Open Source Intelligence and Privacy in Criminology - Research Paper Example

 Open source intelligence ​and privacy in criminology​ Introduction Philosophers and scholars have, often, questioned why it is important to study criminology! The are a variety of answers to this question, and they include the concerns of anger at crime and all that surrounds it and the anxiety of knowing why people engage in criminal activities, and also the fear of becoming victims. These responses compel people to investigate causes of crime, so as to eliminate the incidence of criminal behaviour. Further, policy makers and law enforcement have constantly embraced the desire to get the information they need to predict criminal behaviour and to control it. There is also the hope of stopping the incidence of crime, through addressing the causes of crime at the individual level, which can result in social reforms. The pressure to study crimes and criminal behaviour is also fuelled by the wish to comprehend and give an explanation about the incidences of crime and the reactions of society towards it. Again, some scholar, especially philosophers and sociologists, will study crime, so as to know more about it, and also to find out what it tells the people about the society and its problems. In defining crime, the simple definition developed about the area is this: criminology as the collection of knowledge related to the issue of crime, as a social phenomenon. The field of criminology covers – under it – the law making process, the breaking of laws, and the responses offered to the community members that break the law. The objective of the field of criminology is that of developing a body of general and evidence-based knowledge, among other sets of knowledge, about the processes of law, crime and the treatment offered to the breakers of law. On the other hand, computer science is the practical, specific approach to the field of computation and its applications. It is the methodical exploration of the structure, feasibility, expression and the mechanization of algorithms (methodical processes) behind the process of obtaining, illustrating, processing, storing, transmitting and accessing information, whether it is programmed as bits inside a computer memory bank or transcribed inside the protein structures or the genes of human cells. A computer scientist is a specialist in the field of computing and the designing of computational systems. This report will identify the key concepts of computer science from a criminologist’s point of view. The report will also explore the meaning of the concept, the difficulty of putting the field into operation and the relevance of the field to policing. Relationship between computer science and criminology The field of computer science has received usage and credibility in the field of criminology, because it holds the promise of allowing criminologist the opportunity to collect information, process and communicate the issues of crime – in a systematic manner. The use of computer science in the study of criminology has also been necessitated by the changes that have taken place in the last decades. The last few decades have seen the development and advances in the electronic resources made available for use by institutions, agencies and the general public. These technologies, which have necessitated incorporating computer science into the study of crimes and criminal activity, include pagers, cellular phones, personal computers, the World Wide Web (internet), websites, computing tools, and palm pilots. The emergence of these different platforms has necessitated the addition of a different dimension to crime. This new dimension entails the discovery of more avenues that criminals could use, to engage in criminal activities, together with the widened scope of coverage where they can do their crime. For example, the sale of different forms of property does not require the face-to-face contact between the trading parties. This development has given criminals a new avenue, over which to exploit their victims, under the pretence of selling properties to them. The incidence of crimes of this nature necessitates the use of computer-based and computational tools in the investigation of crime, mainly because such crimes can not be investigated over physical platforms during the collection of evidence. This case is different from that of the past; in the past, property crimes entailed the forceful breaking of the premises of the victim, the sale of unavailable properties under pretence or grabbing the belongings of a person walking along the streets. During the modern times, criminals can perpetuate property crimes while sitting comfortably at their own house, and the victims of the crimes can be those living on the other side of the world, through the use of computers. Other forms of crime that have been made available over the internet include internet bank fraud, identity theft, internet-based credit card fraud, advanced fee fraud, e-mail scam, domain hijacking (corporate identity theft) and pornography and child pornography. The only avenue that can provide the evidence needed to expose and prosecute the perpetrators of such crimes is that based on computer science, for instance computer science. Computer science enables law enforcement to preserve and present digital evidence, which can take different forms, including system logs, deleted files, ICQ records and e-mails. Computer crime presents an overwhelming task to law enforcement officers and their respective agencies, due to their highly technical nature. The emergence of computer crime among the range of technology-based crimes has forced law enforcement agencies to train law enforcement officers in the field