This special issue introduces the topic of cybercrime to Dutch criminology. First, it raises the major substantive issues that computer technology involves for criminology, in terms of crime volume, people involved in crime, and the ways that crimes are committed. Also, it deals with research literature on cybercrime on various topics, such as survey methodology, crime prevention and Internet applications open to justice professionals in the fight against crime. Overall, the article concludes that much research remains to be done in this relatively new field.

Scientific research on cybercrime has mainly focused on its technological aspects. There is a lack of knowledge regarding the human factor in cybercrime. In this article we focus on the human factor and address the question to what extent crackers (criminal hackers) are similar to other criminals. We analyse socio-demographic characteristics as well as criminal careers of crackers in comparison to those of other criminals. We employ Dutch police data on criminal suspects from 1996-2009. Our results show that hacking suspects are quite similar to other criminals with respect to both socio-demographic characteristics and their criminal careers.

Identity fraud is a rapidly growing problem, as shown by recent volume estimates from victim surveys. Little is known however about the amount of financial damage among victims of this crime, especially in the Dutch context. This article studies victims of unauthorized cash withdrawal from their bank account, which is one of the most common forms of identity fraud. For this, we use data on 180 victims from the representative LISS panel. The results show that the financial implications of this type of crime experience vary widely between victims. While many victims are disadvantaged for only a small amount of money (for almost 40 per cent is about less than 50 euros ), a quarter of this group suffers from substantial money loss of more than 500 euros. Nevertheless, the vast majority (85 per cent) are completely reimbursed by their banks. Eventually, only in rare cases victims suffer significant permanent money loss. Remarkably, the low educated are significantly less often reimbursed by their banks.

It is assumed that the online world creates new possibilities for criminal behaviour. Only recently criminologists started the debate on the applicability of traditional criminological theories to cybercrime offending. Data retrieved from the national Dutch survey Youth & Cybersafety indicate that cyberbullying behaviour is not only strongly interwoven with traditional bullying behaviours, but is also affected by the distinct features of the online environment. The findings give support to the suggestion that the aetiological schema to explain cyberbullying should postulate the interaction between individual characteristics, distinct features of the online environment and the interaction between offline and online social realities.

The number of Internet users who reported they have come into contact with cybercrime is substantial. This article examines three forms of cybercrime, namely: hacking, cyber stalking and cyber threats. Because cybercrime is relatively extensive in the life of Dutch citizens, it is important to gain insight into factors that influence victimization. By means of a secondary analysis of data from the first Dutch national cybercrime victim survey (N=9,161), it is assessed to which extend online behaviours affect victimization. In particular, online behaviours involving the use of communication applications affect victimization of the three aforementioned cybercrimes. The article provides suggestions for further research into cybercrime victimization.