The impact of cybercrime on businesses: a novel conceptual framework and its application to Belgium

Despite growing indications and fears about the impact of cybercrime, only few academic studies have so far been published on the topic to complement those published by consultancy firms, cybersecurity companies and private institutes. The review of all these studies shows that there is no consensus on how to define and measure cybercrime or its impact. Against this background, this article pursues two aims: 1) to develop a thorough conceptual framework to define and operationalize cybercrime affecting businesses as well as its impact, harms, and costs; and 2) to test this conceptual framework with a survey of businesses based in Belgium, which was administered in summer 2016 and elicited 310 valid responses. Consisting of five types, our conceptualization of cybercrime is, unlike others, technology-neutral and fully compatible with the legislation. Drawing on Greenfield and Paoli’s Harm Assessment Framework (The British Journal of Criminology, 53, 864–885, 2013), we understand impact as the overall harm of cybercrime, that is, the “sum” of the harms to material support, or costs, and the harms to other interest dimensions i.e., functional (or operational) integrity, reputation and privacy. Whereas we ask respondents to provide a monetary estimate of the costs, respondents are invited to rate the severity of the harms on the basis of an ordinal scale. We claim that this “double track” gives a fuller, more valid assessment of cybercrime impact. Whereas most affected businesses do not report major costs or harm, 15% to 20% of them rate the harms to their internal operational activities as serious or more, with cyber extortion regarded as most harmful.     

The STR-based genetic profile of the population from Corsica island (France).

Short tandem repeats (STR) at loci HumFES/FPS, HumVWA, HumCSF1PO, HumTH01, HumFXIIIA01, HumTPOX, HumCD4, D3S1358 are markers of choice for population genetics and validated systems for forensic use. In this report, we analysed their allele frequency distribution in a sample of native blood donors from the two departments of Corsica island (France). Deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg rule and heterozygosity values consistently suggested a spatial differentiation of allele and genotype frequencies across the island. Pairwise comparisons showed that Corsican gene pool presents a high level of heterogeneity between departments and substantially differs from that of neighbouring and historically-related populations. The results suggest the use of local databases to calculate a priori statistics in human identity testing.     

Exploring Definitions of Serious Crime in EU Policy Documents and Academic Publications: A Content Analysis and Policy Implications

In recent years the term “serious crime” has gained prominence in EU policy on internal security. This article analyzes how the EU policy and scientific communities have conceptualized and operationalized the term. Through a content analysis, it evaluates the articulation and use of “serious crime” in EU policy documents published from 1995–2013 and scientific articles published from 2004–13 that include the term (n?=?93 and n?=?104, respectively). The analysis demonstrates deficits of conceptualization and operationalization and a correspondingly weak foundation for policy. While the EU’s increasing emphasis on serious crime could represent an opportunity to improve the accountability of EU crime control policies, it is up to academics and policy-makers to address these deficits.     

Post-mortem stability and redistribution of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT)

Post-mortem diagnosis of chronic alcohol abuse is a challenge for forensic experts due to the lack of pathognomonic morphological findings and often also inadequate background information. Objective methods demonstrating chronic excessive alcohol consumption would therefore be a useful tool for forensic pathologists. In clinical practice, several markers of chronic alcohol abuse have recently been introduced, among which carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is the most accepted, but the use of these markers in autopsy has not yet been established. We examined post-mortem stability and possible post-mortem redistribution of CDT and compared two analytical methods, capillary zone electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography. According to our results, CDT remains stable for an appreciable time after death. The results further indicate that CDT is not subject to major post-mortem redistribution.     

Photo‐ and Thermal‐Degradation Studies of Select Eccrine Fingerprint Constituents

Abstract: Photo‐ and thermal‐degradation studies on eccrine fingerprint components are presented herein. Dilute distinct solutions of urea, lactic acid, and seven amino acids were deposited on steel coupons and Teflon^® disks, exposed to artificial sunlight or heat, extracted, and analyzed. This aim of this study was to determine whether the investigated eccrine components, previously determined to be Raman active for a parallel study, experienced photo‐ or thermally induced degradation, and if so, to determine the rate and identify any detectable products. Neither the amino acids nor urea exhibited photo‐degradation; however, when heated for a period of three minutes, the onset of thermal‐degradation was initiated at 100°C for the amino acids and 100°C for urea. Lactic acid, the major polymerization initiator of superglue fuming, showed photochemical and thermal‐degradation. These results could be used for future development of new latent fingerprint visualization methods, especially when lactic acid is degraded.