of computer science and computer forensics, which uses the tools of computer science. The integration of computer science into the training of law enforcement personnel allows them to investigate computer crimes in an effective manner, so as to recover all the evidence needed to prosecute the people engaging in the criminal activities and all other related parties. The emergence of computer-based and computer related crimes has also compelled law enforcement officials and agencies to formulate legislations that prohibit computer-related crimes and also gives an outline of the punitive actions required to address the wide array of crimes. The further emergence of computer crimes is likely to increase in frequency, as more and more technologies come into use. The increased usage of technological platforms requires law enforcement officials, civilians, and other players in the criminal justice system to increase their knowledge about computer crimes, so that they can participate in the reduction of computer crimes. Some of the law enforcement agencies that have recognised the threat arising from computer crime are the MCCJCC (Montgomery County Criminal Justice Coordination Commission), and in responding to the threat, ordered for a study of the issue. The study was aimed at giving them a detailed understanding of the impacts of the modern form of crime. In particular, the commission requested the consultants to investigate the span of computer crime, the various forms of computer related crimes, the span of the problem locally and at the national level and the legislations needed to punish the criminals. The commission, also, sought to explore the resources that can be used to inform the public about the threat of computer crimes and the areas that law enforcement agencies need to employ in combating computer crime. Identification of major concepts The incorporation of computer science into the field of criminology enables criminologists to use the newly developed tools that are more effective and efficient. The part of the report will discuss these tools, and more importantly explain why they are used. Many of the computer science tools used in criminology are multi-functional, but some are designed to serve only one area of functionality. Criminal justice Criminal justice is the framework of institutions and the practices used by national administrative units, in maintaining social control, deterring and stopping criminal behaviour, and also to sanction those that breach the principles related to the laws in question. The criminals that commit or facilitate others in committing crimes are forced to go through a rehabilitation system or subjected to criminal penalties of different magnitude. In the administration of criminal justice, the people accused of crime are secured by a variety of protections against being investigated, abused or prosecuted. However, the rights of different offenders vary from one another, and in many cases, the criminals are partially protected, until computer criminologists collect the evidence required as evidence. In England and the Wales, the Criminal Justice system aims to stop or reduce the incidence of crime through subjecting many of the offenders to justice. By doing that, the enforcers of the criminal justice system prove to the public and other beneficiaries that the systems is fair and that it can help in protecting the interests and the rights of the law-abiding person. Computer forensics This field is also called computer forensic science, and it is a branch of digital forensic science related to the legal evidence collected from digital storage media and computers. The field was started to examine the crimes related to digital media in a manner than can yield the evidence needed. The gathering and the presentation of such evidence requires the computer forensics to recognize, conserve, recover, analyse and tender the opinions and the facts gathered from the different areas about the digital information related to the crime in question. Computer forensics is often related to the investigation of a wide array of computer and computer-related crimes; they are in some cases engaged during the investigation and in tendering the evidence needed to prosecute offenders in civil proceedings. The discipline uses techniques and models of work, which are similar, in principle to the process of data recovery, but incorporates additional practices and guidelines, so as to create a legal audit trail. The evidence collected by a computer forensics investigator is, ordinarily verified through the same processes used to check the validity of other digital media evidence. Due to the increased usage of computer systems, the criminal activities requiring the presentation of digital data as evidence has increased, and that has made the field a reliable source of evidence in UK, US and European courts. Computer criminology This is the discipline that came into existence through the collaboration of criminal justice, criminology and computer sciences. The collaboration between the different fields was called for, by the increased uptake of computers and computer-related systems, which offered criminals new avenues, through which to exploit a new class of victims, in a more concealable manner. The investigation of computer-related and internet-related crimes, often, calls for the incorporation of cyber-forensics into the study, which is the field that investigates the use of the internet and the role played by the internet in the p0erpetuation of the given crime. The specialists using the field of computer sciences for the investigation of criminal activities often need to explore the computer or the network security systems in place, which are in