The use of a computer as an instrument to further illegal ends, such as committing fraud, child pornography or violating privacy.

The role of cybercrime law

Cybercrime law identifies standards of acceptable behaviour for information and communication technology (ICT) users; establishes socio-legal sanctions for cybercrime; protects ICT users, in general, and mitigates and/or prevents harm to people, data, systems, services, and infrastructure, in particular; protects human rights; enables the investigation and prosecution of crimes committed online (outside of traditional real-world settings); and facilitates cooperation between countries on cybercrime matters (UNODC, 2013, p. 52). Cybercrime law provides rules of conduct and standards of behaviour for the use of the Internet, computers, and related digital technologies, and the actions of the public, government, and private organizations; rules of evidence and criminal procedure, and other criminal justice matters in cyberspace; and regulation to reduce risk and/or mitigate the harm done to individuals, organizations, and infrastructure should a cybercrime occur. Accordingly, cybercrime law includes substantive, procedural and preventive law.

Legal systems

Each state has its own legal system, which affects the creation of substantive criminal law on cybercrime.

Common law: These systems create laws by legal precedent (i.e., ruling in case binding to the court and lower courts) and established practice. These laws exist as separate laws and case law (i.e., law that develops from court decisions or legal precedent).

Civil law: These legal systems have codified, consolidated, and comprehensive legal rules or statutes that delineate basic rights, responsibilities, duties and expectations of behaviour. These legal systems are primarily based on legislation and constitutions.

Customary law: These legal systems include established and accepted patterns of behaviour within a culture that are perceived by those within the culture to be law ( opinion juris). In international law, customary law governs relationships and practices between states and is considered binding for all states.

Religious law: These legal systems include rules derived from religion or the use of religious documents as a legal source and authority.