ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

PROTECTING THE NATION’S CYBER SYSTEMS 9

WHAT ARE THE METHODS THAT CAN BE EMPLOYED TO REDUCE THE THREAT TO THE NATION’S CYBER SYSTEMS

A Master Thesis

Submitted to the Faculty

Of

American Public University

By

Daniella Rowell

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the degree

Of

Master of Arts

February 2016

American Public University

Charles Town, WV

Introduction and purpose statement

Technology is an intrinsic tool of change in the world today. It has had a very huge impact on how things are done given that it seeks to enhance life in way or another. A new global threat known as cybercrime was introduced in the wake of technological advancements. Cybercrime is basically defined as any unlawful act whereby the perpetrator uses a computer or network in its perpetration or the computer or network is a target. The 21st Century has seen immense changes in how criminals are committing crime as they rely more on computers than ever (Brenner, 2010). Whereas some commit cyber-crimes due to the thrill involved, others are motivated by economic goals such as deriving profits. Consequently, cybercrime is a core issue that needs to be tackled as it has a wide array of motivations, targets and it commission is ever changing. Comment by Chris: No comma between the author and year in Turabian formatting. The comma goes between the year and page number. Comment by Chris: Is this your purpose statement? You need to clearly state your purpose statement. “The purpose of this thesis is to…….”

This study seeks to address underlying issues within our society that in one way or another contributes to cyber-crime. These factors range from government policies, societal and personal factors such as a jealous spouse hacking his or her partners account, ideological motivated cybercrime and structural cause whereby more information is stored online hence increase cyber criminals reward. The U.S government for examples lacks an official definition of cybercrime. As a result, this term is used interchangeably to refer to other internet and/or technology related malicious acts. Federal law enforcement agencies on the other hand give cybercrime a legal definition based on their jurisdiction and crimes they are charged with investigating (Kirwan, 2013). Furthermore, there is no national strategy solely focused on fighting cybercrime. Instead, it’s integrated in strategies aimed at fighting other crimes such as Transnational Organized crime among others. Consequently, there is need to communicate a vivid definition of cybercrime to persons vested with authority of carrying out prevention strategies. Cyber criminals form networks which increases difficulty of elimination.

Cyber criminals have made a lot of effort in trying to increase the profitability of their activities. Both small and large businesses are at risk of being victims of cybercrime. One estimate has placed cybercrime as a very costly affair for victims in a research done in twenty four countries whereby the total cost was $113 billion (Kirwan, 2012). Since it is relatively difficult to identify perpetrators of cyber-crimes, there is a high likelihood of repeated victimization. Victims may feel powerless and unable to defend themselves which in return makes them feel as if they are under siege. Others may feel embarrassment resulting from self-blame or the feeling that they would have done better to protect themselves.

Research Question

Cyber-security refers to the efforts which are geared towards the protection of information and computer systems from unauthorized access as well as theft. Security is a broad aspect, and it encompasses the protection of hardware from physical damage and software from being compromised. This paper proposes the following research question:What are the methods that can be employed to reduce the threat to the nation’s cyber systems? Comment by Chris: Good

Given that as technology continues to develop, cybercrime will continue to thrive because of developments in modes and methods of attack, it is important for nations and organizations to come up with a mixed system approaches. These approaches ought to be focused on addressing this issue in an effective manner. Apart from generating fear in the target, cybercrime activities are usually aimed at paralyzing essential infrastructures, causing both physical and monetary damages and stealing vital information; for instance, security codes or government secrets (Ahmad & Yunos, 2012; Taliham, 2010).

