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Handbook of Research on
Digital Crime, Cyberspace
Security, and Information
Assurance
Maria Manuela Cruz-Cunha
Polytechnic Institute of Cvado and Ave, Portugal
Irene Maria Portela
Polytechnic Institute of Cvado and Ave, Portugal
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211
Chapter 14
Cyber-Crimes against
Adolescents:
ABSTRACT
At young ages there is an increase in reports of intimidation, harassment, intrusion, fear, and violence
experienced through Information Technologies (IT). Hacking, spamming, identity theft, child pornography, cyber bullying, and cyber stalking are just few examples of cyber-crimes. This chapter aims to
contribute, from a psychological and design perspective, to an integrative viewpoint about this complex
field of cyber-crime. In this chapter, the most common types of cyber-crimes, epidemiological data,
and the profiles of cyber victims and aggressors are approached. The studies that identify the factors
contributing to IT misuse and to growing online vulnerability, principally in adolescents, are also discussed. Likewise, the central explanatory theories for the online victimization and the risk factors for
victimization and perpetration online are addressed. Finally, some cyber-crime prevention strategies are
anticipated, in particular among young people, seeking to provide clues to the consolidation of recent
policies, namely at the digital design level.
INTRODUCTION
During the last 15th years, the Internet and the other
ITs have radically transformed the world, mainly
in terms of communication and social interaction.
In areas such as science, education, health, public
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-6324-4.ch014
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Cyber-Crimes against Adolescents
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Cyber-Crimes against Adolescents
BACKGROUND
The Norton cyber-crime report (2011), carried out
by Symantec-Norton, concludes that more than 2/3
of online adults (69%) were victims of cyber-crime
throughout their lives, which is equivalent to more
than a million victims per day and 14 victims per
second. In 2012 the Norton Cyber-crime Report
documented a worsening incyber victimization to
18 victims per second. At the same time, during the
year of 2010, cyber-crime grew 337% in Portugal
and in Spain, which corresponds to nine million
cyber-attacks (Kasperksy Lab, 2010). The most
common targets are, according to the aforementioned study, men between 18 and 31 years, who
access the Internet often via cell phone.
According to Bossler and Holt (2010), sending
malicious software (e.g., spam, malware) is the
most common type of cyber-crime. Their study
shows that 37% of American college students
(N=573) have experienced this type of victimization during the year of 2009. More specifically,
16.8% was a target of password theft; 9.8% experienced the improper access to their computer data
and 4.4% was victim of credit card theft through
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214
in the virtual environment, guided by anonymity, innovation and versatility of the strategies
of intrusion used, makes the understanding of
online harassment and the study of the profiles of
cyber victims more complex (Wolak, Mitchell &
Finkelhor, 2007; Pratt, Holtfreter & Reisig, 2010).
After the explanation of the two bigger forms
of cyber-crime and respective targets this chapter
presents some contributions, which are focused
on cyber-crime against people as an emerging
topic of concern, especially among adolescents.
The type of crime (against the person and their
dignity), the population, the psychological and
emotional damage, as well as the invisibility of
this cyber-crime typology in the Portuguese penal
code, justify the relevance of this approach focus.
We also expect to contribute to the acknowledgement of the necessity to develop effective strategies
at the preventive level.
CYBER-CRIME AGAINST
ADOLESCENTS
Adolescence is a phase that is characterized by the
need for sexual and moral maturity as well as the
construction of identity (Subrahmanyam, Greenfield & Tynes, 2004). The complexity involved in
understanding oneself leads to an increased curiosity on specific topics (e.g., sexuality) and to the
need of adolescents to extend their interpersonal
relationships (e.g., make new friendships with
peers or adults) and to explore multiple social
and relational contexts. As a result, their social
activity and exposure to different interpersonal
relationships is greater (Subrahmanyam et al.,
2004). In order to broaden these opportunities for
socialization and development, adolescents have
joined cyberspace (as a complement to the real
world), specifically social networks.
