Reference no: EM133073807

Collaborative Learning Activity: Crimes of the Future

In 2020 we are surrounded by crimes of the future. The latest Australian news in this space is that the Federal Government is employing 500 spies this week to combat cybersecurity. We are witnessing a decline in traditional criminal groups, a void that is being filled by a growing virtual criminal underground made up of individual criminal entrepreneurs, who come together on a project-by-project basis. Seasoned criminals will lend their knowledge, experience and expertise to the growing ‘crime-as-a-service' business model.

This is already happening in the area of cybercrime and will soon infect virtually every level of ‘traditional' organized crime, involving everything from designer drugs, to circumventing immigration laws, to large-scale counterfeiting of brand name products.

As we consider the forces at play, I'd like to step you through future crimes and the emerging technologies that will be used to perform them.

Please watch the TedTalk: Goodman, M. (2012 June). A vision of crimes in the future

‘Marc Goodman one of the world's leading authorities on digital security, Future Crimes takes readers deep into the digital underground to illuminate the alarming ways criminals, corporations and even countries are using new and emerging technologies against you, and provides positive solutions to help you defend yourself against this very real new threat'.

Technological advances have benefited our world in immeasurable ways, but there is an ominous flipside. Criminals are often the earliest, and most innovative, adopters of technology and modern times have led to modern crimes. Today's criminals are stealing identities, draining online bank-accounts and wiping out computer servers. It's disturbingly easy to activate baby cam monitors to spy on families, pacemakers can be hacked to deliver a lethal jolt, and thieves are analysing your social media in order to determine the best time for a home invasion.

Meanwhile, 3D printers produce AK-47s, terrorists can download the recipe for the Ebola virus, and drug cartels are building drones. This is just the beginning of the tsunami of technological threats coming our way.

In the collaborative session, come together as a group. With your current understanding of the crimes of the future discuss the following questions:

Question 1: Why do you think that most people are not even aware of what is going on in the world of future crimes?

Question 2: Discuss three crimes that you were not aware that existed?

Question 3: If you had a crystal ball what do perceive our future to be in 2050 in this context?