Revealing the Mystery of Cybercrime

Join the University of Portsmouth's Interdisciplinary Webinar Series, chaired by Leïla Choukroune, Professor of International Law and Director of the University of Portsmouth Thematic Area in Democratic Citizenship, and presented by Erjon Cibaku, PhD Researcher at the University of Portsmouth

When it comes to cybercrime it has been argued that traditional modes of policing are insufficient, and incapable to deal with crimes that are unbound from the limitation of physical proximity and scale.

However, we have witnessed some new developments towards countering this threat from the police, and trying to address some of the issues argued to be crucial in order to keep pace with the nature of cybercrime. For example, cybercrime in 2015 was classified as a tier 1 threat to the general public. That came with an increase in the budget and allocation of more resources, which consequently led to the formation of Cyber Crime Unit across all 43 forces in 2019, and purchases of new equipment and tools. Yet, when we look at some of the most recent statistics and reports, the number of convictions for cybercrime cases remains significantly low. For example, in 2019 a study found that from 103 cases investigated only three had resulted in a charge or caution. Another study shows that, after the crime has been reported and recorded and initiated an investigation the response is significantly low, with only 2% of cases being taken to the next stage (Scholes, 2018).

So what happens to the other 98% of cases and why are they being dropped during the investigation process and failing to reach court? This research tries to explore this phenomena and understand the reasons behind case losses during the investigation process. The purpose/intention is to expose the obstacles to a more effective criminal justice response in terms of enhancing investigation, informing policy makers, and reflecting on future improvements. To answer this, we approached and interviewed Detectives from Cyber Crime Units on local forces and regional units. 12 local forces and 2 regional units agreed to join the research with a representative rate of 30% of total population. In this talk, Erjon Cibaku will discuss some of the main findings from his research so far along with the factors that contribute to the dropping of cases along the process of investigation.

Speaker’s Bio
 

Erjon Cibaku is a PhD researcher at the University of Portsmouth. His research focuses on cybercrime investigation, understanding the challenges and the barriers that investigators come across in the course of an investigation. He has a degree in MA Transnational Crime and Policing, which goes beyond cyber-related offences, venturing into traditional crimes but with cross-jurisdictional element such as organised crime, and drug/human trafficking, developing a critical appreciation of the dynamics between criminological theory and criminal justice policy making. Also, part of his current research involves working with private sector, being the ‘data custodian’ and the first point of contact for any investigation to pursue. He has a special interest on the emergence of the ‘pluralised policing’ and to what role they play and how they are involved in internet policing.

Due the quality of the recording we are unable to upload this webinar to the website. If you would like to view this webinar please email ris@port.ac.uk