The Evolution of Cybercrime by Marcum (2014)

Marcum (2014) traced the evolution of cybercrime to a continuum of development that spanned three generations.

The first generation is characterized by the illegal exploitation of mainframe computers and their operating system. These criminal behaviors are usually perpetrated for financial

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gain or to acquire or destroy restricted information. Cybercriminals can research on how to commit crimes such as building a pipe bomb. These types of cybercrimes laid the foundation for a new level of criminality.

The second generation of cybercrime is those that use networks. Hacking and cracking were common forms of cybercrime in this generation. They were used by early phone

“phrekers” who “cracked” telephone systems to make free calls. During this era land lines were common but cell phones were not. People had to pay for long distance calls, thus crackers found illegal ways to make free phone calls. Crackers eventually developed into hackers. Hackers used their knowledge of telephone and computer systems to access private information by networked computers. Second generation cybercrimes are known as “hybrid” crimes. This is because they fall between traditional and true cybercrimes.

They are traditional crimes already in existence but expanded and adapted through the use of the internet. For example, crackers stole money from telecommunication companies by discovering how to make free calls. Their criminality prepared the ground for hackers to commit the same type of crime on the internet in a better, faster, less detectably way.

The Third generation of cybercrime came into being as a result of the broadband ability of the internet. These crimes would not exist if the internet was not developed as they only occur in the cyberspace. Example, spam mails, viruses, malwares etc.

3.3 The Evolution of Cybercrime by Gercke (2012)

Another way of looking at the evolution of cybercrime is by examining its development over a period of time. Gercke (2012) traced the development of computer and cybercrime from the 1960s to the 21^stCentury. This account is summarized below.

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The 1960s

The 1960s marked the introduction of transistor-based computer systems, which were smaller and cheaper than vacuum-tube based machines. It led to an increase in the use of computer technology. Offences at this stage had to do with physical damage to computer systems and stored data. Such incidents were usually reported, for example, in 1969, in Canada, a student riot caused a fire that destroyed computer data hosted at the university.

The 1970s

The 1970s, witnessed an increase in the use of computer systems and computer data. By the end of the decade, an estimated number of 100 000 mainframe computers were in use in the United States. As prices crashed, computer technology was more widely used within administration and business, and by the public. The 1970s heralded a shift from the traditional property crimes against computer systems that dominated the 1960s, to new forms of crime. Although physical damage was also a known form of criminal abuse against computer systems at this era, new forms of computer crime emerged. They included the illegal use of computer systems and the manipulation of electronic data. The movement from manual to electronic transactions led to another new form of crime like computer-related fraud, culminating in the loss of millions of dollar. The United States proposed a strategy specifically aimed at addressing cybercrime, while Interpol examined the problem potential legal response.

The 1980s

The 1980s saw the growing popularization of personal computers, culminating in the remarkable increase in the number of computer systems and by implication the number of potential targets for criminal victimization. For the first time, the targets included a broad range of critical infrastructure. There was therefore a growing interest in software, resulting in the emergence of the first forms of software piracy and crimes related to patents. Networks allowed offenders to enter a computer system without necessarily

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being present at the crime scene. Similarly, offenders could spread malicious software, and several computer viruses were discovered. Some countries began the process of updating their legislation in order to meet the requirements of a changing criminal environment. International organizations were also part of the process. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Council of Europe established study groups to evaluate the problem and look at the possibilities for legal response.

The 1990s

The graphical interface (“WWW”) was introduced in the 1990s. This led to a rapid growth in the number of Internet users and consequently new challenges. Information legally made available in one country was available globally – even in countries where the publication of such information was outlawed. The speed of information exchange made investigation of transnational cybercrime rather challenging. Also, child pornography distribution moved from physical exchange of books and tapes to online distribution through websites and Internet services. While computer crimes were generally regarded as local crimes, the Internet turned electronic crimes into transnational crime. Thus, the international community tackled the problem more aggressively. This led to the adoption of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution in 1990 and the issuance of the manual for the prevention and control of computer-related crimes in 1994.

The 21st Century

Every passing decade of the 21^st century witnessed new trends in computer crime and cybercrime. The first decade of the new millennium saw the new, highly sophisticated methods of committing crimes, such as “phishing”, and “botnet attacks”, and the growing use of technology that is more difficult for law enforcement to handle and investigate, such as “voice-over-IP (VoIP) communication” and “cloud computing”. The methods as well as the impact of computer and cybercrime also changed in this epoch. Offenders are now able to automate attacks, thus the number of offences increased. National

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governments, regional and international organizations are responding to the growing challenges cybercrime by making it a top priority.

4.0 CONCLUSION

The internet which was dedicated to military operations during its early days have evolved over the years to become a technology that serve the work and leisure needs of billons of users across the world. There are two ways to view the evolution of cybercrime. The first is to look at a continuum of its emergence over a period of three generations. The other is to look at its emergence from 1960 to the 21^st century. Both perspectives undoubtedly indicate that cybercrime has been growing in complexity. This therefore underscores the need for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to combat it.

5.0 SUMMARY

The unit discussed the evolution of the internet from a military experiment to general purpose technology. It further traced the evolution of cybercrime across three generations using Marcum (2014) account. Finally, it looked at Gercke (2012) account the development of computer and cybercrime from the 1960s to the 21^st century.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

Using Marcum (2014) perspective trace the development of cybercrime across three generation with vivid examples.

7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Gercke, M. (2012). Understanding cybercrime: Phenomena, challenges and legal response. ITU. Available at: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/cybersecurity /docs/Cybercrime%20legislation%20EV6.pdf

Naughton, J. (2016). The evolution of the Internet: from military experiment to General Purpose Technology. Journal of Cyber Policy, 1 (1) 5-28.

Marcum, C.D. (2014). Cyber Crime. New York: Wolters Kluwer.

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