Cybercrime Classification: A Motivational Model

As cybercrime continues to take up a disturbing publicity in the trends that mark our century, the commitment of governments, businesses and the global community to fight this pandemic is not surprising. However, combating this ill will entail identifying, defining and classifying cybercrime. Meanwhile the cybercrime phenomenon is now well known and defined; its classification has been limited at the top-level to a dichotomy of “computer-assisted” and “computer-focused” cybercrimes. This paper examines the crime theory and makes use of two primary motivation models plus four others to posit a motivational framework for cybercrime classification. The proposed model exposes a more holistic perspective on the topic, and would prove a useful tool for all the stakeholders in the battle against cybercrime.