Concerning the American reality, the study
of Pew Internet & American Life (Madden et al.,
2013) concludes that one in four adolescents, between the ages of 12-17 (N=802) are cell-mostly
Cyber-Crimes against Adolescents
Common Cyber-Crimes
Typology and Targets
About 5722 (N=25000) European adolescents
(9-16 years) already experienced one or more
online risks, being Portugal one of the European
countries associated with a moderate use and an
incidence rate of low-risk online (Helsper et al.,
2013). According to the EU Kids Online project,
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Cyber-Crimes against Adolescents
Cyber Lifestyles-Routines
Marcum (2008) examined how the online routine
activities affect the probability of adolescents
becoming online victims. According to this study,
the sharing of personal information (e.g., name,
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Cyber-Crimes against Adolescents
218
Socio-Psychological Characteristics
Livingstone et al. (2011) and Wolak et al. (2004)
concluded that adolescents with psychological
problems (e.g., depression, isolation), with relationship problems with parents and/or friends and
belonging to minority groups (e.g., gay groups),
are more likely to face the risk of contacts and
grooming.
The personality traits, still incipient, and the
socio-psychological characteristics also seem to
influence the way adolescents interact with the
online world (Olson, Daggs, Ellevold & Rogers,
2007). In particular, low self-confidence and selfesteem and poor social competence and problem
solving, present a greater vulnerability for adolescents to be manipulated and to respond in ac-
Cyber-Crimes against Adolescents
Another individual characteristic of adolescents is the zeal for privacy. When they use IT
and interact with content and virtual contacts,
one of the normal procedures of adolescence is
therefore to avoid any controls or parental supervision. However, the absence of monitoring and
parental mediation is a risk factor that adds to the
previously stated (Livingstone & Haddon, 2009;
Marcum, 2008; Wolak et al., 2004).
As above mentioned, the type of online activities, the type of peers and the personal characteristics of adolescents vulnerability are important
components in order to understand the cyber
victimization. Additionally, cyber-crime can be
a normal and common experience in the daily
life of adolescents, due to the growing need for
adherence to new activities and exploration of
new experiences of freedom, allowed by the virtual environment (Haddon, Livingstone, & EU
Kids Online network, 2012). The investigation of
risk factors based on lifestyles, peers, individual
characteristics and routine activities of individuals is therefore crucial, and can provide important
insights for designing situational prevention initiatives for the different types of cyber-crime against
adolescents (Reyns, Henson & Fisher, 2011).
ISSUES, CONTROVERSIES,
PROBLEMS
According to the presented information, the online victimization seems to be due not only with
psychological and developmental characteristics
but also with to the preferences and choices of the
activities that adolescents do while they are online.
However, this assumption should not be reflected as a problem of the victims (i.e., was the
victim that exposed herself too much) (Clarke,
2004). In fact, some forms of cyber-crime can
effectively take place even if the victim is provided with digital protection systems (e.g., anti-
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220
Cyber-Crimes against Adolescents
last idea focused on perpetration behaviors. Certain types of cyber-crime perpetration result of
learning procedures, pursuit techniques, specific
and advanced computational programming and
monitoring, being the adolescents also taught
motive, means and specific rationalizations that
legitimize the practice of cyber-crime (Fox, Nobles
& Akers, 2011; Skinner & Fream, 1997). In some
cases, adolescents are extremely capable of assessing the risks and the potential consequences
of their actions in the online environment, acting
informed, conscious and controlled.
Another perspective that should be abandoned
is the idea that all cyber aggressors (adolescents or
adults) begin their online browsing with the goal
of finding criminal opportunities (Clarke, 2004).
In fact, the existence of many available criminal
opportunities can easily attract people in general
to commit situational crimes, whether they had the
motivation or not. Take as an example the number
of available literature through books, journals,
and websites which enables, either children
or adolescents or adults, to have a fast learning
about new forms of cyber-crime to those who occasionally had access to this type of information.
In this field, we must also point out that some
risks and criminal opportunities that adolescents
are daily exposed do not result necessarily from
the characteristics of the context, the peers or the
individual. Sometimes these results are caused by
the way the digital design itself is built and how
the designers design the use of virtual resources.
The design of social networks (which contains
thousands of adolescent users), for example,
contains specific fields that encourage the sharing of a large amount of personal information.
