Challenges in Enforcement of Cyber Crime, Essay Example

Introduction

The improved technology and the increased usage of the internet today, enhance communication globally. It is worth noting that the embrace of technology has contributed positively to the development of human beings in various perspectives. Consequently, the cyber crimes have attracted the cyber criminals whose efforts tend to supersede the IT security professionals, law enforcement officials, and the corporate security. It is imperative that, the cyber crimes are hard to combat owing to various challenges. This paper will highlight on some of the challenges that hinder the combating of cyber crimes.

Analytical and technical capabilities

In order to investigate and prosecute cyber related crimes the law enforcement agents ought to possess skills and abilities, which are up to date with computer technology. The problem with the challenge is that it takes a period of up to 12months to train officers in order to be proficient. Another challenge related to this is the policy of rotation of law enforcement agents (Brenner, 2010 P.88). Sometimes agents who are proficient in cyber crimes are transferred to offices that are not cyber crime centers. Conversely, those who are not proficient in the field are transferred to the centers where they are supposed to be trained before they become proficient.

Reporting the crimes

The main challenge facing the fight of cyber crimes is the information and reporting of the crimes. It is important to note that, companies will not report the cyber crimes. This is because they believe that they will lose confidence in their customers. They also have the notion that, the law enforcement agency will do a little or nothing to the criminals (Reyes, 2007 P.130). The companies also have the fear that when they report the attacks, they may face litigation problem with their witnesses, and attackers who may hack the company system.

It is impossible to make the internet completely secure because the attackers’ points are constantly changing. Therefore, the best way to counter these attackers would be to ensure that, there are proper protocols in place. There is a little or lack of information and security protocols to limit cyber crimes among the general population. This lack of information and security measures increases the likelihood of attackers.

Jurisdiction

It is imperative that Cyber crimes happen across both the state and national boundaries. Therefore, it is difficult to work across these boundaries. The different jurisdictions have different rules governing cyber crimes and are not uniform across all states. Some states have non-comprehensive laws governing cyber crimes than other states, or totally lack the appropriate legislation (Clough, 2010 P.104). When the laws that govern these crimes are relaxed, for instance, where the perpetrator resides, it becomes difficult to prosecute. This is mainly because there is little that the law can govern. At times, the crimes do not affect an individual within the located jurisdiction of the crime. Therefore, it becomes hard to prosecute in such cases, since they do not fall within the jurisdiction of the agency. The state priorities may conflict and hinder the fighting of cyber crimes. This is because some states are not very concerned where these types of crimes are concerned. In this case, the law enforcers become reluctant since the crimes do not fall within their respective jurisdictions (Westby, 2003 P.158). In order to reduce the challenges of jurisdiction, it would be important to have a uniform set of laws across all states that regulate cyber crimes or have an umbrella legislation to reduce jurisdictional hurdles. States will in this case work with one another in order to fight these crimes since they work on the same legislation. When cyber crimes occur without physical proximity of the victim, it will be possible to investigate if state works with each other. This can only be achieved with the use of uniform laws that operate regardless of state boundaries.

Conclusion

It is evident that, cyber crime is a very serious criminal offense whereby the scammers can take advantage of the innocent users. Therefore, the law enforcement agencies ought to device ways of curbing the cyber crimes. In order to address the aforementioned challenges, it is important for the law enforcement agencies to develop strong technical and financial resources. This will enable them develop strong IT infrastructure whilst building the capacity of the potential victims. The internet users for instance, should not share their information online especially to the unknown people.

References

Brenner, S. W. (2010). Cybercrime: criminal threats from cyberspace. ABC-CLIO.

Clough, J. (2010). Principles of Cybercrime. Cambridge University Press.

Reyes, A. (2007). Cyber Crime Investigations: Bridging the Gaps between Security Professionals, Law Enforcement, and Prosecutors. Syngress.

Westby, J. (2003). International guide to combating cybercrime. New York: American Bar Association.