Hi-Tech Crime CRIM30375

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Snoopers' Charter: why journalists (and the rest of us) should be afraid Paul Lashmar , University of Sussex The “Snooper’s Charter mark two” – or Investigatory Powers Act – which has recently passed into law demonstrates again how successful Islamist terrorism has been in changing British society into a secret state. With the passing of the Act we have taken a step into a new world of permanent surveillance that was not deemed necessary in 30 years of “The Troubles”, four decades of the Cold War or during two world wars. Home secretary Amber Rudd’s comment that it is “ world-leading legislation ” is worthy of Orwell’s doublethink. One might ask, what part of the world are we leading exactly: North Korea, Cuba, China and Saudi Arabia? It provides the intelligence agencies with massive new surveillance powers including rules that force internet providers to keep complete records of every website that all of their customers visit. That information will be available to a wid

How paedophiles speak to children online Cristina Izura , Swansea University and Nuria Lorenzo-Dus , Swansea University The internet has transformed our lives. As of July 2016, around 40% of the world’s population was online – that’s nearly 3.5 billion internet users . Since it was created, the web has gone from being a simple tool used to share and distribute information to a complex virtual place which pervades nearly every aspect of society. Though the creators’ intentions for the internet were surely good, today it is also used for heinous crimes such as the sexual exploitation of children. This type of abuse can take almost as many forms as in the physical world: ranging from producing, storing and trading child pornography to seeking paid or unpaid sex online or offline once onscreen contact has been established. Online grooming – that is, the process of persuading a youngster to have sex, online and/or offline, with an adult – is at an alarming high. Research has found

How the UK passed the most invasive surveillance law in democratic history Paul Bernal , University of East Anglia You might not have noticed thanks to world events , but the UK parliament recently approved the government’s so-called Snooper’s Charter and it will soon become law. This nickname for the Investigatory Powers Bill is well earned. It represents a new level and nature of surveillance that goes beyond anything previously set out in law in a democratic society. It is not a modernisation of existing law, but something qualitatively different, something that intrudes upon every UK citizen’s life in a way that would even a decade ago have been inconceivable. The bill requires internet and telecoms companies to keep records of every website or app we use and all our phone calls and messages for 12 months. It leaves us in the unenviable position of leading the world in the legalisation of surveillance. And it will likely be used by more authoritarian regimes around the glob

Drone currently deployed in Plymouth with thermal imaging, assisting officers with search for a male wanted for multiple serious offences. pic.twitter.com/iGYUQM4cMR — D&C Police Drones (@DC_PoliceDrones) November 15, 2016

Laser attacks are a serious risk to aviation. When attacked, NPAS will identify offenders, prosecuting where possible... as in this case! pic.twitter.com/aMxclpAV7p — NPAS Redhill (@NPASRedhill) November 15, 2016

Share VideoEmbed code SelectVideo link https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-daily-podcast/legal-state-drones-other-surveillance Select

The fortress complex: how the West became obsessed with home security Sarah Blandy , University of Sheffield and Rowland Atkinson , University of Sheffield That famous phrase, “an Englishman’s home is his castle”, neatly captures longstanding ideas about what the private home really is: a place which we can control and defend, a private territory where we decide who enters and who doesn’t. We all share a deep and primitive fear of intrusion and invasion, which lead us to see the home as a place of refuge. So it seems strange that while crime has broadly declined over the past two decades across the Western world, we have also seen the appearance of many more gated communities and homes with extensive security systems. In our new book, Domestic Fortress: Fear and the New Home Front we explore some of the explanations for this surprising trend. For one thing, withdrawal from public life has become something of an escapist fantasy, promoted by high-profile celebrities who use t

Some visitors may have noticed a couple of recent posts were articles found on The Conversation . I like The Conversation for it's intelligent, fact based, but readable articles. I've also decided that it's a great way to enhance the value of this blog, which is really designed to support a particular module, as I can reproduce articles from The Conversation thanks to their use of a Creative Commons licence. This is great for me, for my students, and hopefully for some of the academics whose articles I reproduce (as my students may well then cite them in their work). Regards from, Phil p.s. I've even gotten around to setting up an account on it. Expect some postings soon or view my online profile .

'Don't feed the trolls' really is good advice – here's the evidence Evita March , Federation University Australia Almost half the population of the planet now has access to the internet, with about one in three of those people regularly active on social media. But this increased opportunity to socialise and communicate in a virtual environment has offered new avenues for antisocial behaviour . The problem of cyberbullying has received considerable research attention . However, other online antisocial behaviours with similarly harmful outcomes have received far less consideration – one example being anonymous online trolling. Trolling behaviours typically include deliberately posting inflammatory comments and argumentative messages in an attempt to provoke, disrupt and upset others. “Trolls” may pretend to be part of the group, but their real intent is to create conflict for their own amusement. Shockingly, more than a quarter of Americans have admitted to e

Tackling online trolls doesn’t need a bigger stick – just a more effective one Sophie Stalla-Bourdillon , University of Southampton There is a vocal minority on social media that use the platforms to attack others , often with impunity. These cyber bullies or online trolls, use words and in some cases other means to cause harm – for example releasing sexually explicit images, referred to as “revenge porn”. A recent case is that of Chloe Madeley , daughter of daytime television presenters Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, who received abuse including death and rape threats on Twitter following her mother’s comments on the case of footballer and convicted rapist Chad Evans . With social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter barely a decade old, the UK House of Lords Select Committee on Communications looked into the nature of online abuse. In its report in July the committee stated : Our overall conclusion is that the criminal law in this area, almost entirely enacted be

Further laws to tackle sex texts with children could cause more harm than good Samantha Pegg , Nottingham Trent University The government’s announcement of a new offence which criminalises the sending of sexual messages to children by adults focuses on a very narrow perceived loophole in the existing legislation surrounding child sexual abuse. The prime minister, David Cameron, has cited the “increasing and alarming phenomenon” of paedophiles contacting children online or by text message with requests to take and send nude photos. The implication is that this is not already sufficiently clearly defined as criminal behaviour. The announcement raises many questions: what is the government looking to criminalise: all sexual communication with children? Or specifically messages where the adult is soliciting sexual images? How does existing legislation fail to regulate this activity – and how widely or narrowly should the offence be defined? The danger is that, if poorly written,

Dear All, Just a quick hello from Phil. Hello to all the students on this year's Hi-Tech Crime module at Nottingham Trent University (NTU). I look forward to meeting you and working with you this year.  You have chosen a module that covers an interesting and increasingly important area of criminology where crime meets technology. In addition to our use of NOW Mike Sutton and I will use various additional resources including our blogs.  I find that this blog is a great way to supplement and extend the more formal materials you will found on NOW. I will also be posting videos to YouTube, using instant polling services and other things to enrich your experience of the module. Regards from, Phil

An example of the unintended (criminological) consequences of technology.

Apps like Tinder have proven very popular but there have been some instances of problems. This includes some (alleged) and actual (legally proven) instances of rape. These cases atrract a lot of media attention. For instance: Crimes Linked to Tinder Increase Sevenfold  (Daily Telegraph) Tinder & Grindr and Sevenfold increase  (BBC) News interview teen assaulted on Tinder Australian Tinder Rape Case Press Report Australian  Tinder Rape Case Retraction (Reminder that retractions may e for a number of reasons - not necessarily false allegations). Not criminal but not sociable? Dating Apps and STIs ( Telegraph ) Dating Apps and STIs ( Independent ) Dating Apps and STIs ( BBC ) Dating Apps and STIs ( VICE )

Short clip about Revenge Pron victim and anonymity from the BBC .