Electronic Crimes as a Result of The Evolution of Technology and Digital Society

Crime is a problem in every society across the world because as society and technology advance, new crime challenges emerge. These new crime challenges include electronic crimes that are often committed in the cyber space. The rise of the internet has seen the birth of a digital society which operates on the basis of technologies. The digital society is characterized by the invention of new technological products which may increase the chance to commit crime. According to Tilley (2011) the digital society is also characterized by both benefits and problems. Therefore, action is required to solve the problems. This paper shall serve the purpose of critically examining the viability of ‘designing out’ crime principles and practices in the age of digital society.

Situational crime prevention

Clarke (2009) states that Situational Crime Prevention (SCP) chiefly concerns designing out crime and opportunity reduction. By focusing on situational factors that facilitate a criminal act from being committed, SCP aims to discover methods of reducing opportunities for an offender to commit crime (Newman et al, 2016). SCP has been critiqued for being too silent on electronic crimes as it focuses more on crimes committed in the physical space. However, its viability on ‘designing out’ crime shall be critically examined in this section.

Moving situational crime prevention into the online realm requires taking principles from the real world and applying them to the internet environment. Increasing efforts so that crime may not be easy to commit in the digital society includes target hardening. Target hardening may include the use of authentication passwords and Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) that are hard to crack. This ensures that criminals do not easily access important files within computers and other digital devices. Tilley (2011) states that physical devices can be installed in order to ensure security. This may include the installation of mobile trackers which help in locating stolen or lost mobile phones.

Access control can be used to minimize the risk of unauthorized access to physical asses and information system such as computers. In order for any crime to occur in a place, the person committing the crime has to be present in that particular place by means of gaining access. Therefore, it is important to stop offenders from gaining access in the first place. For example, staff of the High Court of Botswana are expected to use electronic cards in order to access their offices. This is because the computers they use have sensitive files about court cases. This prevents unauthorized access as well as theft of data. Access control may also include the use of visible detection devices which detect any unauthorized entry into a place.

Crime mapping

Due to the advancement of technology and emergence of the digital society, crime mapping has become common in designing out crime. According to Ratcliffe (2004) crime mapping is the process of using Geographic Information System (GIS) to conduct spatial analysis of crime problems). GIS is defined as a set of computer based tools that allows the user to modify, visualize and analyze geographic data. Crime mapping is used by the police to convey information about crime to the public. According to Ratcliffe (2010) the police operates websites which they use to post maps of areas that have high rates of crime. Tilley (2011) supports this as she states that crime related websites are intended to provide warnings to potential victims. This is helpful to travelers, foreign students and tourists since they are not familiar with most places and are at risk of being victimized. They can easily access the websites directly from their computers and know about which places to avoid.

Crime mapping helps in the allocation of patrol officers to areas that are hotspots for crime. This is in line with one of the SCP strategies of strengthening formal surveillance. Places like shopping centers and bars are in most cases targeted by offenders. Therefore, crime mapping ensures that patrol officers act as capable guardians in such areas.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the evolution of technology and emergence of the digital society has brought about both positive and negative effects. These negative effects constitute electronic crimes which are a danger to the society. Therefore, it is very crucial to deal with these negative effects as they also pose a danger to national security. Even though SCP tends to focus more on crimes committed in the physical space, it can also be used to address the opportunistic aspects of electronic crimes. Furthermore, crime mapping has also made it possible to reduce opportunities of crime.