WHY ARE CYBERCRIMINALS ATTRACTED TO COMMIT CRIMES

FADI ABU ZUHRI

INTRODUCTION

Cybercrime has emerged as a new form of crime following the introduction of the internet. The actions of these crimes range from petty theft to destruction with malicious intent. Individuals who engage in cybercrime have a psychological mindset that is attuned to it. Like other forms of physical crime, cybercriminals are drawn to committing cybercrimes because of certain factors. As such, to curb cybercrime, law enforcement officers must understand their nature, why they get attracted to it, and how they can effectively reduce criminal behaviour. This paper discusses the motive behind cybercrime and what makes cybercrime attractive to cybercriminals.

Cybercrime attracts individuals with a will and ability to choose between right and wrong. The will to choose is influenced by the environment and heredity factors. Rogers (2010) believes that characteristic such as personality traits and socio-demographics and others correlate with the type of crime a cybercriminal commits. Rogers (2010) asserts that psychologists can develop taxonomies of criminals and their profiles based on these common features. These categories can be useful to law enforcement officers when developing effective and practical approaches to help reduce cybercrimes.

NINE MODELS OF CYBERCRIMINALS

Rogers, Smoak and Jia (2006) categorizes cybercrimes into nine models: Scrip Kiddies (SK) or Novice (NV), Cyber Punks (CP), Hachtivist (H) or Political Activists (PA), Thieves (T) or Petty Thieves (PT), Virus Writers (VW), Internals (IN), Old Guard Hackers (OG), Professional Group (P) or Professional Criminals (PC), Cyber-Terrorist (CT) or Information Warriors (IW).

The Novice (NV) criminals have limited programming and computer skills. They can only conduct their attacks when they have toolkits. Their motives for committing a cybercrime is primarily media attention. Cyber-Punks (CP) have advanced technical skills and can write their own software. They are well informed about the system they attack with many engaging in telecommunication fraud and stealing credit card numbers. Internals (IN) include the disgruntled ex-employees or employees, Petty Thieves (PT), Virus Writers (VW), Information Warriors (IW), Professional Criminals (PC), and Old Guard Hackers (OG). Virus Writers (VW) are coders that write script and use automated tools. They basically mentor Novice (NV). They seek to gain prestige and power. They have the capability of using strong malware such as Trojans to commit cybercrime. Disgruntled ex-employees or employees with technological know-how pose a security threat. They use the privileges of knowing the system to commit cybercrime (Rogers, Siegfried, & Tidke, 2006).

Hachtivist (H) or Political Activists (PA) comprises individuals or a group that justify their behaviour on moral grounds like political issues. However, it is very difficult to ascribe whether these motives are political as their actions have aspects of revenge, power, greed or just public attention (Rogers, Siegfried, & Tidke, 2006).

Petty Thieves (PT) are opportunistic computer literate people who take advantage of the organization’s poor internal security. Old Guard Hackers (OG) seem not to have the intention to commit a crime and are disinterested in intellectual activities. They disrespect personal property. Professional Criminals (PC) are specific in their activities. They hire guns and engage in corporate espionage. They have access to the necessary state-of-the-art equipment. They are also highly trained. Lastly, Information Warriors (IW) are well funded to participate in cyber attacks that may be politically motivated (Rogers, Siegfried, & Tidke, 2006).

Rogers (2010) combines the skill level and motivation into a circumflex model as shown in Figure 1. The four motivational aspects are (1) revenge, (2) financial, (3) notoriety and (4) curiosity. Information Warriors (IW), Professional Criminals (PC), Political Activists (PA) and Old Guard Hackers (OG) are at the highest level of skills. Internals (IN) and Virus Writers (VW) are motivated by revenge; Information Warriors (IW), Petty Thieves (PT) and Professional Criminals (PC) are motivated by financial motives; Cyber Punks (CP) and Political Activists (PA) are motivated by notoriety; and Novice (NV) and Old Guard Hackers (OG) are motivated by curiosity.

