Introduction

Cybercrime, by definition, involves computers and networks. However, as sophisticated as technology has become and as fascinating as the science of artificial intelligence (AI) might be, we are not yet at the point where computers can by themselves engage in criminal activity. The machines are wonderfully compliant (difficult as that sometimes might be to believe when we re struggling to make them work) and totally amoral. They do whatever we tell them to do, with no protests, no regrets, and no ulterior motives. A cybercrime always involves at least one human being who originates, plans, prepares, and initiates the criminal act.

The cybercriminal is usually not the only person on the scene of the cybercrime, however. Some cybercrimes appear to be victimless, such as a network intrusion that occurs without anyone knowing about it, in which no files are harmed and no information is stolen or misused. In most cases, though, some person(s) are ultimately harmed by the cybercriminal s actions. These victims might be workers who lose productive time due to a DoS attack or have to redo their work because of cybervandalism. They might be company shareholders who lose money due to extra charges for the bandwidth that a hacker uses. They might be managers who lose brownie points in their bosses eyes because of the impact on their budgets. They might be IT administrators who lose their jobs for allowing the attack to happen. In most cases of cybercrime, if you look hard enough, you ll find a victim.

When cybercrimes...