HomeNewsBriefStudy Examines New Front in War on Crime: the Internet
BRIEF

Study Examines New Front in War on Crime: the Internet

CYBERCRIME / 13 DEC 2013 BY CHARLES PARKINSON EN

The Igarape Institute explores the emerging use of technology in violence prevention in Latin America, a recent development for citizen security that is growing alongside the region's Internet boom, as criminals and authorities take their war into the virtual world.

In the report "Digitally Enhanced Violence Prevention in the Americas," published by the Stability International Journal of Security & Development, authors Robert Muggah and Gustavo Diniz discuss the emergence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as tools increasingly used by authorities and institutions, as well as citizens, to prevent violence. The article also highlights how ICTs have become increasingly used by organized criminal elements in the region, which are sometimes more tech savvy than the authorities pursuing them.

ICTs have surged as connectivity as increased. (See below how Internet penetration in the region compares to the rest of the world.) They are defined as anything using Internet connectivity, ranging from smart phone applications to computer-based activity like blogging. In the hands of authorities, they can take the form of crime mapping systems, or online alert systems, as an alternative to centralized forms of information management, such as hotlines.

Criminals using ICTs include those who have emerged with the digital age, such as identity thieves, and "old" crime groups, such as drug cartels, which have begun using the Internet to issue threats and track victims.

The study encourages authorities to increase the use of such technology to fight crime, highlighting both the possibilities provided by the exponential growth of Internet use in the region and the need to protect people from the new vulnerabilities to criminal activity that they face on the Internet.

diagramone

Internet connectivity in the world, per 100; source: World Bank

InSight Crime Analysis

The rising use of technology to fight crime has been notable in Latin America, with Mexico a prime example. There citizens have overcome the refusal of various media to cover organized crime because of the dangers posed to journalists by establishing so-called "narco-blogs" or managing Twitter accounts that sometimes report the carnage in gruesome detail. For doing so, suspected criminal organizations have issued threats against them, and some have paid with their lives.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Cyber Crime

Traditional criminal groups have become increasingly active in their use of the Internet, and authorities should seek to meet this growing threat. While the report lauds some of the efforts seen in the region, such as the establishment of dedicated cyber crime departments in police forces, the rapid march of technology demands authorities adapt quickly to these shifting criminal tactics.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Tags

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

CYBERCRIME / 31 JAN 2022

Scammers in Venezuela are selling desperate people non-existent government food aid packages – in the latest episode of the handout…

ARMS TRAFFICKING / 12 OCT 2021

Arms trafficking in Mexico has turned to digital mediums that offer both broad visibility and anonymity to an ever-increasing flow…

BRAZIL / 23 NOV 2022

A lack of regulation surrounding how crypto-currencies are used by organized crime has left Latin America dangerously exposed.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…