ABSTRACT
Although a topical and newsworthy subject, little is known about “cybercrime” other than that drawn from press and television reporting. Upon reœection, the term cyberspace crime would have been more meaningful because it more clearly signi‹es the space in which the harmful behavior takes place. However, because the term is principally a media construct, it has subsequently obtained its own linguistic agency and it has entered the public parlance and we are stuck with it (Wall, 2005a, p. 79). Cyberterrorism, information warfare, phishing (an email purporting to be from a legitimate bank requesting con‹rmation of personal details (Toyne, 2003)), spams, denial of service attacks, hacktivism, hate crime, identity the¤s, online gambling, plus the criminal exploitation of a new generation of pornographic peccadilloes, conspire, it is alleged, to threaten public safety and temper governmental and commercial ambitions for the growth of an information society. Although there is fairly widespread consensus that cybercrimes exist, there is much confusion as to what they actually are and what risks they pose (Wall, 2005a, p. 77; see Brenner, 2001; Walden, 2003).
