Cybercrime Through an Interdisciplinary Lens

by Thomas J. Holt (Editor)

Research on cybercrime has been largely bifurcated, with social science and computer science researchers working with different research agendas. These fields have produced parallel scholarship to understand cybercrime offending and victimization, as well as techniques to harden systems from compromise and understand the tools used by cybercriminals. The literature developed from these two fields is diverse and informative, but until now there has been minimal interdisciplinary scholarship combining their insights in order to create a more informed and robust body of knowledge. This book offers an interdisciplinary approach to research on cybercrime and lays out frameworks for collaboration between the fields. Bringing together international experts, this book explores a range of issues from malicious software and hacking to victimization and fraud. This work also provides direction for policy changes to both cybersecurity and criminal justice practice based on the enhanced understanding of cybercrime that can be derived from integrated research from both the technical and social sciences. The authors demonstrate the breadth of contemporary scholarship as well as identifying key questions that could be addressed in the future or unique methods that could benefit the wider research community. This edited collection will be key reading for academics, researchers, and practitioners in both computer security and law enforcement. This book is also a comprehensive resource for postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students undertaking courses in social and technical studies.

266 pages, Hardcover

Published December 7, 2016

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Thomas J. Holt earned a Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis in 2005 and is the author, co-author and editor of numerous publications.

Reviews

[Betawolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

An academic book very much from the 'here are some chapters from different authors' mould. As such, not a lot in the way of an overall message or framework for approaching the topic. The chapters also do not appear to be particularly carefully selected -- I could imagine a possibly-better version of this book which showcased analyses from different fields, instead of several from computer scientists and criminologists.

That said, the contributions do appear to be mostly high-quality, presenting either a worthwhile, extended discussion or an analysis of real cybercriminal data. Some of them are likely more useful than others, but most of them are handy to have around for reference. Grabosky's perhaps the one with widest reach, as it communicates a history of the field, but Kilger's is also significant as explanatory material.