The Impact of Technology of Crime

by Francesca Ashton

Physical crime is becoming a thing of the past. As technology is advancing and  developing, the threat of crime via hacking, and incidents such as online theft is hugely increasing. However, good things can become of these advances, as is displayed below.

Firstly, as banking has developed into an online format, the risk of theft occurring from behind a computer screen is increasing. In 2012, cyber criminals stole an estimated $2 billion ((£1.4 billion) from their computers. They still haven’t been caught, as the technology they used is so advanced, and is untraceable. The possibility of more people getting their hands on this technology is ever increasing, subsequently increasing the threat of your money being stolen. It is extremely hard to protect yourself from this kind of theft, as banks have revolutionised the way they operate, by putting all data and details online. It would be extremely expensive, and most definitely useless, to go back to how banking was. This is because banking has become so much more efficient, and now, you are able to access your balance online in seconds. Feats such as this would never have even been thought of in the past, but today, it is a reality taken for granted. The only disadvantage of this system, is obviously the risk of hacking, which was always going to be inevitable. Banks are currently putting high security systems onto their websites to stop hackers, but, unfortunately, there is always going to be a way.  This would not have been a problem as little as 20 years ago, but as we as a society, and the technology itself is evolving and developing, threats such as this are becoming increasingly more prominent.

Secondly, 3D printers are becoming quite a large part of crime, and they will continue to play a part into the future. One aspect is that credit card skimmers are being printed by criminals, and are being used to take credit card information, and subsequently use it to steal money. Skimmers are devices that people put onto ATMs that take credit card data, and send it to the thieves. The problem is these skimmers are designed to look exactly like anti skimming devices, so neither banks nor customers will be able to tell the difference. As the availability of 3D printers increases, more devices such as these will be made. As well as this, people are managing to print parts of weapons, especially key parts of a semi automatic AR-15 rifle.  This is dangerous for fairly obvious reasons. It is not extremely difficult to operate a 3D printer, meaning that it is also not extremely difficult to start to print illegal items. 

The advances in handheld devices, such as mobile phones, is also allowing crime to occur digitally. For example, there is an app called Underworld, which uses GPS to allow users to compete to buy and sell drugs in real time. Drug dealing itself is highly illegal, and now that it has become an automated programme, it is becoming ever more dangerous. It is a much easier alternative, as you do not have to be there in real time, only tap a button on a screen. However, mobile phones can play an important and positive role in crime. Your phone contains contacts, browser history, recent calls, and many other things that police and law enforcement agencies can find useful. A legal instructor at South University has said ‘smartphones have become a regular part of criminal investigations because they are now owned by most people and provide information about a person’s whereabouts and a person's contacts.’ The percentage of the population that owns a mobile phone is approximately 91%. This clearly helps to jump start a criminal investigation, as it can give a person’s whereabouts at a particular time, and possibly give, or take away an alibi. An example of police technology available on all smartphones is CrimePush, which allows users to report crimes quickly and efficiently. This is an extremely positive advance by developments in the technology industry. These advances will continue to occur, allowing phones to become an even larger part of criminal investigations.

Advances in technology are having both negative and positive effects on the future of crime, and could either become even more dangerous than they already are, or help the whole entire population feel safe from criminals.