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Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Background of the Study

According to Britz 2008, over the past two decades, Cybercrimes has

emerged as a salient area of inquiry for criminologist and a growing concern for

public policy. Although there are many definition of Cybercrime, the term generally

refers to the crimes committed through the use of computers and computer

networks, but it also includes crimes that do not rely heavily on computers

Cybercrime is a term used to broadly describe criminal activity in which

computers or computer networks are a tool, a target, or a place of criminal activity

and include everything from electronic cracking to denial of service attacks. It is

also used to include traditional crimes in which computers or networks are used to

enable the illicit activity. The Cybercrime can halt any railway where it is, it may

misguide the planes on its flight by misguiding with wrong signals, it may cause

any important military data to fall in the hands of foreign countries, and it may halt

e-media and every system can collapse within a fraction of seconds.

Today’s society is all about fast pace and advancement. Part of this

advancement mentality includes the constant improvement of technology. Many

people’s entire lives revolve around technology and many times, they do not even

realize it. Computer systems practically run much of the world today from security

systems to the computer systems that run most businesses technology is taking

control of the world. In this age of technology cybercrime becomes an increasingly

more concerning issue. The world’s growing dependency on technology also leads
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to the world’s vulnerability. Steps are in place to protect against and prevent

cybercrime, but with technology constantly, evolving there is a need for the

precautions in place to evolve as well. Cybercrime includes a wide spectrum of

crimes and many times make crimes that have existed even easier to commit than

they ever were before. Cybercrime prevention is important because in many cases

nothing is attempted to stop it until the damage has already been done.

In this study the researchers investigate status of cybercrime related cases

in General Santos City as basis for a proposed action plan that can help eradicate

the said arising problem in the community.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to investigate the status of cybercrime related cases in

General Santos City as basis for a proposed action plan.

Specifically the researcher sought to find out the answer of the following

questions:

1. What is the status of cybercrime related cases in General Santos City?

2. Base on the result of the study, what significant actions plans can be

proposed?

3. Is there significant relationship in the status of cybercrime related cases in

General Santos City and the proposed action plan to eradicate this

problems?
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Theoretical Framework

The study theoretically explain to more understanding the research.

At present, there is no agreed upon universal definition of what constitutes

cybercrime. As noted by Chang (2012), terms such as "cybercrime", "cyber crime",

"computer crime", "computer-related crime", "hi-tech" crime," "technology-enabled

crime", "e-crime", and "cyberspace crime" are often used interchangeably. The

meaning of cybercrime is broad and may be better understood as an umbrella term

encompassing a variety of activities. For example, online child exploitation, state

sponsored hacking and theft of hardware is sometimes grouped under cybercrime.

Such crime can also be classified based on whether a computer is an instrument,

target or merely incidental to a crime (Smith, 2004).

Delineated in the summary section of the Convention on Cybercrime that

was drafted by the Council of Europe (COE) in 2001 along with Canada, Japan,

South Africa and the US, cybercrime includes events “committed via the Internet

and other computer networks, dealing particularly with infringements of copyright,

computer-related fraud, child pornography and violations of network security”. The

specific types of crime that can be linked to this research are pertinent to computer-

related fraud and violations of network security. There is also a focus on utilitarian

crimes typically associated with profit gain. The sorts of cybercrime of interest in

this research, as observed in the data examined, indicate personal gain as one

motivation. However, such motivation may be one of many, as motivation is

complex and may include psychology orientation, social influences, and

environmental and life factors. The assumption is made in this study that financial
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benefit, or more generally personal gain, is a chief rationale for crime, but other

motivating factors are not ruled out. Motivation can change over time, and there

may be different motivations depending on the circumstances and situation of the

offender.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

This study will look into the status of cybercrime related cases in General

Santos City as basis for a proposed action plan.

This study was only limited to the twenty (20) police officers of Police

Precinct 1 and 2 of this city. They will be chosen through simple random sampling.

The responses of the respondents were treated with statistical analysis.

Significance of the Study

By nature and purpose of this study, the results or findings of the study will

bear significant contributions to the following persons:

PNP Officials. The study will serve as basis for action plans to minimize or

eradicate totally crimes related to technology.

