of enforcement and collaboration of relevant stakeholders has led to financial losses to victims. The findings further show how lack of proper education and awareness of individuals, and adequate training and provision of tools for law enforcement officers contributes to the high prevalence of cybercrime in Nigeria. Evidence is provided that documents the way members of the Cybercrime Advisory Council and especially the EFCC have attempted to overcome these challenges through partnership, capacity building and enforcement of relevant laws and policies aimed at addressing the issue of cybercrime in Nigeria. The findings of this research could help in understanding the implication of technology in crime detection and prevention, and also contribute to adhering to policies and international conventions in limiting the negative impact of cybercrime. The findings equally extends the criminological understanding of online deviant behaviours and furthers the current discussion on the role of law enforcement in policing the Internet. Keywords: Cybercrime, Policing, Nigeria, Routine Activity Theor