PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING OF CYBERCRIMINALS IN PAKISTAN: A MEDIA AND LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

In Pakistan, cybercrime represents a major threat to individual citizens, organizations, and national security; there has been an unprecedented rise in digital technologies and social networking sites. As a result, researchers, journalists, and law enforcement agencies have become increasingly aware of the psychological aspect of cybercriminal behaviour. This research seeks to understand and document these psychological profiles from two different perspectives (i.e., the media's view and law enforcement's view) of cybercriminals within the country. In order to do so, this research has developed two research objectives: to identify the predominant psychological characteristics of cybercriminals and to consider how the media's and law enforcement's perceptions of cybercriminals differ. There are also two research questions that guide the research: (1) what are the types of psychological characteristics linked to cybercriminal activity? (2) What are the different institutional viewpoints on the process and application of criminal profiling? This research has developed two hypotheses that statistically tested via an examination of the correlation of psychological characteristics with cybercriminal behaviour and the correlation of one's institutional role to that of cybercriminal profiling. A survey design with quantitative research is being used to collect data from journalists and law enforcement personnel. Data is obtained through an instrument (questionnaire) being administered to those who are part of the target population/group for this research study. A total of 200 samples have been drawn from each target population using stratified sampling to ensure adequate representation from each group. The data analyzed using statistics. There tables and pie charts provided to allow for ease of interpretation and representation of results. The results of the study show that cybercriminals exhibit trait characteristics of impulsiveness, social isolation, narcissism, and technology competency. The research also found that there is a significant difference between how journalists and law enforcement view the motive of the cybercriminal and how accurately they profile the cybercriminal. Using statistical analysis of both hypotheses, there is strong evidence to support that there are important associations between the psychological traits and characteristics of a person and the pattern of behaviour associated with their engagement in cybercrime. This research indicates that developing psychological profilers for law enforcement training and for specific public awareness campaigns would improve the efficiency of investigations and increase the success rate of preventing cybercrime. The recommendations include: establishing a structured inter-agency cooperative efforts, developing a specific psychological training program for each agency, and developing a national framework for profiling cybercriminals in order to address the continuing and increasing damage caused by cybercrime in Pakistan.