CHAPTER ONE: CONNECTIVITY AND CYBERCRIME
technologies and the increasing use of the Internet create new opportunities for offenders and facilitate the growth of
crime.’31
Due to significant challenges in the measurement of cybercrime, cross-nationally
comparative statistics on cybercrime are much rarer than for other crime types.32 Annex Two to this
Study examines current methodological approaches to measuring cybercrime, and presents some of
the few available statistics.
Figure 1.5: Relative frequency of global news reports 2005‐2012
In the past five years in
particular, the issue of cybercrime has
Cybercrime
come prominently to the forefront of
Homicide
public discussion, including in
developing countries. A search of
January 2005
global news wires for the terms
= "100"
‘cybercrime’ and ‘homicide’, in the six
official United Nations languages,
reveals a significant relative growth in
the frequency of global news
references to cybercrime, as compared
with references to homicide. Between
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Year
the years 2005 and 2012, references to
Source: UNODC calculations from Dow Jones Factiva.
cybercrime have increased by up to
600 per cent, compared with around 80 per cent in the case of references to homicide.33 Such
measurements are not directly related to underlying cybercrime acts. Nonetheless, they can reflect
general global ‘activity’ concerning cybercrime – including media reporting on government initiatives
and counter measures.
800
Percentage change from January 2005
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
The views of
law
enforcement
officials also reflect a
consensus that levels of
cybercrime
are
increasing. When asked
about
cybercrime
trends observed in their
own country over the
past five years, all law
enforcement officials in
18 countries in Africa,
and
the
Americas
responded
that
cybercrime was either
increasing or strongly
Law
increasing.34
31
32
33
34
Figure 1.6 : Cybercrime trends observed by law enforcement 2007‐2011
Europe
(n=21)
Increasing number of
cybercrime acts
Asia & Oceania
(n=15)
Strongly increasing number
of cybercrime acts
Americas
(n=10)
Stable number of
cybercrime acts
Africa
(n=8)
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Source: Study cybercrime questionnaire. Q84 (n=54).
Salvador Declaration on Comprehensive Strategies for Global Challenges, annex to United Nations General Assembly Resolution
A/Res/65/230 on the Twelfth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, 1 April 2011, para.39.
United Nations Statistical Commission, 2012. National Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico Report on Crime Statistics. Note by the
Secretary General E/CN.3/2012/3, 6 December 2011.
UNODC calculations from Dow Jones Factiva.
Study cybercrime questionnaire. Q84. Due to variable preparation and release times for official statistics, this may refer to the time
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