CRITICAL ANALYSIS

A Spook Speaks

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A Spook Speaks

Introduction

The Internet is an integral part of the lives of millions of people around the world. Governments, businesses, and individuals across the globe have come to depend upon the capabilities and services that the Internet provides. Real-time communications, electronic financial transactions, data transfer, access to government services, and a myriad of other capabilities made possible by the Internet have truly revolutionized the modern age. Unfortunately, this revolution has not come without a cost.

The article titled 'A Spook Speaks' has been published by one of the leading newspapers, The Economist, which focuses solely on news related to international politics and business along with opinion writing. Today's world is a new informational age (cyberspace or virtual world). People spend major parts of their lives in cyberspace, creating and enjoying innovative kinds of social relationships, being in touch with the outside world, and doing some business. All these activities have been made possible for everyone who has a computer, a modem and knowledge of technology.

Discussion

The article describes how cybercrime is ruining companies in the world. The unique features of cyberspace which unfortunately has shown to the world new ways of crimes, called cybercrimes. Wall (2005) defines Cyber-Crime as criminal activities that are arbitrated by networked computers and are not just only related to computers" (pp. 79). Cybercrimes are done with the help of Internet such as pornography, threat of viruses, incident of fraud and identity theft, cyber-stalking, hacking and blackmail, etc. Cyberspace creates new opportunities for criminals to commit crimes through its unique features. These features are seen by Wall (2005) as transformative keys:

1) Globalization enables offenders with opportunities to exceed conventional boundaries

2) Distributed networks generate new opportunities for victimization

3) Dynopticism and panopticism enables offenders to servile their victims remotely

4) Data trails create new opportunities for criminal to commit identity theft

A report published by the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) (2002) asserts that cyber-space creates opportunities for criminal to interact with victims. It shows that the unique features of the Internet, which are anonymity and friendly use, provide new ways for criminals to commit their crimes. In addition, the Internet enables criminals to communicate quickly, and efficiently transmit large quantities of information to victims with the help of chat rooms, websites, e-mail and messages (NW3C, 2002). All they need are basic computer skills and computers connected to the Internet. “Consequently, a single computer provides a diverse medium for conducting an array of crimes. Criminals can use the computer to initiate and maintain contact with potential victims via the Internet, to conduct fraudulent financial transactions, to illegally replicate and/or distribute legitimate products or information, or to co-opt confidential, personal information. Computer crimes frequently overlap with each other during their commission (NW3C 2002, pp. 1).”

Cybercrimes include fraudulent marketing schemes, work-at-home schemes, gambling operations, on-line auctions, and spam (NW3C, 2002 a). As NW3C (2002) indicates, in on-line banking schemes criminals collect confidential personal information by “spoofing a valid Web site, creating a deceptive Web site, ...