Chapter 14: Cybercrime In Society

Online learning takes place in a context within which cyberthreats are rife. Although relatively few will explicitly target the e-learning domain, a multitude exist that have the potential to affect e-learners. Indeed, unprotected systems (whether they belong to the end-user or the service provider) are at extreme risk, and can be found very easily via automated scanning techniques. In addition, a number of threats are completely untargeted, and may be encountered simply by virtue of being online. In short, although the Internet is vast, it is easy to find trouble, and for trouble to find you.

This chapter examines the problem of cybercrime in our online society, with particular focus on the challenge that it poses for end-users. The discussion begins with an examination of a range of threats that can directly target end-users, and considering the associated impacts that these may have. This is followed by brief examples of some of the threats that can target online service providers, and which need to be guarded against in order to maintain user trust. The final aspect of the main discussion, then, considers how threats may be addressed from the end-user perspective, in terms of both the things that users need to know and the technical safeguards they ought to be using.