Today it was reported that “The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have seen large-scale ‘password spraying’ campaigns against healthcare bodies and medical research organisations” (NCSC, 5 May 2020). ‘Password spraying’ is an attempt to access a large number of accounts using commonly known passwords. Apparently, theseContinue reading “5-May-20 Password-Spraying”
Author Archives: CriminologyTales
30-Apr-20 Court System Under Lockdown
The court system is not known for its speed (due process, rather than crime control, remember) and the pandemic will exacerbate this further. The Institute for Government (IfG) reports that “the coronavirus lockdown has seen courtrooms closed for all but a small number of priority cases and jury trials are suspended altogether”. Their research suggestsContinue reading “30-Apr-20 Court System Under Lockdown”
29-Apr-20 Counterfeiting
Continuing in the vein of transnational crimes this week, it is worth noting how criminals are responding to the pandemic and switching into counterfeit PPE and medical supplies. In normal times, there are established suppliers and distribution chains to manage, for example, the respirator mask needs of the health and social care sector. But sinceContinue reading “29-Apr-20 Counterfeiting”
27-Apr-20 Violence Against Women as Torture
I am drawing across two lecture topics delivered this week – torture and violence against women – to raise a question about definitions and power. What we include in definitions matter; the boundary between what is ‘in’ and what is ’out’ has material impact. So when we are trying to think critically, we should alwaysContinue reading “27-Apr-20 Violence Against Women as Torture”
23-Apr-20 The Innocence Files
Some you may now be watching the new Netflix series on wrongful convictions, ‘The Innocence Files’. This new documentary considers the cases of individuals (young Black men in the first two episodes) convicted wrongly in the 1980s and 1990s in the US. It focuses on three areas: misuse of forensic evidence, false eyewitness testimony andContinue reading “23-Apr-20 The Innocence Files”
22-Apr-20 COVID-19 and Green Criminology
There has been much media coverage about the impact of the global lockdown on the environment. Satellite pictures are showing dramatic declines in air pollution; wildlife is repopulating clearing lakes and canals; animals have started to reclaim urban streets and towns; flights have been grounded and the price of crude oil has plummeted as demandContinue reading “22-Apr-20 COVID-19 and Green Criminology”
21-Apr-20 Entanglements
A slight digression into politics (or ‘harms of the powerful’, you could say), but I have been rather taken today with this phrase ‘entanglement’. It comes from a lecture I gave this week on cybercrime and describes a form of cyber-attack deterrence. Entanglement is a situation where the cost of an action exceeds the benefits,Continue reading “21-Apr-20 Entanglements”
20-Apr-20 Terrorist Financing
It is difficult to mount a terrorism operation and certainly to run a terrorist organisation, without people, knowledge and money. Indeed, there is much in common between licit and illicit organisations. It’s why both management experts and criminologists have useful insights to offer on organised crime such as county lines, human trafficking operations or theContinue reading “20-Apr-20 Terrorist Financing”
8-Apr-20 Surveillance
Two items have caught my eye this week. Yesterday, I got an email from a leading UK supermarket updating me where they are on online deliveries and making sure that food gets to the older and most vulnerable. There was one sentence of particular interest: At the end of last week we received the governmentContinue reading “8-Apr-20 Surveillance”
6-Apr-20 Transnational Crimes
Transnational crimes are different from international crimes. The ‘trans’ prefix (from the Latin meaning ‘across’ or ‘through’) shows us that this refers to crime which is planned, executed or has an impact in more than one country. ‘International crime’ refers generally to crimes against humanity which may involve two or more countries. Albanese (2017) identifiesContinue reading “6-Apr-20 Transnational Crimes”
3-Apr-20 How to Fix a Drug Scandal
Friday evening I watched the Netflix documentary ‘How to Fix a Drug Scandal’ – a very interesting example of organisational crime and harm. The four-part series tells the story of two (unconnected) lab chemists, one in Amherst, West Massachusetts and one in Boston, East Massachusetts. Each were from stable homes, were academically successful and tookContinue reading “3-Apr-20 How to Fix a Drug Scandal”
2-Apr-20 Policing Sex Work
In-person sex work is under lockdown at the moment (unsurprisingly, there has been a spike in camming and other online services), but this is difficult for those for whom sex work is their main income. Many individuals selling sex are carers (for children, partner, parents); may be managing long term mental or physical health issuesContinue reading “2-Apr-20 Policing Sex Work”
1-Apr-20 Incapacitation
Incapacitation is a method of removing or limiting someone’s freedom such that they cannot commit further crime. It can be seen also to protect society. Examples include prison, electronic tagging, restraining orders or the stocks. For white collar crimes, there is removal of license to practice or a restraint of trade order, for example. Indeed, weContinue reading “1-Apr-20 Incapacitation”
27-Mar-20 Deviant Leisure
A short blog to round off the week, along the theme of interesting and emerging areas of Criminology. Have you ever been on a crime tour? There are plenty around the UK, including Criminal London and Gangster Tours. You might already know that there is a sub-discipline of Criminology called ‘Deviant Leisure’ (see Smith andContinue reading “27-Mar-20 Deviant Leisure”
26-Mar-20 Indigenous Criminology
What would I read in Criminology, if I had the luxury of more time? One area is ‘Indigenous Criminology’ and particularly the work of academic Dr Juan Tauri at the University of Wollongong in Australia. His article, The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House: An Indigenous Critique of Criminology, published in 2018 isContinue reading “26-Mar-20 Indigenous Criminology”
25-Mar-20 The Social Order
I have been thinking recently about social order and how fragile that always is. Thank goodness, we have seen umpteen instances of kindness and human spirit in recent days. There are always those, however, who will seek to exploit the situation (perhaps we all will in some way). The National Police Chiefs Council has reportedContinue reading “25-Mar-20 The Social Order”
24-Mar-20 Domestic Abuse
I mentioned in our last lecture that the current situation of containing people at home would have particular implications for victims of domestic abuse. See, for example. While many associate domestic abuse with physical abuse (which can certainly feature) and perhaps sexual abuse (less often talked about), abuse is always defined by control, known asContinue reading “24-Mar-20 Domestic Abuse”
23-Mar-20 Corona Profiteers
Today, I thought it would be interesting to think about behaviour in the current context. The papers have been full of stories of people profiteering from COVID-19. See for example here and here. Authorities are looking at enforcing regulation, including competition rules. But it’s not just smaller actors seeking to flog handwash or toilet rollsContinue reading “23-Mar-20 Corona Profiteers”
Criminology Tales 