Module SOC3129 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
SOC3129: Cybercrime
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
This module has two main aims. The first is to provide you with a broad understanding of the various forms of cybercrime; such as phishing scams, malware attacks, intellectual property theft, online sex crimes, disinformation, cyber-terrorism, and cyber-war. Developing your understanding of these different types of crime will also involve you gaining an understanding of how the internet works, the current and ever-changing legal frameworks concerning such online behaviours, and the different forms of cyber-criminals that exist and the different types of targets that their acts cause issues for, such as individuals, organisations, and nation states.
The second involves introducing you to some of the basic techniques used by both law enforcement agencies and the private sector in order to detect, investigate and prevent cyber-attacks. This will involve you learning about investigative tools pertaining to areas such as domain registration data, IP address data, and geolocation. This aspect of the module will be taught to you via practical lab-based sessions which will teach you some of the open source tools that are used by investigators in order to demonstrate how threat actors can be identified and their webs of connected holdings can be mapped for defensive (or offensive) purposes, and how these techniques have been used in high-profile cybercrime cases.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
---|---|
Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate a good knowledge of cybercrime and related behaviours, their various forms, their wider implications, and methods used to investigate them 2. Develop a high level of confidence in the use of basic investigative tools and critically assess the data gained from them 3. Demonstrate a high level of computer literacy so as to understand the ramifications of cybercriminal behaviours |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. Critically reflect on the role and impact of cybercrime within the wider context of crime more generally 5. Demonstrate an understanding of the evolutionary arms race between new methods for committing crime and crime detection and investigation methods 6. Critically evaluate the impact on theoretical criminological models of increased, and diversified, internet-crimes and subsequent changes to law enforcement approaches |
Personal and Key Skills | 7. Demonstrate ability to work as part of a group on a joint project 8. Demonstrate written analytical skills by producing an essay and technical report to a deadline 9. Demonstrate the ability to present group-based work in a professional manner |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following themes:
- Introduction: What is cybercrime? How do computers and the internet work? The deep and dark webs.
- Challenges to law enforcement
- Hacking and intellectual property theft
- Fraud and Malware
- Sex crimes and online harassment
- Disinformation
- Cyber-terrorism
- Cyber-warfare
- Digital forensics, examining forensic evidence, and legal challenges
- Cybercrime, social theory, and the future of internet-based crimes and deterrents
Lectures will be complemented by practical lab-based sessions, which will focus on teaching basic open-source investigation tools that the students will use for their assignments and which will enable them to better understand law enforcement and private sector approaches to tackling cybercrime.
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
---|---|---|
33 | 117 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
---|---|---|
Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 11 | 11 x one hour lectures |
Scheduled learning and teaching activities | 12 | 6 x two hour labs |
Guided independent study | 35 | Course readings and other multi-media content |
Guided independent study | 25 | Reading/research for essay |
Guided independent study | 59 | Group work/research for technical report |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|
Group presentation to module lead | 10 minutes | 1,2,3,7,9 | Verbal, written provided to the group |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
---|---|---|
100 | 0 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|---|
Essay | 50 | 2,000 words | 1,3,4,5,6,8 | Written feedback |
Technical report | 50 | 2,000 words | 1,2,3,7,8,9 | Written feedback |
0 | ||||
0 | ||||
0 | ||||
0 |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
---|---|---|---|
Essay | Essay (2,000 words) (50%) | 1,3,4,5,6,8 | August/September re-assessment period |
Technical report | Technical report (2,000 words) (50%) | 1,2,3,7,8,9 | August/September reassessment period |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Bazzell, M. (2019) Open Source Intelligence Techniques: Resources for Searching and Analyzing Online Information (7th edition) Independently published
Bossler, A. & Berenblum, T. (2019) ‘Introduction: new directions in cybercrime research’ in Journal of Crime and Justice 42(5), pp:495-499.
Brenner, S. & Schwerha, J. (2004) ‘Introduction—Cybercrime: A Note on International Issues’ in Information Systems Frontiers 6, pp:111-114
Hill, J. & Marion, N. (2016) Introduction to Cybercrime: Computer Crimes, Laws, and Policing in the 21st Century Santa Barbara: Praeger
Holt, T., Bossler, A. & Seigfried-Spellar, K. (2018) Cybercrime and Digital Forensics: An Introduction (2nd edition) London: Routledge
Krohn, M., Hendrix, N., Hall, G. & Lizotte, A. (eds) Handbook on Crime and Deviance Cham: Springer Nature