For many involved in crime density, cybercrime is the nightmare of the 21st century. It accounts for millions in ill-gotten gains every year. Vast criminal networks that span the globe are now actively involved in cybercrime of one kind or another. The potential for future earnings is almost limitless and the relative security offered by the Internet provider from cyber criminals means that it is extremely difficult to catch. The victims accumulate. However, things were not always like this.

In the early days of cybercrime, the world of cybercrime was seen as a fairly harmless prank by computer geeks showing how much they knew about how computer networks work. It was tantamount to a dare, you say it can’t be done and we’ll show you how it can be done. Relatively little harm was intended to be done, and criminal defense attorneys did not have their jobs to prove it. In fact, in the early days there were few, if any, specific criminal laws in the statutes regulating cybercrime and most criminal defenses were standard.

As times have changed, so has the nature of cybercrime. More technological advances and cheaper access to hardware and software meant that the Internet became a domain that anyone could access. Another sinister fraud caught the attention of authorities. Crimes involving children, such as child pornography, became widely known. With the escalation of the criminal element of cybercrime, new laws and criminal defense attorneys were needed.

However, even as recently as the last five years, cybercrime was still controllable. Cybercrime was not a major source of income for criminal gangs at the end of the 20th century. It has only been since the millennium that things have changed.

However, without the global implementation of criminal sanctions against the actions of cybercriminals, the last criminal defense still exists, namely jurisdiction. Unlike a crime committed in the real world, it is physically possible for a criminal to be in two places at once when it comes to cybercrime. He can commit a crime in the US while sitting comfortably in her apartment in Russia. Consequently, universal laws will be needed if a criminal defense mechanism is to be established to combat these growing problems.

Fortunately for the cybercriminal, yet another perfect criminal defense remains: government apathy to come together to combat this growing problem.