Figure 1: A circumplex model describing nine models of cybercriminals, their skill level and motives [Source (Rogers, 2010)]

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

Various theories from criminology, sociology and psychology explain why people offend. These theories suggest that the aetiology of cybercriminal behaviour is influenced by diverse factors: social control, industrialization, learning, psychopathologies, class strain and physiological deficiencies. Moral Disengagement and Social Learning Theories are the most popular theories used to explain what attracts cybercriminals to commit their criminals’ activities (Rogers, 2006).

Social Learning Theory posts that a high-level learning process can produce conforming or deviant behaviour. These theories view learning process as operating within the context of interactions, social structure and situations. It is suggested that the conforming or criminal behaviour resulting from the learning process is a function of reinforcement and other variables associated with social learning process. In view of Akers cited in Rogers and Siegfried and Tidke (2006) an individual is more likely to engage in cybercrime when the following circumstances exist. Firstly, the individual is differently related to other individuals who support, commit or model the legal and social norms. Secondly, the individual is less exposed to conforming models and more exposed to deviant models. Thirdly, the individual’s learning favours engaging in deviant acts. Lastly, the individual’s violative behaviour is supported and reinforced at the expense of the behaviour that supports the conformity to existing norms.

Social Learning Theory also suggests that differential imitation and reinforcement are the primary learning mechanisms for a cybercriminal. From this perspective, the learning mechanisms are influenced by and operate through differential association process. The social environment for the criminals is created through differential association (Rogers, 2006). The social environment exposes these offenders to imitation and definitions of models. While in a social environment, cybercriminals acquire definitions by observing, learning and imitation. Similarly, external and internal sources create differential reinforcement that presents themselves in the form of tangible rewards of the criminal activity. The rewards may include social rewards, money and increase in the status of the peer. Over time, the actions’ consequences and reinforcement prominently determines the probability with which the criminal activity will be sustained as imitation become less important. Social Learning Theory suggests that errant behaviour is likely to increase and continue unabated where there is very high ratio of two variables namely positive reinforcement and punishment. In view of this theory traditional learning mechanisms namely operant and classical learning influence the offender’s criminal behaviour. Again, it becomes difficult for law enforcement officers to neutralize the criminal’s errant behaviour where the there is a resilient learning paradigm that is caused by variation in the ratio of positive reinforcement to the punishment administered (Rogers, 2006).

MORAL DISENGAGEMENT MODEL

The Moral Disengagement model by Bandura (1996) examines the process via which criminals justify and rationalize their aberrant or deviant behaviour. The moral engagement asserts that individuals tend to participate in behaviour that goes against their moral standards, and that these actions may lead to self-sanctions and possibly self-condemnation. Bandura (1990) argues that individual behaviours are influenced by moral standards. Bandura (1990)’s self-regulatory system only functions when activated. Bandura (1990) held that it is possible to disengage self-sanctions from behaviour. From the Social Cognitive Theory perspective, these mechanisms are viewed as Moral Disengagement (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 1996).

In view of this theory, cybercriminals may defeat their internal moral control in the self-regulatory systems by ensuring their internal moral control decoupled from detrimental conduct in four ways identified in Bandura et al. (1996). These include obscuring personal causal agency, disregarding or misrepresenting the action’s negative consequences, re-construing the conduct, and vilifying the victims, blaming them and mistreating them. Evidence show that cybercriminals often reduce self-censure by using these four methods of Moral Disengagement. It is believed that these criminals often misconstrue or minimize the consequences.

It is also believed that individuals who engage in cybercrimes demonstrate higher rates of differential reinforcement, differential association, and moral disengagement as compared to non-criminals. It is also believed that a combination of these three (i.e., moral disengagement, differential reinforcement and differential association) better predicts the behaviour of a cybercriminal (Rogers, Siegfried, & Tidke, 2006). Social Learning Theory posits that the continuation of a criminal activity may be influenced by the interaction between the reinforcement and the neutralizing definitions.

