As early as 1989, the Australian Institute of Criminology issued a report containing recommendations for homeowners and builders to manipulate the design of the house and the surrounding environment.
By doing so, they are told that they can minimize their chances of becoming a victim of crime, especially property crime. Work hard to improve lighting, reduce hedges, and avoid hiding places when criminals break into the house.
These are examples of the concept of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED). However, as more and more citizens spend their time on the Internet, it is necessary to bring the concept of CPTED into the Internet environment to “target” users and design cybercrimes.
Can do
There are many ways to easily commit crimes online, including bullying, identity theft, intellectual property theft and phishing scams. With the development of technology, this technology also brings crime.
Moving CPTED into the online field requires taking principles from the real world and applying them to the Internet environment. Take online shopping as an example.
Traditional shopping malls combine active and passive safety measures. Active safety measures include corridors to increase pedestrian passage. Passive security measures include physical surveillance and electronic surveillance to make people feel safe and create a pleasant experience.
Online shopping sites need to replicate this concept of active and passive security. This can be achieved through website design, product placement and navigation, and buyer and seller feedback programs. E-commerce has changed the way consumers shop, and it also provides new opportunities for criminals. Chief among them is the theft of personal information and credit card data, both of which can be monetized.
The importance of protecting data
This is different from the crime of offline shopping, in which criminals focus on stealing tangible items rather than information.
Different from physical products, information is variable, constantly changing, and has many variants, and its value depends on its completeness and conclusiveness.
The design of e-commerce websites needs to take into account the National Privacy Officer (NPP) and reduce the chance of personal information falling into the hands of others.
For example, NPP 4 focuses on data security and requires organizations to “take reasonable steps to protect the personal information they hold from misuse, loss, and unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure.”
Just like the safe navigation of the built environment in the real world, it is important to provide Internet users with safe choices, including where to go and how to predict and respond to problems, such as reporting problems to the police.
There are many government and non-government websites that provide consumers with online safety tips. However, the message needs to be enlarged to arouse the attention and actions of daily users.
Need to establish websites, associated portals and social networking sites to encourage legal use by many users. They need to allow casual online users to view websites with low visual impairments to determine what is happening. Avoid “hidden” places and encourage users who see what is happening to others to take care and act.
Examples of this include Internet dating sites (websites where vulnerable users are vulnerable to modification) and countless “daily transactions” sites.
Strive for balance
Of course, it is necessary to find a balance between privacy and security. Social networks or e-commerce sites need to allow privacy around personal conversations and the transmission of personal identification data in transactions.
But they also need mechanisms that system administrators can use to monitor security and website vulnerabilities. In addition, as in the real world, other users of the site also need to be “visible” to act as a deterrent to reduce bad user experience (including trolling) and prevent crime.
Crime prevention usually focuses on alleviating social problems that are believed to contribute to crime, rather than reducing the opportunities for criminals to commit crimes. This often leads the police to focus their crime prevention efforts in richer and more vulnerable areas.
This strategy can be reflected in the online environment by targeting popular websites that may be identified as vulnerable to scams.
For example, blog sites and portals created for certain products or experiences (such as themed social networking sites) are known to be visited by seniors or vulnerable groups who do not fully understand the principles of online security.
