As the Internet develops and evolves, cyber crime is always changing. Things that were not possible 10 years ago are possible now, and that changes the landscape. However, there are still two main categories of cyber crime that law enforcement agencies recognize, which are as follows:
Advanced Cyber Crime
This is also often referred to as high-tech crime. It usually involves intentional and sophisticated electronic attacks. These can be made against networks, software programs, and even hardware.
These complicated attacks could include hacking, for instance, in which a hacker accesses servers or computers without permission, often for a malicious reason. Generally speaking, these are not crimes that are carried out by average people, but only by those with specialized knowledge and training.
Cyber-Enabled Crime
This refers to criminal events that are considered “traditional” crimes. However, they are carried out in a different way because of the Internet. Most of the time, no special knowledge or training is needed.
For example, sexual assault is a crime that happened long before the Internet and continues to happen today in a more traditional sense. However, people can now commit these assaults online when they send explicit pictures and videos, make sexual comments, or otherwise abuse people in a sexual nature over the Internet. This is a rising concern in areas like social media.
Other traditional crimes that can be carried out online include identity theft, making threats, and fraud.
As noted above, cyber crimes are always changing and evolving, so it’s important for those who have been accused of such things to know their legal options in Ohio.
Source: Interpol, “Cybercrime,” accessed March 25, 2016