SOCIAL CONTROL THEORY

Social Control Theory on the other hand provides an explanation on why people obey rules and how behaviour conforms to expectations in society. Social Control Theory suggests that internal constraints develop during childhood and crime occurs because of inadequate constraints. In other words, the free will gives offenders the choice and consequently responsibility for their deviant behaviour (Kempf-Leonard & Morris, 2012).

Social Control Theory supports the assertion that online anonymity encourages permissiveness. According to Social Control Theory, individuals are compelled to refrain from criminal and deviant behaviours where social controls, including social ostracisation and laws are present. However, the deviance grows where the controls or assumed power of controls are missing or diminished (Rogers, Siegfried, & Tidke, 2006).

ANONYMITY

Lastly, a unique factor in cybercrime that attracts cybercriminals is anonymity. Internet protocols allows individuals to operate virtually anonymously. The anonymity afforded by Internet has been leveraged by cyber-predators and paedophiles that gain the victims’ trust by pretending to be young females. Internet’s underlying protocols and technology allows these criminals to make it virtually impossible for victims to track them by obfuscating their physical locations. Studies on individuals’ behaviour online have revealed that individual’s real world behaviour differs from online behaviour. It is believed that people reflect their true nature in the real world where self-control and societal pressures and norms regulate behaviour (Rogers, 2006). It is believed that real world moderate individuals’ behaviour is based on social identity that incorporates cultural morality and social norms.

CONCLUSION

As technology becomes pervasive in our connected world, it has brought certain deviant characters along with it. These cybercriminals have developed their skills to a level where they can cause massive destruction to social life and commerce. This article tries examines the motives behind cybercriminals to understand who engages in these activities and why they do it.

Even though cybercrime is considered a new type of crime, the motives behind it are not new. A model was presented that classifies cybercriminals based on their skill levels and their motives. Motives have been broadly categorised in four – revenge, financial, notoriety and curiosity. Four different social theories were examined – Social Control Theory, Moral Disengagement Theory and Social Control Theory. Anonymity is also seen as a contributor to deviant behaviour.

REFERENCES

Baggili, I. (2009). Effects of anonymity, pre-employment integrity and anti-social behavior on self-reported cyber crime engagement: An exploratory study. Purdue University.

Bandura, A. (1990). Mechanisms of moral disengagement. In W. Reich, Origins of Terrorism; Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind (pp. 161-191). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Bandura, A., Barbaranelli, C., Caprara, G., & Pastorelli, C. (1996). Mechanisms of moral disengagement in the exercise of moral agency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 71, 364-374.

Bednarz, A. (2004). Profiling cybercriminals: A promising but immature science. Retrieved 2016 from Network World: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2327820/lan-wan/profiling-cybercriminals–a-promising-but-immature-science.html

Rogers, M. K. (2006). The development of a meaningful hacker taxonomy: A two dimensional approach. Digital Investigations , 97–102.

Rogers, M. K. (2010). The Psyche of Cybercriminals: A Psycho-Social Perspective. In S. Ghosh, & E. Turrini, Cybercrimes: A Multidisciplinary Analysis (pp. 217–235). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

Rogers, M. K., Siegfried, K., & Tidke, K. (2006). Self-reported computer criminal behavior: A psychological analysis. Lafayette: The Digital Forensic Research Conference.

Rogers, M. K., Smoak, N., & Jia, L. (2006). Self-reported criminal computer behavior: A big-5, moral choice and manipulative exploitive behavior analysis. Journal of Deviant Behavior , 27 (3), 245–268.

Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model.

Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model. | Cameron Russell

Published on Jan 16, 2013

Cameron Russell admits she won “a genetic lottery”: she’s tall, pretty and an underwear model. But don’t judge her by her looks. In this fearless talk, she takes a wry look at the industry that had her looking highly seductive at barely 16-years-old. (Filmed at TEDxMidAtlantic.)

