The Rational Choice Theory: Criminology by Frank Schmalleger

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Gone are the days of pick-pockets and traditional thieves stealing your money and wrist-watches right off of your body. The deviants of today are turning to a safer and easier alternative to gain access to your possessions – the internet. Rational choice theory as defined by Frank Schmalleger in his text Criminology is “a perspective that holds that criminality is the result of a conscious choice and predicts that individuals choose to commit crime when the benefits outweigh the costs of disobeying the law” (2014, p. 26). The internet decreases these costs and increases the convenience of committing a crime for anyone interested, compared to traditional in-person crimes. Anyone who can use a computer is equipped to become a cyber-criminal.
One of today’s most valuable possessions is information. Whether it is personal information, bank routing numbers, private shopping preferences or trade secrets, information is the item everyone is trying to gain or protect. The current ability to access free information on such a multitude of topics is part of what makes the choice to commit cyber-crime so “cost” effective. A search on Google.com for “how to hack” turns up 289,000,000 results in .26 seconds! A quick internet search is all it takes for someone who previously would have had to work up the courage to “bump” into someone and the skill to silently pinch their wallet on a crowded street. A few clicks and they can effortlessly pinch private information out of someone’s computer, usually without their knowledge of the theft or the pain of having to meet your victim. “In terms of the root causes of crime, the Internet has provided extraordinary opportunities for financial crimes, mischief, and the destruction of infrastructure”...

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...uld be protecting your smartphone and tablet data. 72% of Internet users have at least basic antivirus software on their computers, compared to only 33% of smartphone users, leaving 77% of smartphone users alone, vulnerable to hackers (Symantec, 2013, p.6). Protecting your information requires some simple changes that are easy to implement. Firstly, it is important to use different passwords for each log-in as well as create passwords with varied case-structure and include special characters and numbers. Secondly, log-out of all pages visited, rather than closing the window. Thirdly, implement regular scans of your system with anti-virus software to help catch any intrusions before they can cause too much damage. Modern anti-virus software is constantly updating itself to be on the look-out for the newest viruses and malware as its made known to the industry.

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