many cases broken or over-ridden. After overriding the security, whether through the knowledge of log on details, or through the ability to break into the security system of a computer or the entire system, it becomes much easier to manipulate files, information or steal the identity of the victim. Due to the wide scope of the criminal activities related to computers and computer-related systems, individuals, agencies and organizations of all sizes can fall victims to these crimes. For example, some criminals can target businesses, academic institutions, personal computers, institutional systems or government security systems. Due to the wide array of the crimes that can be perpetuated using computers – which can target computers or receive the facilitation of computers – computer criminology covers the area of how computers are used during the study of crime. It also entails the different ways, through which crimes are committed using computers. The scholars that are trained in the field of computer criminology are employed by the wide array of organizations, institutions and groups interested in getting services related to the security of their computer systems. Through the services of law enforcement officials that are trained in the field of computer criminology, the security of different agencies is protected through the provision of the information related to the ways, through which criminals would attack the given organization. Computer Crime The general scope of computer crime covers a wide array of offenses. Through the examination of the various definitions of computer crime, and also the elements covered by a uniform definition, a better conception of the areas covered by computer crime. Some scholars have defined computer crime as the wide array of the offenses that use or are related to computers in a certain way. Some law enforcement agencies define computer crime as spanning all the violations of criminal law, involving the computer technology know-how of the criminal; computer technology is also used to investigate and to inform the prosecution of the perpetrators. In a sensible way, the critics of these definitions have risen to point out that, despite the fact that the definition covers computer crimes; it is deficient in excluding other forms of crime. In a similar way, the definitions formulated by the Business Software Alliance, which is a public education and awareness institution, may be restrictive and limited in its coverage of the issue. The Business Software Alliance defines computer crime as the illegal activities that use electronic machines with the goal of affecting the security of computer data and computer software. This definition shows that the conception of the crime by the BSA delineates the computer crimes from computer-related offenses, which are related to or use computer resources during the perpetuation of criminal activities. A variety of other definitions have incorporated limitations into the wide definition, towards developing a much narrower definition of the term. The more limited definitions include those developed by the National Institute of Justice, which was developed through incorporating the basic idea that it is possible for criminals to use computers as the means of committing crime. The NIJ definition also took into account, the fact that computers can also be the targets of the offense and in other cases can be used as the storage vessel for criminal activities. Based on the new parameters, the definition of computer crime was refined as follows: the offenses perpetuated within the framework of an electronic environment, with the aim of getting economic gain or with the intent of causing harm or damage to others. Among the different agencies that have defined computer crime, there are a number of highlighted elements that surface, which are at the core of the relationship between criminology and computer science. These elements include that the use of the given computer platforms should be unauthorised; the definition should span all the uses of computers that can be viewed and considered to be crimes. The computer systems in question may, also, have been the target of the offense, such crimes span the cases where computers are incidental to the crime or used as the main channel for the crime. More importantly, the definition of these crimes is formulated in a way that allows for protection against the violations of integrity, confidentiality, and the availability of computer systems. The scope of the definition allows law enforcement officials to safeguard against the unauthorised access of computers and the data stored in them, so as to stop the criminals from altering the data – which can compromise its functionality and accessibility. Computer fraud Computer fraud is among the major divisions of computer crime, and it uses electronic platforms to perpetuate the misrepresentation or the fraudulent presentation of information as a model of deception. The Department of Justice highlighted that the fraudulent activities that take place through the aid of electronic media are simply extensions of the traditionally existing schemes of fraud, but exploited using a new media. Law enforcement agencies insist that the fraud is the deliberate misrepresentation of identity and information to deceive other people, but incorporates the pre-qualifier of the usage of electronic means to distance computer fraud from similar crimes. In a similar manner, internet fraud is defined as the fraudulent activities that use the different workings of the internet to perpetuate the fraudulent activities. Personal opinion about the meaning of the concept and the efforts needed to understand it and put it into operation From the study