The Changing Nature of Crime and Criminal Investigations

Sextortion 

Sextortion has been on the rise in recent years. Sextortion is an evolving form of online sexual manipulation in which offenders blackmail or coerce victims to provide sexually explicit videos or images of themselves. Usually, it begins when the computer hacker gains access to the victim's email account with nude photographs. After the access to social media platforms, including contacts, the hacker threatens more explicit videos or photos. Upon the victim failing to comply, the hacker threatens to make public the contents to the family, friends, and employers. The demands continue till the victim is forced to making more graphic materials. The crime is regarded as a remote sexual assault that causes psychological damage to the victim.

Three Ways in which Sextortion Has Changed the Face of Investigations 

Today, the craft of criminal investigation is evolving to succumb to the rise of computer-related crimes. The sextortion, for instance, has changed the face of the investigation, with the investigators using social media platforms as an essential investigative tool to solve the crime. The platform can be used to connect the offender and the victim under abuse ("Stop Sextortion," 2019). The investigators identify the user profiles and the web of friendship in the platform, making it easy to identify the potential suspect. Many people do not use the privacy control tool in social media, making the information public. In that regard, the officers do not have to acquire a warranty for investigations. Through social media, suspects of sextortion can be quickly investigated, and the offenders brought to law.

In most cases of solving sextortion, investigators have adapted the dark web investigation system to hide their identities during investigations. The dark web helps to prevent the suspects from identifying the investigators. In this way, the investigators can relate with the offenders without them being aware.

The criminal investigation also encompasses specialties intending to determine how crimes occur and create an evidence-based truth important in solving the crime. In sextortion, the investigators have adapted to rely on the victim's computerized data and mobile apps to provide clues for the investigation processes ("Stop Sextortion," 2019). The information about the time the individuals receive the threats is essential in the investigation. The investigators have found a way to map the data concerning the victim's activities at the time of threats. By mapping the data, it is possible to determine other individuals linked to the victim on social networking at the time.

Moreover, the sextortion crime has forced the investigators to create awareness campaigns in schools. In this way, it will make it possible for young people to be aware of the risks they can incur online. The predators usually target the youths who are, in most cases, never on guard ("Stop Sextortion," 2019). The campaign helps to inform the students of sextortion as a crime, the best ways to avoid and report whenever they feel victimized. The direction helps to solve the instances of these crimes before they become too much engrossed in society.

Technological Tools Used to Investigate Sextortion 

The use of the internet of things is increasingly becoming prominent in discovering and investigating criminal activities. The IoT is a network consisting of digital objects capable of transmitting data using the embedded sensors. The investigators have adopted it to solve sextortion. The investigation involves the relationship in the connected sensors, devices, and the shared across the platforms. When things are connected, the possibility of hiding things is stopped (Murali, 2019). Thus, all the shared data can be obtained by the investigator through internet connections. The tool will offer the investigators the opportunity to connect to the threats' sources as the relationship makes it possible to transmit the data across the internet. The details of the offender can thus be determined, and the case filed against offenders. The tool is an important invention that serves as nonstop ears and ears and capturing everything on the internet.

Also, social media is an essential investigative tool. Social media offers the victims' and offenders' interrelationship and friendship circle, making it easy to determine the offender. Once one posts the images and videos, they are public, and the source can be determined. Most social media platforms offer some details about the users, which can be used to identify the offender (Murali, 2019). Through social media mapping, the investigators can determine among the victim's friends in the platform who is always online whenever the threats are made. In this way, the accessed information can be used to get the offender to court. The tool is effective since it requires limited knowledge among the investigators. The only expertise the investigators must utilize is their ability to access the social media podiums and recover the publicly accessible information.

Challenges Faced in Investigating Sextortion 

Sextortion investigation is a challenging process affected by risks to officer safety and cybersecurity hazards. The officers' safety is at risk whenever they jump on the dark web without training. The investigator's networks and digital footprints can be compromised and used to benefit the offender (Wexler, 2018). Once the offenders have access to the officers' networks, they can impose their threats hindering the investigation processes. It is dangerous and risks if the identities of the officer are unprotected. The officers finally become vulnerable and sometimes heed the offenders' demand of stopping the investigation to protect their lives. Also, cybersecurity is a threat to the investigations of sextortion. Since the crime is committed on the online networks, there is a need on how to access the offender's data system for the evidence to be accessed. Cybersecurity offers protection against unauthorized entry to access the offender's data, living investigators clueless about the offender's details.

Additionally, there are cases of going dark on investigations due to user anonymity. The dark web and encryptions on smartphones help to protect the suspects. The information on the apps is protected, allowing no access by the investigators. On the other hand, social media and web investigations are associated with challenges of deconfliction (Wexler, 2018). In instances where many agencies are investigating the same case of sextortion, they quickly become intertwined. The risk of unintentional "blue-on-blue" meetings is primarily high on the dark web since the user identity is protected.

Suggestions to Minimize the Challenges Experienced in Investigating Extortion 

The solution to cybersecurity hazards, officer security risks, and deconfliction is essential for the investigations' success. The officers investigating should undergo proper training to acquire the knowledge and skills valuable to secure their networks and protect their footprints before launching their investigations (Wexler, 2018). Also, technical experts should be employed to help solve the issue of encryption on the suspect's smartphone, thus helping to solve the instances of going dark. Lastly, the division of crimes solved should be identified for every department. The division shall see onto it that only one department is involved in the investigation, thus avoiding going blue on each other.

References 

Murali, J. (2019, April 22). Internet of Things based crime investigation.  DECCAN CHRONICLE .  https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/220419/internet-of-things-based-crime-investigation.html 

Stop Sextortion . (2019, September 3). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved April 9, 2021, from  https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/stop-sextortion-youth-face-risk-online-090319 

Wexler, C. (2018).  The Changing Nature of Crime And Criminal Investigations . POLICE EXECUTIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM.  https://perf.memberclicks.net/assets/ChangingNatureofCrime.pdf