There are various approaches aimed at providing detailed explanations on why a specific group of individuals becomes victims of crime while criminal activities do not face others. These theories are known as the victimology theories as they focus on identifying and explaining all the involved concepts and hypotheses that revolve around the scientific sphere of crime. Notably, victimology is the study of the existing relationship between a perpetrator of a crime and the victim. The theories are routine activities, victim precipitation, deviant place, and the lifestyle theories. In this context, the paper focuses on the routine activities theory as it applies to the case of the three alleged international cyber criminals who are charged for using the Gozi virus to access bank accounts login information and deprive of people's money from banks.
The Routine Activity Theory
This theory of victimology develops the hypothesis that crimes are committed in the presence of two elements; a suitable target and a motivated offender. The approach also depicts that there must be one missing element which is the capable guardian as applicable to the context of the crime (Reyns, 2013). In this hypothesis, it is accepted that individuals must take part in a procedure called target solidifying to ensure against exploitation like instruction about how guilty parties work or take defensive measures against exploitation. The desire to target solidifying and the victim's perception and the wrongdoer are considered as being dynamic and balanced members in the criminal occasion. This can put the onus for the exploitation on the two gatherings and centers that the casualty can reduce the guilty parties' inspiration by being to a lesser extent an appropriate target. Nonetheless, the theory is subjected to significant criticism as it only focuses on the contribution of the victim towards their victimization hence most criminologist term the approach as being destructive.
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The Three International Cybercriminals
The routine activity theory can be used in the development of cybercrime prevention approaches. On this note, for cybercrime to occur, there has to be a motivated offender who creates the virus or malware aimed at destroying or tampering with the standard or legal operation of the suitable target. In most cases, cybercriminals target the medical and finance sectors. According to the video on the three alleged international cybercriminals, Preet Bharara, a US attorney, depicts the criminal activities conducted by Kuzmin, Paunscu, and Calovskis of defrauding people by illegally acquiring their bank information thus withdrawing their money for self-benefit (USAOSD, 2013). In this case, the motivated offenders are the three international cybercriminals while the suitable target is the American citizens and the world as a whole. Moreover, the law enforcement agencies are the capable guardians who are absent following the anonymity measures were taken by the offenders to hide their identities and locations of operations by masking their IP addresses.
Application of the Theory to the Context of the Alleged International Cybercriminals
The same approach used by cybercriminals in determining their suitable target can be used by law enforcement officers to inform the most competent measures taken to prevent or else mitigate the instances of cybercrime. In this case, the law enforcement officers (capable guardians) could educate the members of the public (suitable target) on the ways of enhancing cybersecurity for their digital services and computers as well as navigating the internet safely. Following the capture of the three international cybercriminals, George Venizelos, the assistant FBI director in New York, and Preet both emphasize on the importance of looking out for malicious emails before opening them which could lead into falling victim of cybercrime for the members of the public. This is after it was realized that the Gozi virus which would be sent as a spam message in the form of a PDF was responsible for the theft of tens of millions of dollars perpetrated by the three alleged individuals. As such, the theory is applied by evaluating the situational contingencies and dynamics that existed across the interactions between the motivated offenders and the suitable targets.
By using the routine activity theory, the law enforcement officers are in a position to make cybercrime less attractive to the perpetrators. This is through the creation of awareness across the members of the public regarding the adoption of safety measures while using the internet and especially when it comes to providing crucial details such as bank account information and logins. As a result, the cybercriminals are unable to acquire their expected result, which is defrauding others of their money, thereby decreasing the benefits associated with the crime and increasing its risks at the same time. Overall, the use of this theory in preventing cybercrime is based on the withdrawal of one essential element which is the suitable target hence changing all the elements in the long-run.
Conclusion
Therefore, the routine activity theory of victimology applies to the context of the three alleged international cybercriminals through educating the suitable target on cybersecurity to mitigate or prevent its occurrence. To avert cybercrime, at least one of the significant elements has to be changed.
References
Reyns, B. W. (2013). Online routines and identity theft victimization: Further expanding routine activity theory beyond direct-contact offenses. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency , 50 (2), 216-238.
USAOSD. (2013). Three alleged international cyber criminals charged for creating & distributing the Gozi virus. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk32_8UFL8w
