Hi-Tech Crime CRIM30375

How a serial killer used social media to attract his victims – and why we should all take note Olga Samostrova/Shutterstock Serena Simmons , Nottingham Trent University Stephen Port, a 41-year-old chef living in east London, has been given a whole-of-life prison sentence after being found guilty of the murder of four young men who he lured to his flat before drugging and raping them before they died. As he sentenced Port, the judge spoke of the “significant amount of planning” that went into Port’s crimes and the “loss of dignity” the victims had suffered that had “greatly increased the distress of their loving families”. So far, so sadly familiar. The planning, the humiliation of victims, the distress of their family and friends. But the world of the serial killer is changing with technology and, arguably, it is becoming easier for them to attract their unwitting prey. Portrait of a killer On February 15, 1992, Jeffrey Dahmer, a y...

'Upskirting' and 'revenge porn': the need for a comprehensive law Shutterstock Erika Rackley , University of Birmingham and Clare McGlynn , Durham University After months of campaigning and meetings, it appears that moves to criminalise “upskirting” – the act of taking secret, sexually intrusive photographs – have stalled . For now. This is disappointing. However, all may not be lost. It is now time for the government to step up – and to eliminate inconsistencies in the treatment of victims of image-based sexual abuse . Whether it involves voyeurism, upskirting, revenge porn or sexual extortion, in all cases the images or videos are sexual, private and intimate. Victims can suffer harassment, and highly sexualised abuse such as rape threats. Like other cases of sexual offending, the harms victims experience include a fundamental breach of their autonomy, trust, sexual integrity and privacy. Many victims fear for th...

We need a new human right – to protect our freedom to live without threat from the skies coolrockcom/flickr , CC BY-SA Nick Grief , University of Kent and Shona Illingworth , University of Kent In little more than 100 years, humans have radically transformed the sky: chemically, territorially and militarily. In this increasingly contested space, technological developments are accelerating the transformation. New forms of military and commercial exploitation are increasing the disparity of power between those who dominate airspace and outer space, and the billions of people on the ground affected by the impacts. People are increasingly vulnerable to being tracked, watched and targeted from above. The use of combat drones is escalating and new robotic assailants are being developed. Individuals are at growing risk of being tracked and targeted through data mining. For instance, geolocating via smartphones and mapping geotagged photograp...

Gatwick drone drama shows how even unarmed UAVs can cause economic chaos and risk to life Anna Jackman , Royal Holloway One of the amazing things about the recent drone incident at London Gatwick is that the appearance of two unmanned aerial vehicles flying into operational runway space prompted the closure of Britain’s second-busiest airport for more than a day. With further sightings of drones , Gatwick only reopened to limited service after a 36-hour interruption, and those responsible for operating the drone remain at large. With more than 110,000 passengers on 760 flights due to depart Gatwick on just one of the affected days, these drone incursions have left a trail of disruption behind them. This is by no means the first incident of drones causing problems at airports – there have been similar incidents in Canada , Dubai , Poland and China . But the event at Gatwick is unusual in both the length of its duration and the presence and repeated use of multiple drones. ...

How Jair Bolsonaro used ‘fake news’ to win power Ed Bracho-Polanco , University of Westminster Jair Bolsonaro’s election in October 2018 as president of Brazil marked a major shift in Latin American politics, ending nearly two decades of left-wing governments. On January 1, the far-right populist officially took power and is set to introduce new policies on virtually all fronts. Many of these policies – his plan for the environment , for example – are problematic, especially given Brazil’s status as the world’s eighth largest economy and one of the five most populous nations in the globe. But the deeper and most pressing concerns – both at national and global levels – are arguably the negative aspects of his discourse of discrimination, intolerance and misinformation. During the 2018 presidential campaign Bolsonaro’s speeches were notable for offensive and discriminatory remarks about women, native Brazilians, Afro-Brazilians, the LGBT community and progressive intellectual...

Smartphones: the cultural, individual and technical processes that make them smart Pathdoc/Shutterstock.com Daniel Miller , UCL Has there ever been an invention so integral to our lives, and so intimate, as the smartphone? Yet they are slippery things. Smartphones are both a step change in the ability of human beings to communicate with each other and become informed, and a new point of vulnerability to penetration by the outside world. They are at once talismans of our freedom and connectivity and tokens of the corporations who collect our data and impinge on our privacy. I’m an anthropologist, and I’m part of a team currently researching these issues. We’re trying to answer a very simple question: what is a smartphone? It may seem odd that a group of academics who specialise in the study of social relations should attempt this, but we are perhaps the only type of experts who can answer this question. Why? Well, Apple makes the iPho...