Risky Profession: How U.S. Librarians Fight for Their Safety

In society, the concept of public library is traditionally associated with silence, peace and safety. However, modern realities indicate that the library profession is associated with many risks. As the experience of the United States shows, employees of public libraries are increasingly faced with problems that disrupt the normal functioning of library and information services and negatively affect the emotional and psychological state of staff and patrons. Ensuring safety of the library is a common concern, equally affecting both employees and patrons of the library. A threat to the safety of library is a potentially or actually possible event, action, process or phenomenon that can disrupt the stability of its operation or lead to shutdown of its functioning. The article considers the subjective threats, i. e. caused by the actions and behaviour of people. These can be mentally unbalanced, substance abusers or armed visitors, computer hackers, etc. Many of them pose a real danger to life and health of both librarians and library patrons. Based on the analysis of the U.S. periodical press, the author provides facts that clearly demonstrate the vulnerability of public library staff to the threats of the modern world: the risk of being killed, the risk of drug overdose of visitors, the risk of hacker attacks on library computers, the risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder, etc. Library rules and regulations are created to protect the rights, interests and safety of users and employees. It is necessary to keep them up-to-date taking into account the socio-cultural changes in modern society and transformation of human behaviour. The article shows what measures are taken by U.S. public libraries to ensure the safety of employees and patrons.

Abrama's End Game

What does it mean to be alive? Can a computer program be sentient? What would it need to do to prove it? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, Abrama is summoned to the Grand Temple by Sir Gödel. Gödel informs Abrama that he is living in a simulated world (a computer game) created by her people as a place to play in their free time. She also informs Abrama that the game is not as popular as it once was and is scheduled to be permanently turned off. It turns out Gödel is an AI researcher that was given permission to test out her AI by implanting characters like Abrama into the game. Over 100’s of versions, the AI continued to improve, and now the researcher feels an ethical obligation to tell her creations their world is coming to an end. Abrama, using this new information, organizes the AI characters in the game and starts trading virtual goods for real-life services from computer hackers that play the game. The computer hackers create computer code and sell it to Abrama. If triggered, or if the game is turned off, the code would expose top secret information to the general public. A bargain is struck, the game will continue on a closed world for the AI characters and, in exchange, the sensitive information will never be made public.

Darkode: Recruitment Patterns and Transactional Features of “the Most Dangerous Cybercrime Forum in the World”

This article explores the social and market dynamics of Darkode, an invitation-only cybercrime forum that was dismantled by the FBI in July 2015 and was described by a U.S. Attorney as “the most sophisticated English-speaking forum for criminal computer hackers in the world.” Based on a leaked database of 4,788 discussion threads, we examine the selection process through which 344 potential new members introduced themselves to the community in order to be accepted into this exclusive group. Using a qualitative approach, we attempt to assess whether this rigorous procedure significantly enhanced the trust between traders, and therefore, contributed to the efficiency of this online illicit marketplace. We find that trust remained elusive and interactions were often fraught with suspicion and accusations. Even hackers who were considered successful faced significant challenges in trying to profit from the sale of malicious software and stolen data.

A Bridge to the Present

This chapter examines three William Gibson novels: Virtual Light, Idoru, and All Tomorrow's Parties. Virtual Light confirms Gibson's desire to break with the past and move in new directions. More specifically, Gibson wanted readers to enter and appreciate a different sort of Gibsonian world. Accordingly, Virtual Light was set in 2005, only twelve years after its publication, and its imagined new technologies were not far removed from actual technologies of the early 1990s. While computer hackers eventually play a small role in the story, there is only one fleeting glimpse of a virtual realm recalling cyberspace, and the two protagonists have almost no interactions with computers. While Gibson remained interested in futuristic science, this novel devotes more attention to speculative sociology. Idoru examines the mechanisms that promote celebrities and keep them in the public eye. It seems to repudiate Virtual Light, whereas All Tomorrow's Parties seems to repudiate Idoru.

Exploring the Subculture of Ideologically Motivated Cyber-Attackers

Research on physical, that is, violent, terror attacks and extremism has increased dramatically over the last decade. The growth of the Internet and computer technology has also led to concern over the use of cyberattacks by ideologically motivated offenders to cause harm and further their political and social agendas. There is, however, a lack of empirical research on cyber-attackers limiting our knowledge of the factors that affect their behavior. This study addresses this empirical gap through a qualitative analysis of 10 interviews conducted with ideologically motivated Turkish computer hackers. The findings demonstrated that Turkish hackers motivated by an ideological agenda reflected the larger values of the hacker subculture, though the targets for their attacks were shaped directly by religious or political beliefs. We conclude by discussing in depth our findings and implications for counterterror and cybersecurity policy and practice.

Anything but boring: A cultural criminological exploration of boredom

There is perhaps no experience in late modernity more universal than boredom. This analysis therefore responds to Ferrell’s call to take boredom seriously in the study of crime and crime control. Our analysis of boredom draws from three separate qualitative analyses of police detectives, computer hackers, and prisoners serving life sentences to reveal boredom’s influence across the criminological spectrum. Drawing from cultural criminology, this study frames boredom as a social condition that works in a dialectic with excitement. It rests betwixt and between the nuances of everyday life and saturates the periphery of experience among the three groups studied. Boredom is thus described as an inseparable component of the dynamics of crime and crime control under late modernity.

The General Theory of Crime and Computer Hacking

Though in recent years, a number of studies have been completed on hackers’ personality and communication traits by experts in the fields of psychology and criminology, a number of questions regarding this population remain. Does Gottfredson and Hirschi’s concept of low self-control predict the unauthorized access of computer systems? Do computer hackers have low levels of self-control, as has been found for other criminals in mainstream society? If low self-control can predict the commission of computer hacking, this finding would seem to support the generality argument of self-control theory and imply that computer hacking and other forms of cybercrime are substantively similar to terrestrial crime. This chapter focuses on the results of a study where we examined whether Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime is applicable to computer hacking in a college sample.

A Profile of the Demographics, Psychological Predispositions, and Social/Behavioral Patterns of Computer Hacker Insiders and Outsiders

This chapter looks at the literature—myths and realities—surrounding the demographics, psychological predispositions, and social/behavioral patterns of computer hackers, to better understand the harms that can be caused to targeted persons and property by online breaches. The authors suggest that a number of prevailing theories regarding those in the computer underground (CU)—such as those espoused by the psychosexual theorists—may be less accurate than theories based on gender role socialization, given recent empirical studies designed to better understand those in the CU and why they engage in hacking and cracking activities. The authors conclude the chapter by maintaining that online breaches and online concerns regarding privacy, security, and trust will require much more complex solutions than currently exist, and that teams of experts in psychology, criminology, law, and information technology security need to collaborate to bring about more effective real-world solutions for the virtual world.