However, these pages can hardly guarantee the
total privacy of user identity, or even the stability
of the information disclosed. Although sometimes
adolescents create their virtual identities thinking
in a private and secure environment, the truth is
that, due to the need for conservation and users
attraction, the digital design allows the contact
with unknown users, as well as the location (fast
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Cyber-Crimes against Adolescents
SOLUTIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Cyber-crime is common in modern society and
in most cases committed by individuals who are
socially integrated.
Towards digital protection of adolescents, we
ought to invest more in the awareness of digital
protection measures, complemented by a parental balanced mediation. Contrary to the notion
of restriction, there is a need for a creative use,
proactivity, consciousness and informed criticism
of IT by the adolescents. In this way, the importance of initiatives of the academic community
is reinforced (e.g., Social Adventure Project),
such as telecommunications initiatives (e.g., New
Project Genesis, index analysis of cyber-crimeNorton Cyber-crime Index), organizational (e.g.,
DADUS project, safer Internet Centre, SeguraNet
project, MiudosSegurosNa.Net project) and the
media, all of whom have developed important
advances in online security and promotion of
good practices of adolescents, without limiting
their activities online.
Since the lower educational level and the lower
socio-economic status are associated with higher
levels of risk, it is recommended to investment in
awareness and education to families, schools and
less privileged neighborhoods, in order to increase
competence in the use of the Internet and in the
understanding of its risks. Schools present a leading role in digital education, as they may present
resources greater than those of their parents, being therefore in a privileged position to educate
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223
Cyber-Crimes against Adolescents
224
do utilizador and the self-assessment questionnaire of identity theft), the APAV (e.g., through its
online page aimed at the safety of young people)
and of the SeguraNet (e.g., through their activities, awareness-raising, promotion of videos and
games), for example, must be valued and expanded.
It becomes therefore important to continue to invest
in the construction and dissemination of electronic
platforms to support the population, as well as
in the construction of specific guidelines for the
self-assessment of risk. These are the current best
practices which allow testing the knowledge of the
general population and the level of awareness on
how to use the computer and Internet services.
CONCLUSION
In recent decades society has seen profound
changes in how to deal and conceptualize crime.
Similarly to traditional crime, cyber-crime has
brought with it a series of risks, insecurities and
problems of social control, becoming a true test
of social order and government policies, as well
as a challenge for civil society, democracy and
human rights (Garland, 2001). In this sense, this
chapter is helpful to understand the social and
psychological elements relevant to the domain
of cyber-crime.
Empirical data indicates that cyber-crime can
be a common experience in online adolescents
routine, due to the growing need to engage in new
activities and explore new freedom experiences,
allowed by the virtual environment (Haddon et al.,
2012). Also, the economic and individual impact of
this emerging phenomenon is being documented.
The type of online activities, the type of peers,
and the personal characteristics of adolescents
vulnerability are components that can help understanding cyber victimization. However, it is
important to remember that, despite some risk
factors (e.g., online exposure, criminal association) and recommendations (e.g., information and
awareness-raising) that were presented in this
Cyber-Crimes against Adolescents
chapter are transversal to all age groups, sociopsychological characteristics that adolescents
present make them a peculiar group. Adolescents
are a risk group with needs (e.g., information,
guidance) and specificities (e.g., developmental
level) that are a priority at the intervention level.
In this sense, further investigation of risk factors
based on lifestyles, peer network, individual characteristics and an individuals routine activities
is crucial, as it can provide important insights
for designing situational prevention initiatives
for the various types of cyber-crime against this
specific and priority group: adolescents (Reyns,
at al., 2011).
Nevertheless, the addressed controversies
highlight that there is no single understanding
for cyber-crime against adolescents. There is the
increasingly need to conceptualize cyber-crime
against adolescents as a product of interaction
of the existing theoretical perspectives and of a
multitude of intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors.
This chapter advocates the necessity of field agents
(e.g., psychologists, criminologists, digital designers) to conceptualize cyber-crime as a complex
phenomenon that requires an integrative approach
of different areas of knowledge.
As cyber-crime is transcultural, it also requires
the effort of establishing more cyber-crime research partnerships between different countries,
as well as a judicial and criminal recognition, in
order to increase the success of the investigation
and discourage the practice of this type of crime
by its criminalization.
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