International Journal on Criminology Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2015 | Page 88

International Journal on Criminology - Fall 2015, Volume 3, Number 2
Confronting Cybercrime through Criminology
Xavier Raufer A
As far as cybercrime is concerned, we are still on terra incognita, or nearly
so. “Hic sunt dracones,” is found cautiously inscribed on medieval maps
that are supposed to depict the heart of Africa. “Digital dragons” are ever
more abundant today. Faced with these challenges, in the as yet uncharted territory
of cybercrime, the only way forward is to think as criminologists and no longer as
technicians. Why?
Look! Open Your Eyes!
As of the beginning of 2015, Internet advertising in France (25 percent of the
market) has now surpassed advertising in the press (24 percent). Today, there
are close to 1.2 billion Facebook users on mobile devices—an increase of 74
percent since 2012.
Humanity is becoming more connected than ever—standardized, formatted,
remote-controlled. This is taking place in the developed countries and in the
megalopolises, on a planet where stability is being worn thin, giving way to dynamism.
In this society of perpetual acceleration, the intoxication of speed is felt ever more
strongly.
What snares lie in wait for us! Notwithstanding the fairy-tales propagated
by the titans of the Net, technology is not neutral, and algorithms are subtly partial.
And listen to what British sociologist Zygmunt Bauman tells us of these fabulous
mutations: “Unlike solids, liquids cannot maintain their form when subjected to an
external force, however light it might be. Links between particles are too weak to resist
any pressure. For Bauman, this is precisely the characteristic of human relationships
in a liquid society.” 1
And we speak of mastery? This is a loss of control. We shower praise on
emancipatory high-tech inventions? Yet cyber-servitude continues to grow. Obviously,
all of this is criminogenic: fragilization, disorganization, and loss of attention are a
veritable bonanza for thieves and fraudsters. These are the intrinsic perils attendant
upon the system itself. But there are also hardcore criminals, cyber-predators who do
not act thoughtlessly or cynically—but for the quickest and most hefty possible profit.
1
Translator’s note: Adela Abella, “Psychoanalysts Facing New Technologies in a World of Liquid Modernity,”
in Psychoanalysis Online 2: Impact of Technology on Development, Training, and Therapy, ed.
Jill Savege Scharff (London: Karnac, 2015), 70. See Z. Bauman, Liquid Modernity (Cambridge: Polity,
2000).
2
Translator’s note: This quotation was back-translated from the French version.
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