ABSTRACT
Digital technologies provide people with ways to connect and communicate that are unprecedented in human history. This provides many benefits, but also allows for new ways to commit extant crimes and for new and novel crimes to be committed. Cybersecurity attacks have been identified as one of the biggest threats to national and organisational security in several countries. This chapter sets the context for this book by discussing high-profile cybersecurity incidents and how these were shaped by the people who were both the perpetrators and targets of these attacks. It outlines the research literature on the different types of cybercrime and the differing motivations and identities of cybercriminals. The chapter ends by discussing the theories of crime that have been applied to cybercrime, as well as other theories which could potentially be used to understand cybercriminal actions.
