Cybercrime: Criminal Threats from Cyberspace (Crime, Media, and Popular Culture) [Hardcover]

Susan W. Brenner (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0313365466 | ISBN-13: 978-0313365461 | Publication Date: February 26, 2010

Cybercrime: Criminal Threats from Cyberspace is intended to explain two things: what cybercrime is and why the average citizen should care about it. To accomplish that task, the book offers an overview of cybercrime and an in-depth discussion of the legal and policy issues surrounding it.

Enhancing her narrative with real-life stories, author Susan W. Brenner traces the rise of cybercrime from mainframe computer hacking in the 1950s to the organized, professional, and often transnational cybercrime that has become the norm in the 21st century. She explains the many different types of computer-facilitated crime, including identity theft, stalking, extortion, and the use of viruses and worms to damage computers, and outlines and analyzes the challenges cybercrime poses for law enforcement officers at the national and international levels. Finally, she considers the inherent tension between improving law enforcement's ability to pursue cybercriminals and protecting the privacy of U.S. citizens.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Brenner (law and technology, Univ. of Dayton School of Law) has written an exceptionally clear, well-organized

account of the expansion of cybercrime from the playful hackers and 'phone phreaks' of the mainframe era to today's

sophisticated cross-national criminal operations. . . . Recommended. All readers."

-

Choice

Book Description

In Russia, there are people who earn their living trading in personal information belonging to American citizens. They maintain websites where one can buy names, addresses, and Social Security and credit card numbers. Cybercrime flourishes—both transnationally and within our own borders. It is time to arm ourselves with the information we need to remain safe.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 281 pages
• Publisher: Praeger (February 26, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313365466
• ISBN-13: 978-0313365461
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #737,049 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan W. Brenner is NCR Distinguished Professor of Law and Technology at the University of Dayton School of Law in Dayton, Ohio.

Professor Brenner has spoken at numerous events, including two Interpol Conferences on Cybercrimes, the Middle East IT Security Conference, the American Bar Association's National Cybercrime Conference and the Yale Law School Conference on Cybercrime She spoke on cyberthreats and the nation-state at the Department of Homeland Security's Global Cyber Security Conference and participated in a panel discussion of national security threats in cyberspace sponsored by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security. She has also spoken at a NATO Workshop on Cyberterrorism in Bulgaria and on terrorists' use of the Internet at the American Society of International Law conference. She was a member of the European Union's CTOSE project on digital evidence and served on two Department of Justice digital evidence initiatives. Professor Brenner chaired a Working Group in an American Bar Association project that developed the ITU Toolkit for Cybercrime Legislation for the United Nation's International Telecommunications Union. She is a Senior Principal for Global CyberRisk, LLC.

Professor Brenner is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. She has published a number of law review articles dealing with cybercrime, including Fantasy Crime, 11 Vanderbilt Journal of Technology and Entertainment Law 1 (2008), State-Sponsored Crime: The Futility of the Economic Espionage Act, 26 Houston Journal of International Law 1 (2006), Cybercrime Metrics, University of Virginia Journal of Law & Technology (2004) and Toward a Criminal Law for Cyberspace: Distributed Security, Boston University Journal of Science & Technology Law (2004). In 2007, Oxford University Press published her book: Law in an Era of "Smart" Technology and in 2009 Oxford published her most recent book: Cyber Threats: Emerging Fault Lines of the Nation-States.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent, June 13, 2011

By 

Eric Huber - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cybercrime: Criminal Threats from Cyberspace (Crime, Media, and Popular Culture) (Kindle Edition)

I decided to take a chance on this book. I was in the mood to learn more about cybercrime and ran across this one while looking for my next book to read. The description provided by Amazon was pretty sparse, but the price was reasonable enough so I took a chance. That gamble certainly paid off because this is a very impressive book.

What you aren't going to get is a detailed technical exploration of the various kinds of cybercrime that are prevalent in the world today. It's not that kind of book and that clearly was not the objective of the author. What you will find is a clearly written review of world of international cybercrime from a legal standpoint. While I would have preferred a more detailed exploration of some of the specific cybercrimes discussed in the book, it still does a reasonable job of providing the reader with a good understanding of the subject matter. Where this book really shines is how it introduces readers to the legal concepts and challenges associated with international cybercrime. The author isn't afraid to talk about complicated legal concepts, but she does so in such an approachable manner that the average reader will find it easy to follow along and understand.

This book is everything you would expect and hope for from a book that was written by a law professor who is passionate and knowledgeable about the world of cybercrime. The people who would benefit the most by reading it are students who want to not only understand the current state of cybercrime activity today, but also want to walk away with a solid understanding of the associated legal concepts. That's also why I also recommend this book to experienced security practitioners. Professor Brenner spends a considerable amount of time educating the reader not only about the specific legal concepts relevant to the cybercriminal world, but she also provides a fine overview of traditional aspects of criminal law and criminal procedure.

This book is ultimately a book on cybercrime from the perspective of a legal person rather than a technical person. Because of that, what we end up with is a four star book on cybercrime that easily becomes a five star book once you factor in the magnificent legal content. This is a book that I will be happily recommending to anyone who wants to better understand the legal aspects of the cybercrime world.