An Investigation about Legal Jurisdiction, Cyber-Hunting and Law Enforcement in the UK and Malaysia

Overview of this Law Dissertation Example

• This law dissertation example explores the complex interplay between legal jurisdiction, cyber-hunting, and law enforcement in the United Kingdom and Malaysia. It examines the challenges posed by cybercrime in these two jurisdictions, considering their distinct legal systems and technological infrastructures. The study analyzes current legislation, investigative techniques, and international cooperation frameworks to combat online criminal activities.
• Key areas of focus include the extraterritorial application of cyber laws, the role of digital forensics in gathering evidence, and the ethical implications of cyber-hunting practices. The research compares the effectiveness of law enforcement strategies in both countries, highlighting best practices and areas for improvement. Additionally, it addresses the tension between privacy rights and security needs in the digital age.
• The dissertation concludes by proposing recommendations for enhancing cross-border collaboration, harmonizing legal frameworks, and developing specialized training programs for law enforcement agencies to effectively tackle cybercrime in an increasingly interconnected world.

Introduction and Literature Review

Review of Background Literature

Extensive research has been conducted to assess the key impacts of cybercrimes on the success of e-commerce. For example, the studies by Apau and Koranteng (2019), Pittayachawan, Singh and Corbitt (2018) and Leena (2019) examined the extent to which the consequences of cybercrime victimisation as well as the perceived impacts on the consumer’s intention to purchase using different e-commerce platforms. From a general perspective, all three studies reported that a larger portion of their participant population was worried about the fear of becoming victims of cybercrimes, negatively influencing their purchase intentions through e-commerce platforms. Similarly, Yilma and Abraha (2019) performed an empirical investigation into the potential impacts of cyber fraud and trust on online purchase behaviours among young adults in the UK, with the analysis showing that even though the incidences of cybercrimes are increasing, a significant number of members of this consumer population still prefer using e-commerce platforms to perform their online purchases because of the associated benefits such as convenience and time effectiveness.

Additionally, a study conducted by Apau, Koranteng and Gyamfi (2020) involving the theory of planned behaviour reported that cybercrime perceptions often have significant consequences on European citizens’ intention to participate in online shopping and banking. On the contrary, evidence from the studies by Ajayi (2020), Munjal (2019) and Rezk, Barakat and Saleh (2020) show that people with limited knowledge about the consequences of cybercrimes are often more to engage in online purchases and electronic technologies for their transactions. Therefore, it is important to note that increased public awareness is among the key strategies to reduce incidences of cybercrimes, as a significant number of the vulnerable population would be made aware of the key tricks that cybercriminals use in different online platforms. 

Regarding to the explanations provided by Blythe (2019) and Yeasmin and Wu (2021), the e-commerce platforms should be safe for both the buyers and sellers and that trust is an important indicator for successful and ethical business practices within the online domain. Similarly, evidence from the studies by Ali et al. (2020), Reitano, Oerting and Hunter (2019) and Torres, Torres and Budgud (2022) identified all the antecedents of trust, such as institutional trust, technological trust as well as the service trust to have an essential role in influencing purchase intentions among consumers. Furthermore, previous studies by Brown (2020), Monsurat (2020) and Lavorgna (2020) highlighted the need for extensive investigation of the key impacts of trust or faith on e-commerce activities, specifically within a social context. Similarly, an empirical analysis research study by Potgieter (2019), which involved analysis of the consumers’ purchase intention within the e-commerce domain using the trust theory, reported that commitment and trust had positive impacts on the consumers’ purchase intentions. Correspondingly, Blair and Roth (2022), Bamrara, Chouhan and Bhatt (2020) and Cai et al. (2021) also explored the purchase intention among the consumers with reference to the use of e-commerce technologies with the analyses showing that trust and benefits of the e-commerce had positive impacts on the consumer’s purchase intention, with the risks negatively impacting purchase intention while trust negatively influencing risk.

