The nature of cybercrimes Essay

The Internet has undeniably revolutionized numerous aspects of our daily lives. It has helped in facilitating many of our transactions as well as enhanced several business processes of organizations. However, this tool for progress may have unavoidably also imparted some of its important characteristics to potentially damaging acts known as cybercrimes. With our society’s increasing reliance on the Internet infrastructure, individuals must become aware of the importance of understanding the nature of such cybercrimes.

The following sections will summarize key points in an article discussing the subject as well as provide a critical analysis of its success in this objective. Key Points of the Article Williams (2001) in his article “Organized Crime and Cybercrime: Synergies, Trends and Responses” analyzed some of the features of conventional organized crime and cybercrime. The article began with an overview of how the Internet has changed businesses as well as the problems that developed because of the technology.

A general discussion of organized crime and its evolution throughout the years followed, where a quick view of past methods of operations by these organizations were disclosed. The favorable factors behind the use of the Internet by these crime groups, and the likelihood of perpetuating this situation were also discussed in this segment. A detailed discussion by the author on the aspect of criminal Internet usage was discussed in the next section of the paper, wherein seven trends in the emerging relationship of organized crime and cybercrime were recognized.

For the paper’s conclusion, general approaches or strategies were provided by the author towards efforts in curbing the problematic situation. Analysis The article can provide a general overview of the cybercrime issue to individuals who have not previously encountered the topic. This generalized feature of the paper may also make it unappealing in some aspects. This would definitely not be appealing for people in technical fields such information technology experts or those engaged in law, who are looking for specialized information in those fields which the paper is devoid of.

Due to the lack of concrete examples as to how cybercrimes or organized crimes would directly affect the daily lives of the common citizen, it may also fail to arouse the interest of normal people either. The nature of cybercrimes was not discussed as in-depth as it should have, with most of the emphasis actually being on organized crime. A balanced perspective would have been more appropriate as the title implied.

It seemed that the paper highlighted cybercrime as a means for extending the activities of organized crime, while failing to mention its prevalent use by individuals as well. The idea of cybercrimes being a tool rather as a form of crime in itself may also need to be verified with experts in the legal field. I would still have to say that the paper was well-written since its primary purpose was to discuss transnational crime issues.

While most of the ideas presented in the paper may have appeared as assertions because references were not mentioned, the status of the writer as an authoritative figure in this field may have been enough to counteract this oversight. Overall, I think that the article would still prove to be great complementary reading for anyone wishing to fully understand the topic of cybercrime. References Williams, P. (2001). Organized Crime and Cybercrime: Synergies, Trends and Responses. Retrieved on June 1, 2008 from http://usinfo. state. gov/journals/itgic/0801/ijge/gj07. htm#fn1