The Mind Map Book: How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain’s Untapped Potential

by Tony Buzan (Author), Barry Buzan (Author)

The potential of the human brain is phenomenal, and Tony Buzan has been a pioneer in researching that potential and helping people learn how to make the most of their brainpower. The Mind Map Book is his most important and comprehensive book on the subject. It offers exciting new ways of using and improving memory, concentration, and creativity in planning and structuring thought on all levels, in order to accelerate the ability to learn, remember, and record information.Mind Mapping and Radiant Thinking are groundbreaking methods of accessing intelligence, developed over many years by the author, and in The Mind Map Book he provides a complete operating manual for all who want to use their brains to their fullest potential. It is a process currently used with extraordinary success by multinational corporations, leading universities, champion athletes, and outstanding artists. Featuring a range of stimulating excercises and a lavish collection of full-color photographs and original Mind Maps that illustrate the technique, it shows you precisely how to:

• Mirror and magnify your brain’s pattern of perception and association in the way you learn, think, and create
• Quickly master the right way to take notes, organize a speech, a writing assignment, a report
• Join with others to pool thinking productively, memorize a mammoth amount of data, free your ideas to grow and expand constantly in depth and dimension

With 84 illustrations in full color and 44 in black and white

The 7 Principles of Fat Burning: Get Healthy, Lose Weight and Keep It Off!

The 7 Principles of Fat Burning: Get Healthy, Lose Weight and Keep It Off! Hardcover – March 15, 2010

by Eric Berg D.C. (Author)

The 7 Principles of Fat Burning is the handbook to the sensational Berg Diet that has empowered thousands of people to get healthy, lose weight and keep it off. It shows how to activate your fat-burning hormones with a tailor-made eating and exercise plan for your body type. The 7 Principles is a highly practical book that provides clear explanations-aided by dozens of charts and illustrations-of the principles of healthy weight loss. Easy-to-understand health and nutrition information and simple tests to determine your correct body type are the keys to its success. Knowledge is power and The 7 Principles of Fat Burning gives dieters the power to take command by eating the healthy diet that activates the fat-burning hormones for their body type. For years people have been told to lose weight to be healthy.

The truth is, you need to get healthy to lose weight. The Seven Principles of Fat Burning shows you how. Dr. Berg thoroughly educates readers and puts them right where they should be: in charge of their own weight.

Visual Intelligence: Sharpen Your Perception, Change Your Life

Visual Intelligence: Sharpen Your Perception, Change Your Life Hardcover – May 3, 2016

by Amy E. Herman (Author)

An engrossing guide to seeing – and communicating – more clearly from the groundbreaking course that helps FBI agents, cops, CEOs, ER docs, and others save money, reputations, and lives.

How could looking at Monet’s water lily paintings help save your company millions? How can checking out people’s footwear foil a terrorist attack? How can your choice of adjective win an argument, calm your kid, or catch a thief?

In her celebrated seminar, the Art of Perception, art historian Amy Herman has trained experts from many fields how to perceive and communicate better. By showing people how to look closely at images, she helps them hone their “visual intelligence,” a set of skills we all possess but few of us know how to use properly. She has spent more than a decade teaching doctors to observe patients instead of their charts, helping police officers separate facts from opinions when investigating a crime, and training professionals from the FBI, the State Department, Fortune 500 companies, and the military to recognize the most pertinent and useful information. Her lessons highlight far more than the physical objects you may be missing; they teach you how to recognize the talents, opportunities, and dangers that surround you every day.

Whether you want to be more effective on the job, more empathetic toward your loved ones, or more alert to the trove of possibilities and threats all around us, this book will show you how to see what matters most to you more clearly than ever before.

Exposing Fraud: Skills, Process and Practicalities

Exposing Fraud: Skills, Process and Practicalities (Wiley Corporate F&A) 1st Edition

by Ian Ross (Author)

Beyond the basics—tools for applied fraud management

In Exposing Fraud: Skills, Process, and Practicalities, anti-fraud expert Ian Ross provides both ideas and practical guidelines for applying sound techniques for fraud investigation and detection and related project management. The investigative principles in this book are truly universal and can be applied anywhere in the world to deal with any of the range of fraud types prevalent in today’s business environments. Topics covered include cyber fraud, the psychology of fraud, data analysis techniques, and the role of corporate and international culture in criminal behavior, among many others. Ensure an optimal outcome to fraud investigations by mastering real-world skills, from interviewing and handling evidence to conducting criminal proceedings.