Furthermore, Akanle and Shadare (2020) performed a cross-country analysis in the UK and the US about consumer intentions to use mobile commerce platforms. Specifically, results from this study demonstrated that the purchasing intention among the UK based consumers concerning the use of mobile commerce was influenced by the subjective norm, perceived usefulness and ease of use compared to the perceived innovativeness and compatibility reported among consumers using the e-commerce platforms in the US. Therefore, there is a need to assess the potential factors which influence purchasing intention among consumers on e-commerce platforms.

Problem Statement

Cybercrime is among the key criminal activities reported in the contemporary e-commerce market of the UK and Malaysia. According to the NCSC (2022), the UK is currently exposed to a wide range of cyber threats, including potential consequences on national security, such as ransomware and commodity cybercrime campaigns primarily focused on defrauding the UK public and businesses. Furthermore, NCSC (2022) reported that the UK business sector often loses approximately £1.5 billion annually to cybercrime activities. Malaysia has also reported increasing fraud and cybercrime cases, with the highest reported in 2021, approximately 28850 cases (DOSM, 2022). Such cases were then followed by criminal breach of trust cases, which included about 942 cases in 2021 (DOSM, 2022). Therefore, there is a need to assess the potential factors influencing consumers’ purchasing intention on e-commerce platforms.

Research Aim

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the efficiency of legal jurisdiction, cyber-hunting and law enforcement in the UK and Malaysia.

Research Questions

• What are the strategies for averting cybercrimes within e-commerce platforms?
• What are the consequences of cybercrimes on business trust and faith levels among consumers?

Research Methods

Research Methodology

The present study adopted a qualitative social media research method. According to Snelson (2021) and Kapoor et al. (2018), social media research involves the collection and analysis of social media data in order to perform either quantitative or qualitative analysis or both with the aim of comprehensively understanding the manner in which different social media users relate to the topic. Specifically, the present study focused on the collection and analysis of qualitative data from the social media platform Twitter in order to explore and determine the impacts of cybercrimes on consumers’ trust and faith towards the e-commerce market in the UK and Malaysia. Regarding the explanations provided by Filo, Lock and Karg (2020), social media research may be in the form of social listening and audience intelligence, where the researcher observes content and information that are produced online and uncover key trends and insights which emerge from the collected data. The adoption of social media research was appropriate for the present study as it allowed for access to unprompted feelings and opinions of users about the impacts of cybercrimes on consumers’ faith and trust in the efficiency of e-commerce activities in the UK and Malaysian markets. Therefore, social media research allowed collecting and analysing of large volumes of data available on social media platforms about the consequences of cybercrimes on the e-commerce market. Different people widely use social media platforms to share their views about contemporary issues, including the issues related to cybercrimes in e-commerce. including the issues related to cybercrimes in e-commerce.

Data Collection

Twitter analytics were used for collecting qualitative data from these social media platforms regarding the perceptions, lived experiences and thoughts of different social media users about the impacts of cybercrimes on trust and faith levels among consumers towards the e-commerce market in the UK and Malaysia. As reported in the studies by Chaffey (2020) and Townsend and Wallace (2019), social media analytics often provide downloadable data about the defined research problem. Specifically, this study focused on cybercrime-based Twitter channels and posts targeting the UK and Malaysian e-commerce markets. According to McCay-Peet and Quan-Haase (2021), researchers can use Twitter and Facebook search pages to search for key information about the research problem under investigation using defined keywords with a specific period and locations.  Twitter was used in the present study as they encourage comments from different users and hashtags or discussion threads for searching data about the impacts of cybercrimes on e-commerce markets. The hashtags used for data retrieval on Twitter include #cybercrimeuk, #cybercrime, #cybersecurity, #cybercrimeattack, #hacking. Comments from different Twitter users contained on these threads were collected and analysed in order to determine the impacts of cybercrimes on e-commerce performance.

Data Analysis

The collected data were analysed using a thematic analysis process. With reference to the explanations provided by Clarke, Braun and Hayfield (2019) and Terry et al. (2019), thematic analysis is a method for analysing qualitative data which involves reading through the dataset and identifying key patterns of meaning across the data in order to facilitate the development of themes about the research problem. As Alhojailan (2020) reported, thematic analysis involves an active process of reflexivity, with the subjective experience of the researcher playing a key role in the generation of meanings from the collected data. The adoption of a thematic analysis of data was appropriate for the present study as it allowed for detailed scrutiny of data collected from different social media platforms about cybercrimes in order to generate new knowledge regarding the key consequences of cybercrimes as well as a proposal of effective strategies that can be used for mitigating such cases in both the UK and Malaysian e-commerce market.

