Juveniles and Cyber Crime
Juveniles and Cyber Crime
Reading 7
· Cybercrime
· Can be simple as music downloads or stealing from a bank
o 70% of kids
§ Create strong passwords
§ Keep systems updated
§ Checking statements regularly
o Digital property theft
§ Using the internet to steal another’s ideas or work
· Mostly social media sites
§ 41% of young adults are concerned about fraud/identity theft
o Identity theft
§ Not all perpetrators seek financial gain
· Access social security
o For insurance purposes
· Military ID
o 9/11 hijackers used fake IDs to board planes
§ Go drop off financial info
· Don’t leave it for mailman
§ Don’t share credit card info
· Don’t save it
§ Keep track of spending
o Social media safety tips
§ Don’t share pictures of a trip until you come back
§ Watch who you share location with
· Make sure it’s someone you know
§ Don’t share passwords
§ Only accept people you know
o Cyberbullying/sexting
§ Cyberbullying can be done through social media
· Or breaking into someone’s account
§ Sexting
· Transmitting sexually explicit texts, photos or emails
· Always report it
§ Over 20 states that have created laws against cyberbullying
The Internet
· Was not publicly available until the late 1980s/early 1990s
o Started in the 1960s for government use
· It’s inception brought about new problematic behavior (e.g., hacking)
o Posed additional challenges for law enforcement and the courts
§ Had to determine how they were going to handle computer-based crimes
· More and more kids have access to the Internet, so laws had to be passed
o But not everyone has access to internet
· Still figuring things out about the internet
Cybercrime
· Cybercrime is the “destruction, theft, or unauthorized or illegal use, modification or copy of information, programs, services, equipment or communication networks.”
o In other words, cybercrime is any crime that uses technology, including computers, smartphones, and the internet itself.
· Cybercrime can range from small online credit card theft, hacking, malware, all the way to large scale hacking/fraud
· We will talk about the kinds most commonly perpetrated by juveniles
o Kids have more access to the internet in more forms than ever and are becoming more prolific
§ Leading to things like hacking
Digital Piracy
· Digital piracy is the act of illegally copying music, movies, software, and other digital materials without permission from or payment to the copyright holder.
o Was really common in the early 2000s before Spotify
§ Burning CDs, file sharing, etc.
· Easy crime to carry out
o Super common among juveniles
§ Because the internet is not normally monitored
· Juveniles like listening to music/watching movies
o This coupled with temptation to access them for free = perfect storm
· Studies estimate that $14billion in free content has been pirated since the early 2000s
· Recording Industry Association of America estimates:
o Only 37% of music owned in the US was purchased legally
o Music sales have dropped by 50% or more since 1999
§ 1999: advent of filing sharing
o 70% of Internet users support digital piracy
How do Juveniles Justify Stealing Music?
· One explanation:
o Matza and Sykes’ techniques of neutralization
§ Offenders are able to commit crimes because they rationalize those behaviors and do so using one of several techniques
· Denying injury: “stealing music isn’t hurting anyone”
o Stealing a song that costs only $1.50 song isn’t going to hurt Beyonce
· Everyone does it
Digital Piracy and the JJ System
· Copyright Felony Act and the No Electronic Theft Act
o Outlawed digital piracy and instituted punishments for it
§ Doesn’t stop people
· Doesn’t often make its way into the JJ system
o System has more serious cases to deal with
§ But it’s still illegal
· If juveniles come into contact with the JJ system for digital piracy, they are treated pretty leniently
o Don’t really view these types of crimes as having a victim
· Won’t lead to juveniles becoming cybercriminals
o Won’t really engage in this too much as they get older
Cyber Stalking
· Physical stalking (non-cyber) typically involves someone the victim knows
· Cyber stalkers typically victimize strangers
· Cyberstalking is the monitoring or harassment of another person on the Internet
o Examples:
§ Cyberstalkers may access their victims’ e-mail and social networking accounts without permission, and pretend to be the victim in posts and other communication.
§ Creating several spam accounts and messaging the person from them
· But consent is dubious
· Many states have passed anti-cyber stalking laws and anti-cyber harassment laws
· All states have stalking laws, but only about ½ of them cover cyber stalking
o Because consent is dubious
· Under the federal cyberstalking statute, “cyberstalking” includes any course of conduct or series of acts taken by the perpetrator on the Internet that place the victim in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury, or causes, attempts to cause, or would be reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress to the victim or the victim’s immediate family.
o 18 U.S.C. § 2261A (2015).
· Cyberstalking can be a part of cyber dating abuse.
o Current or former romantic partners, many of whom are juveniles or young adults, monitor the online behaviors, locations, and other activities of their victims.
§ This is called “low-tech” cyberstalking
· Cyberstalking is a growing problem among juveniles, generally
· Juveniles using internet more
o But young people are more likely to use it to keep track of their romantic partners
Cyberbullying
· Bullying someone via the internet
· Most likely committed by teenagers, particularly males and younger teens (Bae, 2021)
o Some research finds that perpetrators had prior cyber bullying victimizations themselves (Bae, 2021; Baker et al. 2020)
§ More likely to be an offender if they were a victim and vice versa
o Will normally have some sort of emotional component
· Being the victim of cyberbullying can increase risk of school failure, truancy, and problem behaviors (Wright & Wachs, 2021)
· Cyberbullying doesn’t stop
o Still with you after school
§ More mental health considerations
Sexting
· Sexting is the use of a cell phone, tablet, or other electronic device to share sexually explicit content.
o Has to be a visual image
§ Pictures or videos often show at least one person nude or partially nude, and sometimes performing sexual acts.
