Preface

It is with great privilege that we welcome you to the volume Combatting Cybercrime and Cyberterrorism: Challenges, Trends and Priorities. In this collection we provide an authoritative and accessible guide highlighting a broad range of challenges and complexities faced by modern society in relation to cybercrime and cyberterrorism. At this point, we would like to take the opportunity to recognize the work of the contributors for allowing us to draw upon their expertise in order to shape the content of this book, a process that has enabled us to highlight many of the pressing cyber-related needs and requirements of society within its chapters. This interdisciplinary approach has helped us to bring together a wide range of organizations from large and small-to-medium enterprise, law enforcement and academia to present the reader with an analysis of current and relevant issues pertinent to cybercrime and cyberterrorism. The growth in significance of cyberspace across society has opened up vectors for, and extended the scope of, many existing forms of criminality. As well as acting as an enabler for the globalization of business, cyberspace has created a truly global landscape for crime as individuals from across the globe are now able to utilize this environment to attack critical national infrastructure, governments and private business by stealing, compromising the integrity of, and destroying data. It has created new market places for the sale and exchange of illegal weapons and drugs, other illicit materials and even the trafficking and exploitation of human beings and provides a platform for the creation and exchange of materials associated with the solicitation and sexual exploitation of children. However, cyberspace is not only a tool for business and criminal enterprise; citizens increasingly depend on it as a social mechanism, publicly exposing large amounts of information about themselves and those they interact with. For these reasons, it has become vitally important that we address and overcome these new challenges as a society, restoring the confidence we have in the networks and infrastructure that form the backbone of not just European, but global society. Ensuring the future of our economic welfare, privacy and collective security is a v primary concern not limited to the idea of cybercrime. These threats extend beyond extending the reach and scope of traditional criminal motivations through to the emerging threats of cyberterrorism and cyberwarfare. In this context, the very nature of terrorism is evolving because of cyberspace, providing a mechanism for the propagation of ideology and extremist rhetoric, the recruitment, coercion and training of individuals, and a platform to plan and execute attacks against governments, business and critical infrastructure. It is particularly attractive to criminals and terrorists alike due to the potential for anonymity, making the job of investigators and prosecutors to prevent and respond to these activities increasingly difficult. In response to the growing role cyberspace has across society, both in its ability facilitate new opportunities as well as opening up new threats, this volume covers a wide spectrum of challenges, from analyzing the legal and ethical issues associated with conducting research, to details regarding specific challenge areas such as public/private cooperation, attack attribution and standardization. These subject areas are enriched with contextual information and findings from the research projects contributing to it, providing the theoretical and practical frame for future research, practice and policy aimed at enhancing societal resilience to cyber-threats and contributing towards the overriding objective of supporting initiatives at both national and EU levels. Authored and edited by a multi-disciplinary team of practitioners, researchers and experts from academia, law enforcement and private industry, this new volume provides a welcome introduction to contemporary challenges we face in respect of cybercrime and cyberterrorism, providing a welcome point of reference to aid researchers, practitioners and policy makers in the development of their respective cyber security strategies. Babak Akhgar Ben Brewster