of the wide array of concepts, including computer crime and computer fraud, which are subjected to computer criminology and the computer forensics services it became clear that the development of the new fields was warranted. For example, it became clear that the same process used to investigate and subject a traditional property criminal to justice is not the same as that used to punish the new age criminal. Through the study of the relationship between computer science and criminology, it became apparent that the changing nature of crime has forced criminal justice systems at all levels to accept digital evidence. For example, during a fraud case involving the illegal exchange of property or money, where the criminal and the victim were communicating using e-mails, it would be unrealistic to reject the email thread of messages as evidence. In meeting the needs of the changing nature of crime, local, national and international law enforcement systems are required to train their officials in the field of computer science, so as to counter the threat of the new line of crime. The unquestionable relationship between the roles played by the field of computer science in increasing the working capacity of the criminal justice systems of different countries, it became evident that computer science has come into the picture to solve a pressing problem. For example, without computer sciences and its many branches being incorporated into national security, the national information which has been digitized would be highly vulnerable to computer criminals. The relationship between the different concepts and the role played by the increased uptake of computer-aided working models proves beyond any doubt, to any reasonable person that the changes in the technology platform has brought about effects. Further, the changing platform requires all actors to take an active role in protecting themselves against crime, because previous systems of protection may not necessarily work. For example, traditionally, a person’s money would be much secured when placed under the custody of the bank, and also by collecting it under the conditions of tight security. However, in the recent past, a person’s money is vulnerable to criminals that steal the identity of the owner and collect it from the bank or other payment platforms, including credit cards. Further, the interplay between the recent developments in technology and the emerging needs that customers are forced to deal with; it became apparent that applying the concept of computer science into criminology is not a difficult task. Using computer sciences in criminology is an area that can be explored and viewed systematically, with the aim of exploring new ways of curbing the wide array of crimes. For example, through the training of law enforcement officers in the field of computer criminology, criminal justice systems will enable them to investigate the criminal activities of all types and magnitude. Further, the fact that the usage of computer and computer related systems is increasing over the years; it becomes apparent that the field of computer science will become more and more important to criminology and law enforcement than ever before. The evidence that local, national and international criminal justice systems need to develop their computer criminology capacity include that criminal activities are no longer confined within boundaries, but can be committed from distances. For example, in the case of a credit card theft criminal, they may be working from Europe, yet the target victims may be using their credit cards in the US; the distance will not stop them from perpetuating the crime. Further, the increasing threat arising from the cyber-connectivity of the world, which is increasing the potential of criminals to work from anywhere around the globe, should also inform law enforcement systems and officials that global frameworks are the only solution. For example, in order to adequately investigate a credit card theft crime taking place in China – but where the victims are British living in England – it is important for the two countries to work together, in a manner which is not restricted by national boundaries. In such a case, the cooperative work between the law enforcement of the two countries will be the only strategically relevant law enforcement framework that can uncover the links of operations and lead to the arrest of the criminals. The computer sciences fields developed to counter criminal activities Computational criminology is one of the emerging fields developed under the umbrella field incorporating computer sciences in criminology. The field of computational criminology was developed over the past thirty years, in two phases. First, the development of the new discipline started with the conception of crime simulation and other computer methodologies used to study criminal activities. For example, computational criminology was established in the line of studying environmental criminology, where it is used to show the unknown processes of urban criminal activity, through the combination of computer simulation, criminology, and geographical information data. In a similar manner, this field is often used to explore the contextual factors that either limit or encourage the perpetuation of crimes. Some of the developments made in this area include the launch of the computational criminology initiative, for the development of visualization techniques – the models developed were used to show crime patterns. Under the use of computer science and criminological research, a new field of computational criminology that has been developed; it is the creation of computer and computer-related criminal activities models in