Title: Cybercrime: a value chain approach

Authors: Howard Rush; Erika Kraemer-Mbula

Addresses: Centre for Research in Innovation Management (CENTRIM), University of Brighton, 154 Edward Street, Brighton, BN2 0JG, UK ' Institute for Economic Research on Innovation, 159 Nana Sita Street, Pretoria CBD, 0002, Tshwane, Gauteng, South Africa

Abstract: The internet has propelled many economic agents into new beneficial ways of trading and distributing goods and services. However, the exponential growth of cybercrime has raised often justified fear of the rapid growth of new forms of internet supported fraud and identity theft. Greater reliance on the internet has provided room for a range of illegal activities that increase the vulnerability of both producers and consumers of internet-based services, and every day cybercriminals devise new ways to detect and infiltrate these vulnerabilities. This article provides a new framework for understanding and analysing global cybercrime trends based on a value chain approach. The value chain research method is able to unpack the web of interlinked activities as cybercriminals seek to make profit from cybercrimes. We argue that the value chain approach is a useful tool to identify the main players as well as to examine key issues related to governance, linkages and innovation (upgrading).

Keywords: cybercrime; value chain; information technology; illegal business; fraud; identity theft; governance; linkages; innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVCM.2014.062898

International Journal of Value Chain Management, 2014 Vol.7 No.2, pp.134 - 152

Accepted: 04 Mar 2013
Published online: 24 Jul 2014 *

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