ICT students exhibit both positive and negative online behaviour

Up until now, much was unknown about the characteristics of young people committing cybercrimes. For example, no research existed on the extent to which both individual characteristics and social context factors are related to offending. The report Understanding cybercriminal behaviour among young people is based on a survey study among a large sample of 892 Dutch students in secondary or tertiary education (15 to 25 years old), following ICT programmes, tracks, or courses. This study is unique in mapping the social network of school friends, which provides new insights into the potential role of criminal peers.

A narrow majority of ICT students commit cybercrime

A narrow majority of juveniles enrolled in ICT education recently committed a cyber offence. This was true for both cyber-dependent offending – offences requiring the use of online means such as hacking – and cyber-enabled offending – offences existing in the offline world, but also possible online such as fraud. The most prevalent and often simple offences were: hacking by guessing a password, stealing (illegally copying) files or data, and fighting out conflicts online. More technical cyber-dependent offences, such as hacking using technical applications or exploits, online fraud, and defacing websites, were also quite common. The participants of this study reported committing cyber-delinquency more often than traditional delinquency, such as theft, vandalism, or violence.

Online rule-breaking not as black and white as it may seem

The study showed a surprising relationship between positive and negative online behaviour. Study participants who committed crimes online also used their ICT skills to help others. For example, they helped others with their ICT problems or with designing digital media, they reported digital vulnerabilities, or were active on online ICT platforms. Both positive and negative online behaviour may attract these students, which means that the choice to break rules online is not black and white to them.

The role of friends in online behaviour

The secretive nature of cybercrime means that about half of the study participants had no knowledge of the cyber-delinquent behaviour of their school friends. It was particularly difficult for them to estimate their friends’ involvement in cyber-dependent crime. Consequently, perceptions of friends’ cyber-delinquency were more strongly related to an individual’s own cyber-delinquency than friends’ actual delinquency. This suggests that young people tend to adapt their online behaviour to how they believe their friends behave rather than how these friends actually behave. It may also mean that young people think that their friends are more like themselves than they really are.

Differences in risk factors between cyber-dependent and cyber-enabled crime

Several differences between the two main cybercrime categories emerged. Cyber-dependent offences were mainly related to individual factors, such as advanced ICT knowledge and computer addiction. For cyber-enabled offences, social context factors were more important, such as the bond with school and being at home unsupervised. The study’s findings, therefore, suggest that risk factors for cyber-enabled offences are more similar to traditional offences than those for cyber-dependent offences.

Positive use of ICT skills

This study suggests that schools may spot early signs of potential cyber-delinquency in their students and stimulate their students to use their ICT skills in a positive manner, for example by teaching them about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ online behaviour. In addition, it may be beneficial to focus prevention programs on relatively high risk groups, such as ICT students. For cyber-dependent crime, interventions could address individual risk factors, such as computer addiction. For cyber-enabled crimes, it may also help to focus on social context factors, such as the bond with school and strengthening supervision at home.

Publication details and further reading

Weulen Kranenbarg, M., Van der Toolen, Y. & Weerman, F. (2022). Understanding  cybercriminal behaviour among young people: Results from a longitudinal network study among a relatively high risk sample. Amsterdam: VU/NSCR.
Also see the Dutch Summary.