The Future of Digital Crimes and Digital Terrorism

Criminal Justice
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Institution
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We are gradually evolving to virtual worlds where almost everything and all sectors of the economy are operated through the use of technology. Since most Americans are reliant on modern technology, they are susceptible to cyber-crimes. As a result of this criminals and terrorists have changed their ways of committing crimes so as to take advantage of the use of technology. Cyber criminals have the ability to use cyber-attacks to carry out illegal activities such as drug trafficking, money laundering, stalking, black market commerce and even terrorism. This has made it necessary for the United States law enforcement agencies such as the Department of Homeland, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the secret service to take up the fight against cyber-crimes (“Locating Cyberterrorism: How Terrorism Researchers Use and View the Cyber Lexicon | Jarvis | Perspectives on Terrorism,” n.d.). Cyber-crimes are evolving with technology where criminals are using technical and social vulnerabilities in computer systems to develop methods to infect computer systems. Such infections can take over computer systems business, personal and even the government level.
Information Technologies is the main tool that can be used to combat digital crime and terrorism by the law enforcement agencies. This means that law enforcement has to invest in information technology so that they can fight cyber-crime. For the law enforcement agencies to be able to investigate cyber-crimes their investigators should have the necessary skills to do so.

Hence to be able to fight digital crime and terrorism law enforcement agencies should recruit and train their agents. The cyber-crime investigators need to acquire cyber skills. At the same time, the law enforcement agencies should continuously offer advanced training to their agents because information technology is always evolving and the cybercrime is evolving with the technology. Acquiring the necessary information technology infrastructure and training of agencies means that all levels of government have to set aside substantial amounts of finances so as to fight cyber-crimes.
Using information technology to combat digital crime and terrorism has several impacts. The first is the social impact. So as to combat digital crimes law enforcement agencies have to use some methods that some members of the society may feel to be wrong. An example is when undercover agents have to use children photos while trying to catch children’s potential sexual predators. Such methods may at times pose more danger to the society since if such predators are not found; they pose a danger to the society. Using information technology can also have an economic impact on the country. Occasionally perpetrators of cyber-crimes especially those involving money they are not caught. This means that by the time law enforcement agencies are investigating such crimes the criminals will have disappeared, and any possibility of tracing them will not bear any fruits. Hence lots of resources will be wasted investigating such cases. Using information technology to investigate digital crimes also means the law enforcement agencies will breach the privacy of the citizens (Johnson, 2013). Hence it is necessary for the law enforcement agencies to ensure that they do not violate Americans’ rights. At the same time, they need to ensure that they do not cause any harm to the society by threatening free commerce through the Internet.
So as to effectively fight digital crimes and terrorism, it is important for the United States federal agencies to align their efforts. The federal agencies should work together while carrying out criminal investigations. They should prioritize the recruitment and training of experts in cyber-crimes. The agencies should develop standardized methods and share their different best cyber response practices and tools. Through collaboration and information sharing among various federal agencies fighting against digital crime and terrorism will be easier. The federal agencies should consistently share necessary cyber information such as cyber intelligence reports and cyber analytical products hence helping each other fight cyber-crime. The agencies can also form a joint task force which specializes in fighting cyber-crime.
In future, more criminals will be using the global network to commit crimes. Criminal activities such as selling of drugs will mostly be carried out through the global network since criminals will find it safer. Attacks on computer systems through malicious malware by computer hackers will also be on the rise. Terrorist groups will also be using the global networks to promote their agendas. The terrorists will be using the Internet for activities such as recruitment, coordination of attacks or even for communicating the attacks they have carried out. They will also be carrying attacks by accessing network to critical infrastructure and disrupting.
Future information technology is bound to be highly developed; it has a promising future with extensive possibilities such as artificial intelligence. Development in technology will contribute significantly to the transformation of the world. Such opportunities also mean that criminals will take advantage of the new technology to commit more crimes. Currently, Digital crimes and terrorism have become harder to deal with since the cybercriminals are continuously evolving with technology. At the same time, the criminals specializing in different methods of carrying attacks are cooperating and coordinating. It becomes difficult to detect and prevent new attacks. Hence to deal with the new age cyber criminals, and future digital crimes and terrorism countermeasures created have to be better. So as to be able to defend ourselves against cyber-crimes, it is important that we begin to predict future trends in digital crime and terrorism. It is also important to note that cyber criminals will always find ways to attack the future technology. At the same time while developing the future technology more security measures should be put in place so that attacks will become more difficulty in orchestrating.
Dealing with future digital crimes and terrorism will require the development of defensive strategies. Such strategies include continuously analyzing the current systems and identifying weak points that can be targeted by criminals. People, businesses and the government institutions should protect their internal control systems so as to make it difficult for them to be accessed by criminals. Federal agencies should also ensure that they come up with new ways of identifying and arresting cyber criminals (“Dealing with Cyber crime – Challenges and Solutions — Global Economic Symposium,” n.d.). When the agencies work together, they will increase their chances of carrying out successful investigations, and they will even be able to stop future digital crimes and digital terrorism. At the same since it is important to protect consumers from breach of privacy of information, it is important for legislation to be created to protect them. Further, crucial information that might contribute in combating future digital attacks should be availed to the law enforcers to make sure that they are for such attacks. While dealing with future digital crimes and digital terrorism it is necessary to make it harder for criminals to carry out such attacks in the United States.

References
Dealing with Cyber crime – Challenges and Solutions — Global Economic Symposium. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.global-economic-symposium.org/knowledgebase/the-global-polity/cybercrime-cybersecurity-and-the-future-of-the-internet/proposals/dealing-with-cyber-crime-2013-challenges-and-solutions
Johnson, M. (2013). Cyber crime, security and digital intelligence. Farnham, Surrey: Gower Pub. Ltd.
Locating Cyberterrorism: How Terrorism Researchers Use and View the Cyber Lexicon | Jarvis | Perspectives on Terrorism. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/337/html