Community. The study will help them understand the consequences of

their action if they engage in cybercrime. Through this research they will increase

their knowledge about cybercrime.

Other Researchers. This study provided baseline data needed for further

study and acquire more knowledge in conducting research, put in practice what

they had learned in their subjects and develop their communication skills.
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Definition of Terms

The following terms were used in this study and are being defined as

follows:

Cybercrime - as a form of illicit criminal activity conducted over the internet

or another computer

Act - something that is done.

Awareness -Knowing and understanding a lot about what is happening in

the world or around you.

Pornography - Sexually explicit videos, photographs, writings, or the live,

whose purpose is to elicit sexual arousal!

Cyber bullying - is the use of cell phones, instant messaging,

email, chat rooms or social networking sites such as Facebook and t to harass,

threaten or intimidate someone

Cyber trespass - A person is guilty of computer trespass if

sIheintentionally and without authorization accesses, alters, deletes,

damages, destroys, or disrupts any computer, computer system, computer

network", computer program, or data!

Cyber fraud - online theft of credit card number, expiration date, and other

information for criminal use is cyber fraud!

Money laundering - is the process of transforming the proceeds of crime

and corruption into ostensibly legitimate assets!

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Plagiarism -is the wrong appropriation and stealing and

publication of another author/s, language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions, and

the representation of them as one/s own original work.

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Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This aspect of the study reviews the various literature and studies related

to the study.

Foreign Literature

By definition, cybercrimes are “criminal acts implemented through use of a

computer or other form of electronic communications” (Anderson & Gardner, 2015,

pg. 433). Cybercrime incorporates so many various types of crime. Some are

crimes only possible because of the access of a computer and others were crimes

long before computers appeared and technology simply was another tool to utilize.

Crimes like the various forms of fraud and pornography existed before the

technology boom, but with computers and other pieces of technology, these crimes

became easier to commit and many times get away with. As times change and

technology

Computer Trespass

One of the more popular cybercrimes is the “unlawful access to a computer

or computer system with intent to commit a crime, or unlawful access to a computer

or computer system maintained by a government unit” (Anderson & Gardner, 2015,

pg. 433). Computer trespass is often referred to hacking is something that is often

viewed as more of a hobby to those who do it than a crime. While they may be

aware that what they are doing is illegal, they simply enjoy the challenge of it. In

this technology driven world, so many people learn from watching various

television shows. One example as seen on TV is in the episode entitled “Sacrifices”

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from the first season of the television show “Arrow” (2013) there is a scene

between a character who will become a main character of the show and a police

officer about the criminality of computer hacking. In this particular scene when

asked about alleged hacking abilities the character described them as a hobby,

much as many today view it. The character does not view herself as a criminal and

she definitely does not appear to be criminal, but that does not change the fact that

her actions were illegal.

Fraud

Fraud is the “deceitful means or acts used to cheat a person, corporation,

or government agency” (Anderson & Gardner, 2015, pg. 416). Fraud is one of

those crimes that encompasses many variations and has been around since long

before technology. Fraud is one of the many crimes that technology simply made

that much easier to commit. A prime example comes from the concept of internet

banking and just how easy it is now for someone to gain access to someone else’s

information to take what he or she wants from them.

Wire fraud is “a fraudulent scheme that uses interstate or international wire

or other electronic communications” (Anderson & Gardner, 2015, pg. 550).

Cybercrime is categorized into three stages that “parallel the three stages of data

processing: input tampering, throughput tampering, and output tampering”

(Ionescu, Mirea, & Blajan, 2011, pg.375). This simply goes to show that at any

point information can be altered or intercepted there is no point that a cybercrime

will not happen. Despite security messages, there is no real way to guarantee the

security of any information put out on the web from anyone.

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Identity Theft

Identity theft is the act of “stealing a real person’s identification information

(true name), or theft based on creating a fictitious person’s identification (synthetic

identity)” (Anderson & Gardner, 2015, pg. 229). Identity theft ties right in with fraud

and is made much easier through the processes of online banking and shopping

which leaves personal information vulnerable on the internet. One article

addresses the “underenforcement” of cybercrime (Swire, 2009, pg. 108). With

most cybercrimes, especially identity theft there is nothing that can be done

normally until it is too late. There are is generally no detecting one of these crimes

beforehand, cases are brought forward only after someone’s identity has already

been stolen. The lack of prevention is what causes the biggest problem.