As technologies and fraud techniques become more complex, fraud investigation must increase in complexity as well. However, this does not mean that time-tested strategies for detecting criminals have become obsolete. Instead, it means that a hands-on approach to fraud detection and management is needed more than ever. The book does just that:

Takes a unique practical approach to the business of detecting, understanding, and dealing with fraud of all types
Aids in the development of key skills, including conducting investigations and managing fraud risk
Covers issues related to ethically and efficiently handling impulsive and systemic fraud, plus investigating criminals who may be running multiple scams
Addresses fraud from a global perspective, considering cultural and psychological factors that influence fraudsters

Unlike other fraud investigation books on the market, Exposing Fraud develops the ethical and legal foundation required to apply theory and advice in real-world settings. From the simple to the complex, this book demonstrates the most effective application of anti-fraud techniques.

Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges

Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges Hardcover – December 22, 2015

by Amy Cuddy (Author)

Have you ever left a nerve-racking challenge and immediately wished for a do over? Maybe after a job interview, a performance, or a difficult conversation? The very moments that require us to be genuine and commanding can instead cause us to feel phony and powerless. Too often we approach our lives’ biggest hurdles with dread, execute them with anxiety, and leave them with regret.

By accessing our personal power, we can achieve “presence,” the state in which we stop worrying about the impression we’re making on others and instead adjust the impression we’ve been making on ourselves. As Harvard professor Amy Cuddy’s revolutionary book reveals, we don’t need to embark on a grand spiritual quest or complete an inner transformation to harness the power of presence. Instead, we need to nudge ourselves, moment by moment, by tweaking our body language, behavior, and mind-set in our day-to-day lives.

Amy Cuddy has galvanized tens of millions of viewers around the world with her TED talk about “power poses.” Now she presents the enthralling science underlying these and many other fascinating body-mind effects, and teaches us how to use simple techniques to liberate ourselves from fear in high-pressure moments, perform at our best, and connect with and empower others to do the same.

Brilliantly researched, impassioned, and accessible, Presence is filled with stories of individuals who learned how to flourish during the stressful moments that once terrified them. Every reader will learn how to approach their biggest challenges with confidence instead of dread, and to leave them with satisfaction instead of regret.

Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are | Amy Cuddy | TED Talks

Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how “power posing” — standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don’t feel confident — can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success.

Human Lie Detection and Body Language 101: Your Guide to Reading People’s Nonverbal Behavior

Human Lie Detection and Body Language 101: Your Guide to Reading People’s Nonverbal Behavior 1/13/13 Edition

by Vanessa Van Edwards (Author)

