Cyber Crime and Cyber Terrorism

Part three consists of five chapters and addresses some of the contemporary top-
ics in the context of CC/CT such as Big Data and social media, considering these in 
the framework of LEAs environment. It explores and informs the reader on the wider 
facets of CC/CT which remain important contextual elements for all cyber investiga-
tors’ understanding of their operating environment.
The three parts of the volume can be considered independently, and each chapter 
can also be considered and used independently but collectively, they provide the 
practitioners with a holistic view of the operational challenges of contemporary CC/
CT. This new volume shall be accompanied by additional online learning support 
materials which will provide the reader with up-to-date resources, so they can stay 
informed on issues related to CC/CT.
This new contribution to CC/CT knowledge shall be a welcome introduction to 
the resource library of LEAs and security professionals, following a multi-disciplinary 
philosophy, being supported by leading experts across academia, private industry, and 
government agencies. The 
Cyber Crime and Cyber Terrorism Investigators’ Handbook
juxtaposes practical experience and, where appropriate, policy guidance, with academic 
commentaries and technical advice to illustrate the complexity of cyber investigations. 
The reading of this volume shall ensure all security practitioners are better informed to 
carry out their CC/CT investigative responsibilities to protect the citizens they serve.

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CHAPTER
1
1
Cyberspace: The new 
frontier for policing?
Fraser Sampson
Published in 2011, the UK Cyber Security Strategy states that:
Our vision is for the UK in 2015 to derive huge economic and social value from 
a vibrant, resilient and secure cyberspace, where our actions, guided by our core 
values of liberty, fairness, transparency and the rule of law, enhance prosperity, 
national security and a strong society.
That the United Kingdom even has a cyber security strategy is telling. Governments 
and their agencies—not only in the United Kingdom but worldwide—have struggled 
to distinguish criminality that specifically relies on the use of the hyper-connectivity 
of global information technology from “ordinary” crime that is simply enabled by 
using information and communication technology. Despite legislative interventions 
such as the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (for an analysis of which 
see 
Vatis, 2010
, p. 207) in 2001, cyberspace remains a largely unregulated jurisdic-
tional outpost.
The first piece of criminal legislation to address the use—or rather the misuse—of 
computers in the United Kingdom was enacted in 1990. The recital to the Computer 
Misuse Act 1990 states that it was an act “to make provision for securing computer 
material against unauthorized access or modification; and for connected purposes.” 
This narrow, pre-Internet focus was very much predicated on the concept of a com-
puter as a functional box (or network of boxes) containing “material” that required 
protection (
Sampson 1991a
, p. 211). Although the Act addressed unauthorized 
access, the concept of causing a computer to perform a function in furtherance of 
other crimes was also a central part of the new legislation (
Sampson, 1991b
, p. 58) 
which, for the first time in the United Kingdom, sought to catch up with computer 
technology that was becoming part of people’s everyday lives—a race in which 
the legislative process did not stand a chance.
While the legislation was amended in 2006 with the introduction of a new crimi-
nal offence of unauthorized acts to impair the operation of a computer or program, 
etc., looking back through today’s digital prism, the legislation has a decidedly ana-
log look to it. When the legislation came into force we had little idea of the impact 
the “information super-highway” would have on our everyday lives, still less the 
engrenage effect of social media.

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