cyberspace. However, it is important to note that computer science research in crime has just begun to develop during the current decade. Some of the notable studies done in the area include that the first cyber and computer crime conference was the one held in 2006 at Spokane Valley, Washington. Later, in 2007, the IJCC (International Journal of Cyber Criminology) started being published as an open source information-base, publishing peer reviewed reports and articles. The inter-disciplinary criminal science journal was devoted to the study of cyber criminal behaviour, cyber crime, cyber victims, cyber investigations and cyber legislation. The usage of computational and mathematical models of study along with the increasing uptake of cyberspace offered a new locus for criminal activity. The increased threat of these criminal activities gives evidence of the need for law enforcement and universities to train officials to counter the increasing threat of computer and cyber criminology. The technological developments in the study of criminal justice and criminology Computational criminology is seeing researchers and policy makers develop innovative methodologies of gathering the evidence needed to prove the incidence of crime, especially during the cases of technology or computer-based crimes. These new methodologies of dealing with crime include calculated algorithms, criminological models, temporal and spatial dynamics of terrorism and crime, data structures, co-offending network analysis, software development and data structures, criminal justice systems and the mining of crime. For instance, the availability of a variety of data systems and developments in the computational capacity of systems has enabled criminologists to evolve old methodologies and to develop new ones under the study of criminology. One newly developed niche is that of computational criminology which provides criminologists with data for studying the patterns of criminal activity and also offers them access to crime analyses. The new niche uses algorithms that allow for the analysis of the different units of land, which helps give information about the ways in which crime patterns widen within and around neighbourhoods. The findings collected through the different computational models allow criminologists to gain an innovated data technique that can help in the computational expansion of the research administered around the issues of crime patterns. By offering information about the geographical patterns of criminal activity, these new computer science-based technologies enable criminologists to target the affected geographical areas in a more effective manner. Computational and mathematical methods, including those based on systems like the Abstract State Machine (ASM), which enables criminologists to develop simulations and models of crime patterns. The models developed aim to advance the work of criminological officers, which is aimed at preventing and reducing crime levels. For example, the aims of using mathematical computation systems include those of aiding the prediction of the probability of criminal activities taking place in certain areas, developing scenarios when analysing crime, and in strengthening prevention techniques. The different roles played by computer science systems help in providing a basis for experimental research, which had remained very difficult to produce, when using real-work settings and during the designing of vital infrastructural protection systems. Through the exploration of the computer sciences fields developed to counter criminal activities and also the technological developments made in the study of criminal justice and criminology, it became very clear that computer sciences is highly relevant in policing. The importance of computer sciences in the policing of criminologists at the different levels of work is evident from the fact that, the increased usage of computers and computer-related systems in the society has offered criminals a new area to perpetuate their crimes. More importantly, the fact that computer science systems allow criminologists and law enforcement to collect evidence and develop crime patterns and fashion crime-mitigation systems is sufficient evidence that it is highly relevant to policing. Conclusion Philosophers and scholars have always questioned the importance of studying criminology, and the most significant answers include that it helps to explain the factors underlying criminal behaviours and also offers answers about the patterns of crime. In the recent past, criminology has incorporated computer sciences into the study of crime, and this has been mandated by the increased usage of computer systems in society, which calls for the investigation of such crimes. Further, computer sciences offers other areas of utility, including that fields like computer forensics and computer criminology enable law enforcement officials and agencies to model crime patterns, among other law enforcement aides. Some of the crimes that are relevant to the usage of computer sciences in criminology, which is the study of crime, include computer crime and computer fraud. From a personal point of view, the review of key concepts in the usage of computer sciences in criminology made it apparent that the merger between the two fields is not difficult to understand and put into force. This is particularly true, based on the understanding that the study of crime, in the modern times will often refer to computer systems. The relevance of computer sciences to the field of criminology was evidenced through the discussion of the ways in which computer sciences has been used by law enforcement organizations and officials to counter criminal activities. Read More