Do you want to know when someone is lying to you? In this book, you will learn both body language and lie detection. In a ten minute conversation you are likely to be lied to two to three times. Learn how to spot those lies. You will learn: *How to read body language *How to be a human lie detector *How to read people *How to detect hidden emotions *How to spot lies This body language book is based on scientifically backed research on the how to read people’s nonverbal behavior. Who Is This Book For? Whether you are a business owner, parent, spouse, employee, human resources director, teacher or student, this book will change the way you interact with those around you. Here are all of the people that can benefit from this book on body language: Employers Public speakers Doctors Human Resources Directors Poker Players Actors Students Employees Parents Teachers Entrepreneurs You! If you have ever interacted with another person, this book will be useful to you because our everyday interactions are filled with secret nonverbal cues just waiting to be uncovered. Because this book is based in real science, it will debunk some popular myths about lying. Lying Myth #1: If people look to the left, they are lying. If they look to the right they are telling the truth. Although there is some science about eye direction, which we talk about in the book. It is not the most reliable form of lie detection. The book will show you more accurate (and easier) ways to spot lies. Lying Myth #2: Liars can’t look you in the eyes. On average, honest people will make eye contact during conversations about 60% of the time–way less than you thought, right? Liars actually look you in the eye more because they want to seei f you believe their lie or not. Lying Myth #3: Emails and IM’s are filled with lies because it is easier to lie when people can’t see or hear you. In the book, I will tell you which of the following have the most lies: ___Emails ___IM’s ___Phone conversations ___Face to Face interactions I’ll give you a hint: Shockingly, we lie the MOST in phone conversations and the LEAST in emails. Why Is Lie Detection Important? It is important when we know we are being lied to because it can save us money, time and sometimes even our safety. This book can train you to get to the truth 80% to 90% of the time. That can save you money on a faulty house, from hiring a bad employee or making sure you know what is really going on with your child or significant other. Unfortunately, we are not good at detecting lies. We are only right about 54% of the time! That is a little better than a coin toss. We tend to assume the best in people and have a bias towards truth–”innocent until proven guilty.” In Human Lie Detection and Body Language 101 I give a number of real life examples and tons of practical tips that you will be able to use immediately. For example, wouldn’t it have been great to have known when Lance Armstrong was lying? Lance Armstrong Lies In his recent Oprah interview, Lance Armstrong’s body language was off the charts with lies and inconsistencies. He constantly made the “contempt” microexpression, which you will learn about in the book and showed how he really felt about the interview. He also showed a dominant and aggressive body posture and seating position. His words said far less than in his body. You can learn how to decode these popular culture segments on TV and in real life. If you find this case fascinating and wish you could begin to unravel the mysteries of body language, then get your copy of Human Lie Detection and Body Language 101 now!

7 types of social media account fraud as per the itgovernanceusa.com

7 types of social media account fraud

Marika Samarati September 8, 2016

refer to

http://www.itgovernanceusa.com/blog/7-types-of-social-media-account-fraud/

Cyber crime has reached a new battlefield – social media platforms. Just as companies seek new opportunities to reach their target audience, so do cyber criminals. According to Proofpoint’s recent Social Media Brand Fraud Report, 19% of the 4,840 social media accounts associated with ten top worldwide brands were fraudulent.

Identikit fraudulent social media accounts

Carefully crafted, bogus accounts can be difficult to distinguish from legitimate ones. They replicate the brand account as much as they can, mimicking the logo, look and feel, and even content. The only difference is in what they propose to the audience: customer service at odd times, discounts, free gifts, and deals that are too good to be true. As the report says, ‘the only difference might be something as small as one character in the Twitter handle, such as @askmajorbank vs. @ask_majorbank’.

Although social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have implemented an account verification service – the blue checkmark badge next to the account name – cyber criminals have become even smarter and can replicate the badge in their background image to fool customers. However effective account verification is, it doesn’t extend to posts or tweets and fraudsters know this all too well.

The 7 different types of fraudulent accounts

The research identified 7 different types of bogus accounts:

Phishing accounts
These bogus accounts are replicas of official brand products and customer support accounts. They trick customers and users into revealing their account login credentials, credit card numbers and other sensitive information that will later be used to steal money. This kind of scam is known as angler phishing. Read more in this post >>
Malware accounts
These invite users and customers to click seemingly innocuous links that actually infect their devices with malware and ransomware. Fraudsters aim to obtain information stored on users’ devices in order to sell that information on the black market or even keep devices hostage in exchange for a ransom.
Scams
Through promotions and discounts, which are usually too good to be real, fraudsters collect the credit card numbers of inattentive users and customers whose greed blinds their ability to recognize that the deal is actually fraudulent.
Counterfeit accounts
By promoting knockoff or fake versions of famous brands’ products, these accounts damage brands’ reputation and image, and the quality of real offers, not to mention the customers’ trust. 11% of fraudulent accounts identified by the research belong to this category.
Advertising accounts
These fake brand profiles exploit brands’ identity to drive visitors to junk websites which then spam them with ads and adware.
Brand satire and protest
These fraudulent pages are created to generate hate speech, embarrass brands and threaten customers.
Pornography
Pornographers exploit brands’ popularity (based on number of followers) to distribute adult content and damage brand image and customer retention.

