Understanding the Relationship between Cybercrime and Human Behavior through Criminological Theories and Social Networking Sites

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of emerging issues in the psychology of human behaviour and the evolving nature of cyber threats. Theories of crime and empirical studies on user victimisation as seen on social networks are reviewed. The chapter reflects on the role of social engineering as the entry point of many sophisticated attacks and highlights the relevance of the human element as the starting point of implementing cyber security programmes in organisations as well as securing individual online behaviour. Specifically, the criminological theories of crime (i.e. self-control and rational choice theories) are discussed. Issues associated with the emerging trends in human behaviour research and ethics are presented for further discussion. The chapter concludes with a set of open research questions warranting immediate academic attention to avoid the exponential growth of future information breaches.