Cybercrime deterrence: 6 important steps

Cybercrime can be defined in many ways, but however you define it, I think we can all agree on two things about cybercrime: there is too much of it, and we need to do more to deter it. With thePresident of the United States now making frequent references to “doing more about cybercrime” now is a good time to look at what steps need to be taken. You can go directly to the steps but first I think a little context would be helpful.

For the definition of cybercrime I like this one: “crimes in which computer networks are the target or a substantial tool” (Koops, 2011). That neatly covers the long and growing list of high profile incidents that have come to light over the last 18 months, including the illegal hacking into, theft of data from, and/or denial of service attacks against: Target, Home Depot, JPMorgan Chase, Sony Pictures, Microsoft Xbox Live, Sony PSN, eBay, NSA, Adobe, Apple iCloud, and Community Health Systems.

Cybercrime deterrence: 6 important steps