UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO COMPUTER INFORMATION: THE EMPIRICAL STUDY OF CHARACTERISTICS OF VICTIMS AND THEIR VICTIMIZATION
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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify the main individual characteristics that contribute to cybervictimization of victims of unauthorized access to computer information. The relevance of the research topic is due to the fact that the number of crimes of this type and the amount of damage from them are growing every year. At the same time, in the scientific literature there is no uniform understanding if gender, relationships with the criminal, behavior of the victim and the type of crime affect victimization. 300 court decisions issued in the Russian Federation regarding the commission of unauthorized access to computer information were analyzed to conduct this study. Based on the analysis it was revealed that accidental victims predominate, but in some cases the crime occurred due to relationships with the criminal. The most risky are the following areas: banking, social networks, and mobile communications. Taking into account peculiarities of areas of activity with increased risk and victim behavior of victims, victimological measures are proposed to prevent cases of unauthorized access to computer information.
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