The Expanding Online Population and Cybercrime; The Fallout of COVID-19

23 February 2024.

The World Wide Web, released to the public in 1993, offers the extension of endless knowledge and instantaneous reach to a global audience. The internet enabled rapid advancements in the exchange of information, which revolutionized global communication. Thirty years after the internet's public debut, the online world has fully integrated into the daily lives of Americans. According to a compilation of recent polls by DataReportal in January of 2024, over 66% of the world's population uses the internet daily, totaling 5.35 billion users worldwide (Kemp par. 1). The online world's monumental uptake depicts its immense value in modern-day society as the population continues to build their interdependency with online platforms, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, where citizens were forced online to secure vital aspects of their lives, such as careers, education, and social connection. However, the expanding online population has adversely contributed to the massive growth of the cybercrime market.

The swift expansion of the online population is a double-edged sword, as cybercrime has soared in correspondence with the increasing ubiquity of the internet. A prevalent category of cybercrime is online social deception (ODS) attacks. In the journal article "Online Social Deception and its Countermeasures: A Survey," Zhen Guo et al. express that over 25% of people have experienced ODS attacks such as fraud, identity theft, online civil harassment, and phishing. The article also states that the unlimited nature of the online environment "… [has] facilitated the significant increase of serious, sophisticated cybercrimes… such as human trafficking, online consumer fraud, identity cloning, hacking, child pornography, or online stalking" (Guo, Zhen, et al. par. 2). The online world facilitates the rise of ODS attacks as cybercriminals devise new strategies and technology to commit offenses and grow the online crime market. Cybercrime is now the largest criminal market and has surpassed the trade profits of cocaine, marijuana, and heroin combined. (Drew 2020). It is imperative to decrease the statistics of user victimization online, especially as the high numbers do not fully represent the true scale of cybercrime. The actual statistics of cybercrime are estimated to be much higher than available data suggests, as victims, unfortunately, do not often report the online crimes they endure, understanding the difficulty in prosecuting and policing online crimes. The lack of security measures in the online environment allows cybercrime to remain undeterred and increase user victimization. 

The COVID-19 pandemic skyrocketed cybercrime offenses due to the lockdown, which caused a rise in online activity. The public was required to stay home to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus, requiring the population to increase their virtual presence.The rise of online activity worldwide correlated to a significant increase in cybercrime. In the journal article "Re-Territorializing the Policing of Cybercrime in the Post-Covid-19 Era: Towards a New Vision of Local Democratic Cyber Policing.", the authors Horgan, Shane, et al. refer to an empirical analysis by Cambridge Cybercrime Centre (CCC) that displays data suggesting the changes in legislation and policy during COVID-19 have adversely benefited growth of the cybercrime market, as cybercriminals have taken advantage of the opportunity. From 2019-2020, the CCC found that online fraud increased by 72% in Scotland. In the same year, online hacking increased by 55%, and computer viruses and malware increased by 61% in England (Horgan et al. par. 20). The cybercrime market was stimulated and profited significantly due to changes in the general population's everyday life during COVID-19. The prevalence of cybercrime continues to rise even after the COVID lockdowns have lifted, depicting the urgent need for advances in online policing and security measures. The market for cybercriminals continues to build, while victims lack the resources to seek reparations and justice for online crime.

Citations

Drew, Jacqueline M. "A Study of Cybercrime Victimization and Prevention: Exploring the Use of Online Crime Prevention Behaviors and Strategies." Journal of Criminological Research, vol. 6, no. 1, 2020, pp. 17–33, Policy and Practice, doi.org/10.1108/JCRPP-12-2019-0070.

Guo, Zhen, et al. "Online Social Deception and Its Countermeasures: A Survey." Ieee Access, vol. 9, 2021, Worldcat, doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3047337.

Horgan, Shane, et al. “Re-Territorialising the Policing of Cybercrime in the Post-Covid-19 Era: Towards a New Vision of Local Democratic Cyber Policing.” Journal of Criminal Psychology, vol. 11, no. 3, 2021, pp. 222–239, doi.org/10.1108/JCP-08-2020-0034.

Kemp, Simon. "Internet Use in 2024 - DataReportal – Global Digital Insights." DataReportal, DataReportal – Global Digital Insights, 31 Jan. 2024, datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-deep-dive-the-state-of-internet-adoption.a