White-Collar Crime

White-collar crime is “a class or type of criminal conduct whose only goal is

the criminal’s economic gain” (Anderson & Gardner, 2015, pg. 416). White-collar

crime can tie in many times with fraud and identity theft when the criminal is trying

to take from others for their own personal gain. White-collar crime spans across

continents and is a problem in more than just the United States. “In China, bank

fraud is a serious white collar crime that causes billions of dollars in loss every

year, and is considered a criminal offence even punishable by death if the case

involves corruption” (Cheng & Ma, 2009, pg. 166). In America, white-collar crimes

do not constitute a death penalty, but they do result in just as much loss. This like

many other crimes is a big problem because many times no one even realizes

what is happening until there is a large amount of money that is missing.

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Stalking

Stalking is “to follow, watch, and bother (someone) constantly in a way that

is frightening, dangerous, etc.” (“stalk,” 2015). This definition seems to go best with

the traditional sense of stalking that involves physically following and harassing

another person. Stalking though has evolved as well with the advancement of

technology. The better definition of stalking that would best apply to the realm of

cybercrime would be “to pursue obsessively and to the point of harassment”

(“stalk,” 2015). Social media has made the crime of “cyber-stalking” just as, if not

more, prevalent than the act of physically following someone. At the same time,

social media has also made physical stalking simpler with the ability to track

someone through his or her statuses.

Combatting Cybercrime

As pointed out by Jaishankar (2011) with the introduction of the internet and

all the possibilities presented because of it many criminologists have had to rethink

and redefine their views on crime (pg. xxvii). For all the precautions placed there

is really very little that can be done. The biggest thing is for people in general to be

smart about what they put out on the internet and what information they let get out.

Cybercrime encompasses so many various forms of crime that have long existed

before computer access and now these crimes require altered definitions to include

the new ways these crimes can be committed. Combatting cybercrime is made

especially difficult simply because it can be near impossible to trace many of the

crimes back to the actual offender especially with the overlap of some many crimes

coming together to make another crime possible.

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Areas for Improvement

One article points out “the legal aspects are of no use if laws are not properly

implemented, one does not know what is cyber stalking and what to do, when one

becomes the prey of it” (Sen, 2013, pg. 382). This concept applies to every facet

of cybercrime not only cyber stalking. Many people rely so heavily on the internet

and other technology in their lives and when something goes wrong, they do not

always even realize that it was illegal. Until there is an understanding there can

only be so much done to try to help with the issue of cybercrime. Another issue is

addressed when it comes to the topic of cyber-attacks and cyberterrorism through

it is difficult because “there is not a consistent international treaty in the regard yet”

(Dang, 2011, pg. 1). If no one can agree on the terms of which constitute cyber-

attacks then there is no hope of being able to agree to the terms to put a stop to it.

Local Literature

The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, officially recorded as Republic Act

No. 10175, is a law in the Philippines approved on September 12, 2012. It aims to

address legal issues concerning online interactions and the Internet in the

Philippines. Among the cybercrime offenses included in the bill

are cybersquatting, cybersex, child pornography, identity theft, illegal access to

data and libel.

The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 is the first law in the Philippines

which specifically criminalizes computer crime, which prior to the passage of the

law had no strong legal precedent in Philippine jurisprudence. While laws such as
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the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000 (Republic Act No. 8792) regulated certain

computer-related activities, these laws did not provide a legal basis for

criminalizing crimes committed on a computer in general: for example, Onel de

Guzman, the computer programmer charged with purportedly writing

the ILOVEYOU computer worm, was ultimately not prosecuted by Philippine

authorities due to a lack of legal basis for him to be charged under existing

Philippine laws at the time of his arrest (Arnold Wayne, 2000).