How to recognize phishing scams and stay safe

Spotting the bait might be difficult if you don’t know the different tricks and scams developed by fraudsters and how to recognize them. That’s why IT Governance’s Phishing Staff Awareness Course comes in handy. This elearning course provides you with the basic understanding and knowledge of what phishing attacks are and the different types you might encounter, and gives you tips and best practice to follow so that you can avoid the bait and stay safe and sound online. The course is taught through engaging activities and questions, and includes a final test to assess your understanding of the topic (which you can repeat until you achieve the pass mark).

The Cyber Effect by Dr. Mary Aiken

(refer to Dr. Mary Aiken book, The Cyber Effect: A Pioneering Cyberpsychologist Explains How Human Behavior Changes Online)

“We are living through an exciting moment in history, when so much about life on earth is being transformed. But what is new is not always good—and technology does not always mean progress.

We desperately need some balance in an era of hell-bent cyber-utopianism. In the prologue to this book, I compared this moment in time to the Enlightenment, hundreds of years ago, when there were changes of great magnitude in human knowledge, ability, awareness, and technology. Like the Industrial Revolution and other great eras of societal change, there is a brief moment of opportunity, a window, when it becomes clear where society might be heading—and there is still memory of what is being left behind. Those of us who remember the world and life before the Internet are a vital resource. We know what we used to have, who we used to be, and what our values were. We are the ones who can rise to the responsibility of directing and advising the adventure ahead.

It’s like that moment before you go on a trip, and you are heading out the door with your luggage—and you check the house one more time to make sure you’ve got everything you need.

In human terms, do we have everything we need for this journey?

At this moment in time we can describe cyberspace as a place, separate from us, but very soon that distinction will become blurred. By the time we get to 2020, when we are alone and immersed in our smart homes and smarter cars, clad in our wearable technologies, our babies in captivity seats with iPads thrust in their visual field, our kids all wearing face-obscuring helmets, when our sense of self has fractured into a dozen different social-network platforms, when sex is something that requires logging in and a password, when we are competing for our lives with robots for jobs, and dark thoughts and forces have pervaded, syndicated, and colonized cyberspace, we might wish we’d paid more attention. As we set out on this journey, into the first quarter of the twenty-first century, what do we have now that we can’t afford to lose?” (p. 303-304, The Cyber Effect)

“Forensic science is the study of the physical evidence at a crime scene—fibers or bodily fluids or fingerprints. In TV terms, think CSI. Forensic psychology is the study of the behavioral evidence left behind at the crime scene, what we like to call “the blood spatter of the mind.” Then there’s my area, forensic cyberpsychology, which focuses on the cyberbehavioral evidence … “Every contact leaves a trace” … This is just as true in cyberspace” (see p.6 The Cyber Effect)

“Special task force … arresting the biggest human trafficker in the United States and one of California’s “Most Wanted”…. team of experienced professionals pulled from the FBI, Homeland Security, Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC), the California State Police, and the LAPD” (p. 3 The Cyber Effect)

“Not long ago, I was invited to join the Steed Symposium panel on cyber-security at the Los Angeles Film Festival and found myself sitting on a stage with blinding lights, awkwardly perched on a very tall director’s chair… Next to me, perched on his own precarious chair, was a famous ethical hacker, Ralph Echemendia, a brilliant self-taught tech expert who had recently served as the subject-matter expert on Snowden, the Oliver Stone movie.” (p.278 The Cyber Effect)

“I most recently found myself spending a good bit of time in Hollywood, working on the television show CSI: Cyber, inspired by my work. In the show, Patricia Arquette plays Avery Ryan, a special agent in the FBI Cyber Crime unit who is tasked with solving high-octane crimes that “start in the mind, live online, and play out into the real world.” That describes my work perfectly.” (p.18 The Cyber Effect)