Cybercrimes are criminal offenses that involve or occur in cyberspace, the ethereal region created when computers and people connect over electronic networks that gspan the world. Cybercrime’s emergence as an international crime and justice problem is a vexing downside to the blending of digital communications technology, especially the Internet, into everyday life and global commerce.

THE NATURE OF CYBERCRIME

Anyone can commit a crime by using the Internet for such offenses as cyberstalking, auction fraud, dating Web site scams, or child pornography. But cybercrime is often seen as the special province of ‘hackers’ who create and use clever programs to gain illegal access to software, computers, and networks whenever a new technology emerges. In the 1980s the exploits of hackers were mostly a costly nuisance and hackers were even viewed sympathetically by some (Chiesa, Ducci, & Ciappi, 2008; Duff & Gardiner, 1996). An underground subculture of hackers emerged that treated penetrating computers and networks as sport. Successful hacking techniques were packaged into easy to use programs or scripts. This greatly increased the pool of offenders and the costs of time and money to clean up their mischief. The stakes rose when commerce moved to the Internet and hacking took on financial motivations (Grabosky, 2001).