The first draft of the law started in 2001 under the Legal and Regulatory

Committee of the former Information Technology and eCommerce Council

(ITECC) which is the forerunner of the Commission on Information and

Communication Technology (CICT). It was headed by former Secretary Virgilio

"Ver" Peña and the Committee was chaired by Atty. Claro Parlade (+). It was an

initiative of the Information Security and Privacy Sub-Committee chaired by Albert

Dela Cruz who was the President of PHCERT together with then Anti-Computer

Crime and Fraud Division Chief, Atty. Elfren Meneses of the NBI. The

administrative and operational functions was provided by the Presidential

Management Staff (PMS) acting as the CICT secretariat (Sy, Geronimo).

This was superseded by several cybercrime-related bills filed in

the 14th and 15th Congress. The Cybercrime Prevention Act ultimately was the

product of House Bill No. 5808, authored by Representative Susan Yap-Sulit of

the second district of Tarlac and 36 other co-authors, and Senate Bill No. 2796,

proposed by Senator Edgardo Angara. Both bills were passed by their respective

chambers within one day of each other on June 5 and 4, 2012, respectively, shortly
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after the impeachment of Renato Corona, and the final version of the Act was

signed into law by President Benigno Aquino III on September 12.

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Chapter 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the research design, locale of the study,

respondents and sampling used and statistical treatment of data.

Research Design

This study employs the descriptive research method to determine the status

of cybercrime related cases in General Santos City as basis for a proposed action

plan which is a definite procedure to characterize, describe, and classify data or

materials needed in relevance to the study.

Locale of the Study

The study will be conducted in two chosen precinct of General Santos Ciy.

This includes Police Station 1, Pendatun Avenue, General Santos City and Police

Station 2, Makar - Siguel Rd, General Santos City.

Research Instrument

The study made used of the researcher-made questionnaire as the

instrument in gathering the information from the respondents. The questions were

based on the objectives of the study on the effectiveness of work ethics.

The researcher personally administers the distribution of questionnaires to

the respondents to assure one hundred percent return.

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This study used the following scaling and parameters.

SCALING DESCRIPTION

1 Occur Frequently

2 Occur Infrequently

3 Has not Occurred

Respondents and Sampling Used

The respondents will be chosen by their superiors. Twenty (20) police

officers will answer the prepared questionnaire.

The researchers will use a probability sampling procedure in choosing the

respondents. Particularly, the simple random sampling using the Slovin’s formula.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researcher will observed the following procedure in data gathering:

Asking permission to conduct the study. The researcher will write a letter to the

Officer in charge in the Security of General Santos Airport to gather specific data’s

and assures the institutions that this data will be use purely in the study.

Analysis and interpretation of data. The researcher will gather and analyzed the

data gathered using the appropriate statistical tools.

Statistical Treatment of Data

The researcher will use the frequency distribution (percentage distribution)

and the computation of the weighted average mean (WM). These statistical tools

will be used to come up with the summary of the results of the survey. Thus, these
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results will be tabulated and interpreted according to the problems of the study

being identified.
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REFERENCES

Chang, Y. C. (2012). Cybercrime in the greater China region: Regulatory

responses and crime prevention across the Taiwan Strait. Edward Elgar

Publishing.

Smith, R. (2010). Identity theft and fraud. The Handbook of Internet Crime.

Y. Jewkes & M. Jar (Ed.). Devon: Willan, 273-301.

Britz, Marjie T. (2008), Computer Forensics and Cyber Crime: An

Introduction 2nd edition by Paperback – 1705

Agustina, J. R., & Insa, F. (2011). Challenges before crime in a digital era:

Outsmarting cybercrime offenders–Workshop on Cybercrime, Computer Crime

Prevention and the Surveillance Society. Computer Law & Security Review,27(2),

211-212. Retrieved from

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0267364911000318

Anderson, T. M., & Gardner, T. J. (2015). Criminal Law: Twelfth Edition.

Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Berlanti, G., Guggenheim, M., Kreisberg, A. (Writer), & Barrett, D. (Director).

(2013). Sacrifice [Television series episode]. In G. Berlanti (Executive Producer),

Arrow. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: The CW Television Network.

Cheng, H., & Ma, L. (2009). White collar crime and the criminal justice

system: Government response to bank fraud and corruption in China. Journal of

Financial Crime, 16(2), 166-179. Retrieved from

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/13590790910951849
 18

Dang, S. T. (2011). The Prevention of Cyberterrorism and Cyberwar. In Old

Dominion University Model United Nations Conference (ODUMUNC) (pp. 1-6).

