Russell G. Smith

Handbook of Global Research and Practice in Corruption

Corruption is a global phenomenon with costs estimated to be in the trillions of dollars. This source of original research and policy analysis deals with the most important concepts and empirical evidence in foreign corrupt practices globally.

Cloud computing for small business: Criminal and security threats and prevention measures

Compared with large organisations, small businesses operate in a distinct and highly resource-constrained operating and technical environment. Their proprietors are often time poor, have minimal bargaining power and have limited financial, technical, legal and personnel resources. It is therefore unsurprising that cloud computing and its promise of smoothing cash flows and dramatically reducing ICT overheads is attractive to small business. Cloud computing shifts the delivery and maintenance of software, databases and storage to the internet, transforming them into Pay-As-You-Go services accessed through a web browser. While providing many benefits, cloud computing also brings many risks for small business, including potential computer security and criminal, regulatory and civil liability issues. This paper, undertaken as a collaborative partnership with the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security at Griffith University, identifies these risks and offers a perspective on how they might be contained so that the benefits of cloud computing do not outweigh the risks for small businesses in the 21st century.

Telecommunications and Crime: Regulatory Dilemmas

This paper examines the regulatory context of crime arising from the connectivity of computing and communications. Nine varieties of telecommunications-related crime are considered: theft of services, communications in furtherance of criminal conspiracies, telecommunications piracy, the dissemination of offensive materials, electronic money laundering, electronic vandalism, telemarketing fraud, illegal interception, and electronic funds transfer fraud. The paper concludes that the most appropriate configuration of regulatory strategies for the control of telecommunications-related crime entails a mixture of law enforcement, and technological and market-based solutions. The pursuit of a strict regulatory agenda is, in most cases, not feasible because of the limited capacity of the state. Over-regulation, moreover, may stifle commercial and technological development. It is argued that the marketplace may be able to provide more efficient solutions to the problems of telecommunications crime than state interventions.

Research and Practice in Corruption: an Introduction

Corruption has been a feature of human behaviour since the beginning of time. It has been part of the structure of human relationships, and very much bound into the way people live with each other and distribute status and power. While some say that patronage and rentseeking have lubricated social relationships, there is suffi cient evidence to show that it is the poorest who are hurt when this behaviour is institutionalized. It is even more distressing when the behaviour is unpredictable, irregular, and random. International trade has been a feature of human behaviour for millennia. But in recent centuries new transport mechanisms and new technologies have made for economic interdependence. Compounded by digital technologies which move money around the world at the speed of light, and global business moguls who seek advantage opportunistically and capriciously, corruption takes on a new dimension. Political instability has also taken on a crossnational dimension, and it is often fuelled by, and in turn fuels corruption. Corruption has great signifi cance for society and its governance. While the level of corruption varies among countries, the impacts of corruption disproportionally aff ect the poorest and most vulnerable in any society. When it is pervasive, corruption weakens economic growth and undermines the rule of law for every nation, and invariably deters investment. In rich countries corruption pushes taxes to higher levels than they need to be, and services are of lesser quality than they might be. This book is an edited collection of new, original research and policy analysis dealing with the most important concepts and empirical research in corruption and its prevention. Its focus is international and transnational. It provides a critical analysis of the key areas of current research interest in corruption and its control and also outlines a potential research agenda for the future. It has a research rather than a practitioner focus, and seeks to provide a single sourcebook of current research and discussion on topical and critical aspects of foreign corrupt practices globally. Corruption manifests itself in many ways and at diff erent levels. Corrupt behaviour causes outrage to victims and those who value civil

Public Sector Criminological Research

This chapter explores the roles and activities of public sector agencies in conducting criminological research over the preceding 50 years in Australia‚ focussing in particular on the history of the AIC. It examines the creation and development of the AIC since its inception in 1973 to illustrate the ways in which government-funded agencies have undertaken or sponsored criminological research‚ how extensive and effective such research has been in providing an evidence-base for public policy‚ and the challenges that have emerged in ensuring that relevant‚ ethical‚ and independent research has been able to be conducted that meets the needs of government and the community. This chapter concludes with some observations on the future trajectory of public sector criminological research.

Criminals in the Cloud: Crime, Security Threats, and Prevention Measures

This chapter is a revised version of the authors’ earlier work (Hutchings, Smith and James 2013), “Cloud Computing for Small Business: Criminal and Security Threats and Prevention Measures,” originally published in Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice (Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology). It is included in the current collection with permission. The research was supported by the former Department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy and undertaken at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security and the Australian Institute of Criminology. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect those of the aforementioned agencies.

Cyber Criminals on Trial: The Prosecutor as Gatekeeper

Prosecuting Cyber Crime The extent of the prosecutors involvement with cyber crime will vary from one country to another depending upon the prosecutors role in the criminal justice system and on constitutional issues more generally. In civil law countries, the decision to begin an investigation may rest with the prosecutor, depending on whether coercive measures are necessary or special proceedings are required. Japanese prosecutors routinely direct investigations (Johnson 2002). Prosecutors also play a central investigative role in Korea and China (UNAFEI 1995). In the United States, especially at the federal level, prosecutors are involved well before a criminal charge is brought, and are often engaged in the planning, organisation and execution of criminal investigations. This early involvement tends to arise from constitutional restraints on criminal investigation that invite detailed and exacting prosecutorial oversight. The National District Attorneys Association, the peak body of all US prosecutors, has specified that the office of the prosecutor should review and approve all applications for search warrants, arrest warrants, and all applications for the use of electronic surveillance (National District Attorneys Association 1991, Standards 40.1–40.3). In Scotland, the office of the Procurator Fiscal has direct involvement with the investigation of offences from the outset. In Northern Ireland, prosecutors have traditionally been relatively ‘passive’ recipients of evidence collected and presented to them by police. This reflects the British tradition of prosecutorial independence, which favours a degree of insulation from the police and from executive government.