Theoretical Framework and review of pertinent Literature

Most renowned classical sociologists have made an effort to contribute towards the notion of social order and the effects of science, technology and crime in the society. Durkheim for example stressed on the scientific approach that crime is inevitable in a modern organic society. On the other hand, Marxism relates criminality to capitalism in that a capitalist society seeks to protect the haves and diminish the have-nots into further poverty. Weber, views society as a rational one. This view holds that events in the society including criminality take place based on logic and not tradition or morality. The above classical scholars voiced their views on technology, crime and effects on society with an objective focus on the changes taking place in the society as a result of technology. Moreover, they felt that new forms of crime would emerge as a result of technological advancements which is evident in the modern society. Comment by Chris: I do not see Durkheim in your bibliography. Comment by Chris: I do not see Weber in your bibliography.

Modern-day thinkers on crime and technology such as Robert Merton (1968) in his renowned Anomie theory pointed out that the society sets goals with little means of achieving them. Among the five ways of reaction to the set societal goals is innovation. This means that people accept the set goals but do not consider the set means of achieving them as effective. Consequently, they create new means of achieving the set goals with some being criminal such as cybercrime. Technology cannot be classifies as either food or bad, neither is it an impartial force. It has led to changes in the society is structured causing a shift from industrial to network structure. A network structure undoubtedly increases interaction between people around the world resulting to ‘Organized Global Crime’. Comment by Chris: I do not see Merton in your bibliography. Comment by Chris: I do not see Majid in your bibliography.

Majid (2006) opines that crimes change rapidly and what’s criminal or not varies with time and change in place. The author quotes a wide array of ways in which cybercrime has impacted negatively to the society. He discusses the various forms of cybercrime among them e-frauds, online hate speech, piracy, and pornography among others. The criminal justice still lacks the knowhow and up to date knowledge in dealing with cybercrime. Some people are victims of cyber-attacks due to online freedom made possible by technology thus increasing their vulnerability as Jainshankar (2011) rightly points out. A relatively new scope of cybercrime known as cyber terrorism is advanced by Clarke (2009), whereby perpetrators utilize computers and networks to wage war against other countries such burning of high power transmission lines, explosion of gas pipes among others. Holt (2011) put an emphasis on four main types of cybercrime namely cyber theft, cyber violence, and cyber trespass and cyber porn. In his view there exists a gap in research that need to raise public awareness who in his view search anything from the internet unaware of the risk they expose themselves to. Whereas some scholars believe that the internet has increased relationships between people, others disagree. The latter opine that the internet contributes a decline in communication in the family hence increasing depression and aggression. There is little physical interaction as family members gain hat can be referred to as ‘virtual families’ therefore loosing contact with the real life family members. This contributes to cybercrime in two ways. Firstly, people spend more time on the internet which may sometimes trigger the will to explore further thus learning ways of committing cybercrime. Secondly, loss of contact with the family among young adults and children reduces the impact it the family has in molding positive behavior. Comment by Chris: I do not see Jainshankar in your bibliography. Comment by Chris: I do not see Clarke in your bibliography. Comment by Chris: I do not see Holt in your bibliography.

Significance of the study

The research shall enlighten common internet users about cybercrime, what it is and its importance in the growing technological developments. Moreover, the study shall increase their knowledge on how they can reduce vulnerability to cyberattacks by looking to already known predisposing factors to cyber-attacks (Clough, 2010). This paper shall discuss various aspects of cyber-crimes amongst them: defining the term, laws governing them, methods of perpetration, scope of victims, its prevention and reasons why it occurs. Cybercrime is on an upward trend given that technology is and shall not expected to stagnate.

The study also seeks to understand the scope of national and international responsibilities in fighting cybercrime. This is because as it is the case with Transnational Organized Crime (TOC), cybercrime requires international cooperation so as to overcome limitations emanating from the question of jurisdiction (Goodman, 2015). The study shall also point out when the federal government can infringe on a suspect’s rights such as right to privacy in the name of curbing cybercrime. This is currently a burning issue in the U.S as evident in the ongoing lawsuit dubbed ‘Federal government Vs. Apple’ (Benner, 2016). The study shall further search for ways in which business entities can practice proper safety so to safeguard integrity and privacy of stored information. These practices range from staying off game sites to forwarding mails especially chain mails.

