Two thirds of European youth involved in cybercrime

More than two thirds of young people in Europe aged 16-19-years-old are engaging in some form of online risk taking or cybercrime, the first major survey of its kind reveals.

Cybercriminal and online risk taking behaviours are closely correlated, with perpetrators often carrying out multiple crimes, the research covering 8,000 youths in nine European countries including the UK shows.

The stark new findings in the 'Human and Technical Drivers of Cybercrime - CC Driver' report by Professor Julia Davidson, Professor Mary Aiken and Kirsty Phillips of the Institute for Connected Communities  highlight:

• 1 in 7 have sent out spam messages or self-generated sexual images
• 1 in 5 have engaged in sexting, used illegal gambling markets, or shared materials which depict violence
• 1 in 8 have engaged in money muling
• 1 in 4 have tracked or trolled someone else online
• 1 in 8 have engaged in online harassment
• 1 in 10 have engaged in hate speech, hacking or cyberbullying
• 1 in 11 have engaged in phishing, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, cyber fraud, identify theft or online racist/xenophobic speech
• 1 in 13 have engaged in sextortion online

Approximately half report to engage in a behaviour that could be considered a criminal offence in a jurisdiction (e.g. money muling, hate speech, hacking, fraud, non-consensual sharing of intimate images).

In addition, 12 per cent use risky spaces which are intentionally hidden such as Dark Web Forums, and 11 per cent use Darknet Markets which sell illegal goods.

Overall, 69 per cent of youths have committed at least one form of cybercrime or online risk taking in the last year across the 20 behaviours surveyed.

Professor Julia Davidson, lead author of the study, said,

The research indicates that a large proportion of young people in the EU are engaging is some form of cybercrime to such an extent that the conduct of low-level crimes online has become almost normalised amongst young people, with 74 per cent of males and 65 per cent of females admitting to being involved in some form of cybercrime or online risk-taking in 2021.

Research has always focused on young people as victims of cybercrime previously, never the perpetrators. But we need to understand why young people engage in cybercrime and how we can develop interventions to deter them from the crime pathway.

The findings will inform evidence-based education and awareness programmes that focus on legal and ethical internet use, intervention initiatives and future policy recommendations. We are also developing tools including a parental checklist that will highlight red flags in terms of behaviour."

Mary Aiken, Professor of Cyberpsychology and co-lead author of the study said, "A significant finding of our research is that cybercriminal and cyber deviant behaviours form a cluster of 11 behaviours that are very highly interrelated namely: Sextortion; Revenge Porn; Identity Theft; Cyber fraud; Cyberbullying; Racism and Xenophobia; Phishing; Hate Speech; Harassment; Hacking; and Money Muling. Therefore a significant shift from a siloed, categorical approach is needed in terms of how cybercrimes are conceptualised, investigated and legislated."

"This is one of the largest studies of its kind to date, a transdisciplinary approach informed by cyberpsychology, criminology, psychology and neuroscience. One of the aims of this project is to inform evidence-based interventions - importantly, highlighting youth pathways into and out of cybercrime".

The research also looks at the motivations and pathways into cybercrime. Participants came from a range of socio-economic backgrounds, and were from urban and rural areas in the UK, Spain, Romania, The Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Italy, Sweden and France.

The country with the highest prevalence of those involved in cybercrime was Spain (75 per cent), followed by Romania (73 per cent), The Netherlands (73 per cent) and Germany (72 per cent). The UK's rate was 58 per cent.

Males were more likely to have been involved in some form of cybercrime or cyber deviancy (74 per cent), compared to women. (65 per cent). And nearly half of those surveyed believed that behaviours increased during COVID-19 lockdowns.

Read the report.