The teaching is organized as follows:

Learning objectives

The course will provide the conceptual, methodological and cultural basis to analyze and study the “ICTs Criminal Law”, cybercrimes and computer-related crimes and the “technological investigations”, developing the capacity in using correct and specific language and discourse. Students will gain, following this method and in subiecta materia, legal and technical expertise both on substantive criminal law and procedure criminal law levels. The course will study the new illegal phenomena related to the use of the new technologies and Internet, also through social networks (for example: online defamation, frauds - connected to online banking, phishing, identity theft - privacy violation, copyright infringement, child pornography, child grooming, cyberterrorism, cyber laundering). The course will analyze, taking into consideration real cases, the applicable criminal law, in particular for illegal activities down to the new concept of “cybercrime”, which is a transnational and global crime. For this reason it’s necessary to analyze the most important international and European legal sources (Cybercrime Convention and Lanzarote Convention of the Council of Europe, European directives on: attack against information systems, child pornography, intellectual property, e-commerce and privacy) Special attention will be given to the Internet Service Providers criminal liability, subject of recent European Court of Justice and Italian Corte di Cassazione judgements (cases Google, Netlog etc.). In this area particular attention will be paid to the need to regulate the collection of data and the digital evidence, which are becoming increasingly important for the detection and prosecution of every criminal offence, not only “cybercrime”.

Program

The course aims to provide conceptual and methodological skills to analyse and understand cybercrime, a term we use to refer to a variety of crimes that have emerged thanks to new technologies, such as: cyber-dependent crimes (that can only be committed using computers and other technological devices, such as unauthorized access to computer networks); cyber-assisted crimes (not new crimes that are enhanced by new technologies, such as identity theft and fraud); cyber-assisted crimes (traditional offences whose commission is simply facilitated by technology, such as cyber-extortion).
The course aims to provide conceptual and methodological skills to analyse and understand cybercrime, a term we use to refer to a variety of crimes that have emerged thanks to new technologies, such as: cyber-dependent crimes (that can only be committed using computers and other technological devices, such as unauthorized access to computer networks); cyber-assisted crimes (not new crimes that are enhanced by new technologies, such as identity theft and fraud); cyber-assisted crimes (traditional offences whose commission is simply facilitated by technology, such as cyber-extortion).
The course is divided into three modules. The first is devoted to defining the phenomenon from a criminological perspective and discussing the main data sources available to measure it. It also discusses criminological theories useful in explaining these forms of delinquency.
The second module focuses in detail on the perpetrators of cybercrime (discussing profiles, motivations, differences compared to "traditional" criminals), also in organized form (cyber-organized crime, cyber-terrorism and cyber warfare), and on its victims. It then reviews the main prevention strategies (primary, secondary and tertiary) of cybercrime, with particular attention to the contribution of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The third module analyzes the criminal response to the phenomenon. As these are transnational and global crimes, we focus on the most important international and European legal sources of criminal law and procedure (Convention on Cybercrime and Lanzarote Convention of the Council of Europe, and European directives on: attack against information systems, child pornography, intellectual property, e-commerce and privacy).

Learning assessment procedures

Oral exam.