The hallmark of the study shall be to assess social impact of cybercrime as it is a rather neglected aspect. More emphasis is put in economic scope which although has detrimental effects should not supersede social implications of cybercrime (Goodman, 2015). This is because cybercrime incriminate on the very fiber of our society. Children are possible victims hence should be targeted for education on proper use of computers. Parents should endeavor to monitor their activities on the computer and internet.

Research design

A mixed research design shall be employed namely quantitive and qualitative in addressing the problem statement. In my approach for the research I shall use correlational design to explore the relationship if any between cyber criminality and weak social ties. Most classical and modern scholars seem to agree that weak social ties causes deviance but struggle to relate cybercrime to that phenomenon. Comment by Chris: Misspelled. “Quantitative”. Comment by Chris: First-person. Rephrase: “In the researcher’s approach…” Comment by Chris: First-person. Rephrase “this researcher”. Comment by Chris: “a”

To accomplish a clear research, I shall embark on a comparative analysis between conventional and historical policies and their effectiveness in dealing with the problem statement to support the research. In addition, understanding both historical and conventional policies shall enable us identify loopholes or gaps within the law or policies that benefit cyber criminals. Cybercrime is complex and has numerous question begging for answers hence a mixed research design shall enable the research give possible answers. Comment by Chris: First person. Rephrase “this researcher”

Comment by Chris: Your bibliography needs to be on a separate page. It also looks like you center-justified your text. This is incorrect. You must left-justify your citations. Turabian formatting requires single-spacing within each citation, with a single-space in between citations. You must also tab in .5 inches on each line beneath the author’s name.

Bibliography

Ahmad, R. & Yunos, Z. (2012). A dynamic cyber terrorism framework. International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security, 10(2), 149-158

Brenner, S. W. (2010). Cybercrime: Criminal threats from cyberspace. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger.

Benner, E. (2016). Apple Fights Order to Unlock San Bernardino Gunman’s iPhone. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 24 February 2016. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/18/technology/apple-timothy-cook-fbi-san-bernardino.html

Clough, J. (2010). Principles of cybercrime. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Goodman, M. (2015). Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It. New York [New York] : Doubleday.

Kirwan, G., & Power, A. (2012). The psychology of cyber crime: Concepts and principles. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Kirwan, G., & Power, A. (2013). Cybercrime: The psychology of online offenders. Cambridge Cambridge University.

O'Brien, M., & Yar, M. (2008). Criminology: The key concepts. London: Routledge.

Ruan, K. (2013). Cybercrime and cloud forensics: Applications for investigation processes. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Daniella,

Your Week 4 Thesis Proposal is missing a couple of critical items. I did not see your Purpose Statement clearly stated anywhere. I also noted numerous authors that you cite, yet you do not have corresponding entries in your bibliography. I noted several instances of your usage of the first-person narrative, which needs to be corrected to the third-person narrative. Your bibliography was not properly formatted and was double-spaced. Your bibliography needs to be on a separate page. It also looks like you center-justified your text. This is incorrect. You must left-justify your citations. Turabian formatting requires single-spacing within each citation, with a single space in between citations. You must also tab in .5 inches on each line beneath the author’s name. Your Turnitin.com similarity rating was 5% after excluding your bibliography, which is good. Next week, you will submit your annotated bibliography, which will help from the main content for your Literature Review.

I need you to re-accomplish your Week 4 paper that addresses the items noted. Please re upload your Week 4 paper with the word “Revised” in the title.

Chris

Criteria	Exemplary 16-20	Accomplished 11-15	Developing 6-10	Beginning 0-5	Total
Synthesis of Knowledge	17
Foundation of Knowledge	17
Application of Knowledge	16
Organization of Ideas/Format		12
Writing and Research Skill			10
Total	50	12	10		72