Retrieved from https://www.odu.edu/content/dam/odu/offices/mun/2011

/disec/issue-brief-2011-the-prevention-of-cyberterrorism-and-cyberwar.pdf

Ionescu, L., Mirea, V., & Blajan, A. (2011). Fraud, Corruption and Cyber

Crime in a Global Digital Network. Economics, Management and Financial

Markets,6(2), 373-380. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/884339022/fulltextPDF?accountid=12085

Jaishankar, K. (Ed.). (2011). Cyber criminology: exploring internet crimes

and criminal behavior. CRC Press.

Newman, R. C. (2006, September). Cybercrime, identity theft, and fraud:

practicing safe internet-network security threats and vulnerabilities. InProceedings

of the 3rd annual conference on Information security curriculum development (pp.

68-78). ACM.

Sen, A. (2013). Linking Cyber Crime to the Social Media: A Case Study of

Victims in Kolkata. Interpersonal Crimes: A Critical Study of Systematic Bias

against Men, 378-382.

Shinder, D. L., & Cross, M. (2008). Scene of the Cybercrime. Syngress.

Swire, P. (2009). No cop on the beat: Underenforcement in e-commerce

and cybercrime. J. on Telecomm. & High Tech. L., 7, 107-124. Retrieved from

http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/jtelhtel7&div=8&g_sent=1&

collection=journals
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Wayne, Arnold, (22 August 2000). "Technology; Philippines to Drop

Charges on E-Mail Virus". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2012.

Geronimo L. Sy, Assistant Secretary A Short History of the Development of

Cybercrime Legislation in the Philippines - Department of Justice Manila

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Appendix A

QUESTIONNAIRE

NAME: _____________________________________________________
Surname Given name Middle name

GENERAL DIRECTIONS: Check the box that will correspond to your answer as

the means of cybercrime that is usually happening in your jurisdiction using the

scale below:

1 – Occur Frequently

2 – Occur Infrequently

3 – Has not occurred

Forms and Means of Cyber-Crime 1 2 3

Internet Fraud
This includes those strategies to
defraud users and consumers on the
Internet. The strategies used involves
innocent users receiving an email stating
that the sender needs assistance in the
transfer of a large amount of money.
Identity theft and Privacy Invasion
When criminals use information of
somebody on stolen credit card making
and will have a huge transaction involving
money by reconstructing that person’s
identity.
ATM Fraud
Criminals keep developing many
new ways of getting into the user’s
account. Through providing a personal
identification number (PIN) at the ATM
machine, criminals can intercept the data
on the card’s magnetic strip and even the
user’s PIN.
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Wire Fraud
This involves a highly
programmable application that transfers
funds from organization accounts or
individual account.
Child Pornography
This crime occurs through the
provision of websites at exposes children
that are less than 18years old to
pornography.
Computer Viruses
This is the intentional release of
computer viruses that can damage the
computer system in a very short time. It is
sometimes released over the internet and
when it gets into some computer
systems, it replicates itself and damages
the computer.
Hacking
This is a breach into the computer
network through some computer
programming. Hacking was a good
activity that made many programmers
good computer security architects.
Sabotage
This is a cybercrime that is related
to hijacking the website of an organization
or even the government through hacking.
Phishing
This a technique of extracting
confidential information such as credit
card numbers and username password
combos by masquerading as a legitimate
enterprise.
Cyber stalking
Cyber stalking is a new form of
internet crime in our society when a
person is pursued or followed online. A
cyber stalker doesn’t physically follow his
victim; he does it virtually by following his
online activity to harvest information
about the stalkee and harass him or her
and make threats using verbal
intimidation. It’s an invasion of one’s
online privacy.
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Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is one of the most
rampant crimes committed in the virtual
world. It is a form of bullying carried over
to the internet. On the other hand, global
leaders are aware of this crime and pass
laws and acts that prohibit the
proliferation of cyberbullying.
Social Engineering
Social engineering is a method in
which cybercriminals make a direct
contact with you through phone calls,
emails, or even in person. Basically, they
will also act like a legitimate company as
well.