The collection of chapters in Trust and Crime in Information Societies has emerged from a project sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry in the UK and is an excellent survey of topics related to e‐commerce, and information security in general. The organization of the book, looking first to the current state‐of‐the‐art, then to reasonable expectations of the future, is a straightforward approach. In doing so, the authors begin by analyzing the social, economic and technological issues surrounding cyberspace. Next, the authors discuss the methods to avoid new types of crime and the facilitation of traditional crimes via the Internet. The authors discuss in detail research areas including the drivers of cyberspace evolution, the threats and barriers to cyberspace development and the feasibility and effectiveness of proposed crime prevention interventions. The authors then close with a discussion of risk, privacy and trust in cyberspace and the implications these have on ethical, legal and regulatory issues.
The critical difference of this work compared with other predictive writings, is its focus on the information content of the systems rather than on the technical details of implementation. This perspective allows an interesting discussion of the issues which are, and will continue to be, at the forefront of the human experience in cyberspace. The authors' skillful treatments of such an obviously complex domain allow something to be gained by readers of all levels. Moreover, the presentation of the relationships between emerging technologies and their effects on our day‐to‐day lives can serve as a good foundation for exploring a broader context than alluded to in the title. This book is, therefore, especially recommended to those who are working or interested in information system security. They will find a humanistic back‐story in which their expertise will play for the next several years. Others will appreciate the big‐picture perspective applied to information system dynamics.
