CyberCrime Motivation

This chapter will explore the relevant literature concerning cybercrime and cybercriminal motivation. Most of the body of literature concerning cybercrime is focused on the forms, methods and operations of cybercriminals. Statistics concerning the consequences of cybercrime are also extensive, which involve identification of the economic impact of cybercrime, the social concerns about intellectual property rights, and the international politics of state-sponsored cybercriminals. However, there are very few writings concerning the exploration the motivations that drive cybercriminals engage in their illegal activity. This is a cause for concern, given that in other crimes, notably physical ones, a large body of literature has been written concerning the psychology of the criminal, whether a murderer, rapist, or robber. The scarcity of literature on cybercrime motivation is a reflection of the relative novelty of the field, and indicative of the difficulty among scholars to keep up with the breakneck speed of technological development tied to cybercrime. This chapter will look at some of these previous works, and will identify how the motivational theories on cybercriminal motivation has evolved in the past few years.
Perhaps the most relevant work regarding determining the motivation for the commitment of cybercrime is the article “Cybercrime Classification: A Motivational Model” by Madison Ngafeeson. Ngafeeson clearly identifies that a key aspect of combatting any crime is looking at the motivation of the individuals committing the crime, so that the problem may be addressed at the root: “Until crime is seen from the view of motivation for crime itself, efforts to battle it will not yield their full promise.” Informed by this view, Ngafeeson sets out to create a motivational model for cybercrime, by combining three theoretical frameworks: “Maslow’s theory of hierarchical needs; Herzberg’s 1959 two-factor theory; and the 1979 work of Cohen and Felson on how crime

Cited: Brenner, S. W. (2010). Cybercrime: Criminal Threats from Cyberspace. New York: Praeger. Kshetri, N. (2010). The Global Cybercrime Industry: Economic, Institutional and Strategic Perspectives. New York: Springer. Ngafeeson, M. (2010). Cybercrime Classification: A Motivational Model . Edinburg: College of Business Administration, The University of Texas-Pan American.