§ Sexting may also include sexually suggestive or aggressive text.
· Past research shows that 5% to 35% of young people participate in sexting.
o 1/3 justice system involved youth admitted to participating (Ng et al., 2022)
· Females are often more likely to admit to creating and sending the material than are males
· Problem: these images are easily transmittable
· Anytime there is a picture of an unclothed minor, it goes to the police
o There is an entire unit dedicated to this
Sexting as Child Pornography
· Sexting is protected under your 1st amendment rights
o In other words, you are allowed to send whatever photographs you want
· The illegality of sexting lies within the age of the individuals receiving the text
o If a 16 year old sends a nude photograph to an 18 year old, that person can be charged with possession of child pornography
· It does not matter if those two individuals are legally able to be in a relationship (Romeo & Juliet laws)
o Child pornography statutes protect anyone under the age of 18, regardless of their relationship to the recipient
Sexting and its Relationship to Crime
· Over 1/3 justice-system involved youth report having engaged in sexting
· Sexting is associated with engaging in unprotected sex, delinquency, and substance abuse (Ng et al., 2022)
· Most kids don’t know not to do this
o Not aware of where lines are
Revenge Porn
· A growing problem is revenge porn
o Spreading sexually explicit material (e.g., nude photographs) without the subject’s permission
§ Now transmitting child porn
· Over 35 states have laws prosecuting revenge porn
o Penalties vary though
§ California: misdemeanor
§ North Carolina: class H felony if the person disseminating the photograph is over 18
· Lower level felony, but individual is still technically a felon
Phillip Alpert
· A Florida news outlet reported that Phillip Alpert, age 18, and Jane Doe, age 16, had been dating for 2 years when Jane sent Alpert a nude picture of herself. Afterward the couple had an argument.
· As revenge, Alpert forwarded the picture to Jane’s family and friends.
· Alpert was subsequently charged with possession and distribution of child pornography, as well as lewd and lascivious battery.
o He pled no contest and was sentenced to a year of probation.
o Under Florida law, Alpert also had to register as a sex offender and will remain on the list for at least 25 years.
Sextortion
· Sextortion: the acquisition of sexually explicit photographs or videos that are then used to blackmail the victim
· The material is often obtained by hacking into the victim’s computer or cell phone, but the victim may also have provided it willingly
· Offenders may use the photographs to get money from the victim in exchange for not posting the sexually explicit material online, or even request more photographs or videos of sexual acts as a kind of ransom
o Most states will not have separate laws for blackmail and sextortion
o Easier to transfer images form one person to another because of texting, etc.
§ Juveniles are not typically extorting people, but they are likely to be a victim
· The Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire:
o 60% of sextortion victims knew the offenders in some way and 40% met them online
§ Usually someone you know or have met in some capacity
· Most offenders were male and most victims were female
o Almost half of victims were under the age of 18
§ Will typically be extorted by people who are over 18
§ Difficult to get traction because juveniles are not typically willing to tell parent/guardian
· Leads to more mental health problems
- Sextortion not illegal in all states
- In those states, they prosecute on the grounds of bribery, extortion (regular), corruption, child pornography, hacking, etc. depending on the case.
- Other laws can be applied
Hacking
· Hacking: unauthorized intrusion into a computer or network for illegal purposes
· Not commonly committed by juveniles
o But more common than it used to be
· Types:
o Accessing a computer system without permission
o Development or use of viruses
o Destruction or alteration of a computer file without permission
o Theft of services
o Fraudulent use of credit cards
o Infiltration of software
· Not a lot of research on juvenile hacking
· Most research profiles hackers as:
o College aged or older
o Male
o White or Asian
· Other factors that are related (Fox & Holt, 2020—looked at youth across the globe):
o Low self-control, living in a small town, delinquent peers, males
· Researchers have found that 5% to 15% of high school students admitted gaining unauthorized access to a website, e-mail address, or social networking page
o E.g. figuring out someone’s password and hacking into their social media
§ Isn’t normally reported
· Like other types of cyber crimes, hacking is punishable by law
· Federal and state legislation on hacking started in 1970s
o The Federal Computer System Protection Act of 1977: defined hacking behaviors as a federal crime
§ Adopted as model legislation by almost all states by 1986
o The Counterfeit Access Device and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984
§ Identified certain behaviors as hacking
o The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2008
§ Revised previous legislation and identified malware and denial-of-service attacks as hacking crimes
Jonathan James
· First juvenile incarcerated for a cyber crime
· Hacked the Miami-Dade school computer system & federal Department of Defense computers
· Arrested in 2000
o Plead guilty
o 7 months house arrest and probation until 18th birthday
o Violated probation, incarcerated 6 months
Cyber Crime
· No national estimates on how many youth are in the system because of cyber crimes
· In some cases, cyber crimes just do not come to the attention of law enforcement
· Nevertheless, cyber crimes can have very real victims who suffer very real harms