ABSTRACT
To successfully combat the cyber-crime threat, a global solution must be addressed. To date, the only far-reaching and coordinated global response to the cyber-crime problem has been the Convention on Cyber-crime developed by the Council of Europe. Cyber-crime is an extension of traditional crime, but it takes place in cyberspace — the nonphysical environment created by computer systems. In this setting, cyber-crime adopts the nonphysical aspects of cyber-space and becomes borderless, timeless, and relatively anonymous. By utilizing globally connected phone systems and the world’s largest computer network, the Internet, cyber-criminals are able to reach out from nearly anywhere in the world to nearly any computer system, as long as they have access to a communications link. Cyber-crime, therefore, has an international aspect that creates many difficulties for nations that may wish to halt it or simply mitigate its effects.
