Chapter 23 resources for the Cyberlaw bookResources and Links for the book Cyberlaw: Law for Digital Spaces and Information Systems, by John Bandler

By John Bandler

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Chapter 23 Solving the cybercrime problem

This chapter concludes Part 4. Of course, we cannot "solve" the cybercrime problem, since just as crime will always be with us, so will cybercrime. The chapter starts by reframing the question and discusses the need for state and local investigation of cybercrime, then deterrence, the "going dark" debate, categorizing cybercrime, and finishes with some principles to reduce cybercrime.

An important premise of our 2020 book on Cybercrime Investigations is that it cannot be exclusively for federal law enforcement to conduct cybercrime criminal investigations. That state and local prosecutors and law enforcement need to play an important role.

Whether our prosecutors are federal or state, we need to ensure they are competent, experienced, ethical, and seeking justice.

Chapter references, resources, and additional reading

Chapter questions

  • Should state and local law enforcement and prosecutors be able to do a reasonable investigation of cybercrime or is that something only federal authorities should handle. Briefly summarize.
  • Assume that cybercriminals are motivated by principles of risk, which means they consider the likelihood of being caught, and then the potential punishment if they are caught. Assume there is zero chance that they will be caught, and they know this. Would it matter what the punishment might be?
  • If law enforcement does not investigate a particular cybercrime, for whatever reason, what effect does that have on the solve rate and deterrence?
  • How might cybercrime statistics underreport the actual number of cybercrimes committed against victims in this country?
  • Do press releases showing that law enforcement is bringing some excellent cases against cybercriminals establish anything about the rate of prosecutions versus criminal conduct?

Links and information

This page is hosted at https://johnbandler.com/cyberlawbook-resources-ch23, copyright John Bandler, all rights reserved.

Originally posted 11/21/2024.  Updated 03/07/2026.