ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the ways in which telecommunications technology may be applied in furtherance of organised criminal activity. It demonstrates how new technology has increased the capability of criminal offenders, while at the same time posing new challenges for law enforcement. Criminals use voice or data telecommunications because they offer prompt acknowledgment and authentication of the message, and a high degree of transmission reliability. The chapter presents a small selection of incidents to illustrate the changes in applications which have occurred since the advent of telecommunications. It discusses some of the basic functions performed by telecommunications technology in furtherance of traditional criminal enterprise, and identifies some of the problems that the new developments in technology have begun to pose for law enforcement agencies. The chapter also discusses the means by which criminal communications may be controlled, or at least intercepted for the purpose of detecting impending criminal activity, or to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of an offence.
