Curbing cybercrime at institutions of higher learning: a case study of the Information Communication Technology unit (ICT) at selected South African universities

Cybercrime is identified as a crime that is primarily carried out by means and use of a computer via the internet. Thus the computer may be the subject and/or object of the crime. In South Africa, cybercrime has become a significant problem. There are various legislative Acts that govern cybercrime...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mothibi, Kholofelo (Author)
Contributors: Amali, Sadiq Ewaoda
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2018
In: Acta criminologica
Year: 2018, Volume: 31, Issue: 3, Pages: 57-70
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
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Keywords:
Crime
Cybercrime
Hacking
Communication technologies
Phishing
Information
Description
Summary:Cybercrime is identified as a crime that is primarily carried out by means and use of a computer via the internet. Thus the computer may be the subject and/or object of the crime. In South Africa, cybercrime has become a significant problem. There are various legislative Acts that govern cybercrime in South Africa such as the Electronic Communications Act No. 25 of 2002 and Related Information Act No. 70 of 2002. However, students in institutions of higher learning have become extremely vulnerable to cybercrime, due to heightened dependence on technologies in teaching and learning. The specific objective and purpose of this article is to probe the strategies employed by the Information Communication Technology (ICT) units at selected universities in South Africa, in their concerted efforts to curb the prevalence of cybercrime perpetrated against students. This study was conducted at the universities of Venda and Fort Hare in South Africa. The methodology of the study was qualitative in nature and a total of ten ICT staff members - five per institution - were selected and interviewed using purposive sampling. This study was able to determine the strategies employed by the ICT units of these universities in curbing cybercrime.
ISSN:1012-8093