Ethical Considerations

All of the collected and analysed data in the present study are available in the public domain on different social media platforms such as Twitter. Therefore, ethical considerations of anonymity and consent were not applied. Nonetheless, terms and conditions for the social media platforms were reviewed prior to retrieving any data from them in order to ensure that the collected data were used in accordance with the terms and conditions for the respective platforms. Furthermore, the authors of the collected data and social media platforms used were acknowledged.

Results

Strategies for Averting Cybercrimes within the E-Commerce Platforms

The first research question for the present study focused on assessing the key strategies that can be used for averting cybercrime cases on e-commerce platforms in the UK and Malaysia. Specifically, the conducted analysis revealed that there are different approaches that both the UK and Malaysian governments often use to avert incidences of cybercrimes in e-commerce markets within their jurisdictions. A key method reported in the conducted analysis is the implementation of legislative policies. As reported by Cyber Protect (2019), the implementation of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 in the UK has helped in the reduction of cybercrime incidences in the UK, even though there are still new cases which are being reported in the contemporary market. Similar evidence was reported in the Twitter thread by MITI Malaysia (2019), which outlined different legislative approaches used by the Malaysian government to mitigate the incidence of cybercrime in the country. The legislative policies outlined by MITI Malaysia (2019) in the Malaysian context include Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, Computer Crimes Act 1997 and the Malaysian Penal Code and Personal Data Protection Act 2010. Results reported in the present study are consistent with those from the previous studies by Blair and Roth (2022), Bamrara, Chouhan and Bhatt (2020) and Cai et al. (2021), which specifically identified the implementation of strict legislative measures as a key approach that can be used by different jurisdictions around the globe to prevent the spread of cybercrime incidences. Despite the availability of such policies, incidences of cybercrimes in e-commerce within the UK and Malaysia are still increasing hence an indication that these legislative policies alone may not successfully help in addressing the issues of cybercrimes and cyberattacks in both countries.

Even though much focus has been placed on the role of government in preventing or addressing issues of cybercrimes in both the UK and Malaysia, the role of consumers and e-commerce entrepreneurs in averting cybercrimes and enhancing cyber security has been reported in the present study. Specifically, Kent Cyber Crime Unit (2020), London Cyber (2019) and PCIRC Official (2020) recommended the use of a full-service internet security suite by both e-commerce customers and entrepreneurs as a strategy for limiting the incidences of cybercrimes. Similar recommendations were provided in the studies by Akanle and Shadare (2020) and Pittayachawan, Singh and Corbitt (2018), which argued that e-commerce users should always consider trusted security software such as the Norton 360 with LifeLock Select that provides businesses and e-commerce users with all-in-one protection for their devices, ensuring online privacy as well as helping in the protection of their financial and private information when they engage in online purchases. In the Twitter thread by SAS Malaysia (2021), e-commerce users have also been encouraged to keep their private and personal information locked down. While explaining the importance of managing social media settings prior to engaging in online purchases, Apau and Koranteng (2019) and Yilma and Abraha (2019) noted that cybercriminals often gain access to the personal information of e-commerce users through their social media accounts with just a few data points. Therefore, e-commerce users should ensure that they share no or very few details about their personal information.

Consequences of Cybercrimes on Business Trust and Faith Levels Among the Consumers

The second research question for this study involved the assessment of key consequences of cybercrimes on business trust and faith levels among consumers. Specifically, the conducted analysis revealed that the increasing incidences of cybercrimes in the UK and Malaysia had negative consequences on the perceptions of consumers as well as their trust levels towards the e-commerce platforms. As reported in the Twitter threads by Cyber Protect (2019) and MITI Malaysia (2019), many people are often worried about the security of their personal information and finances as they make online purchases because of either prior knowledge about cybercrimes or personal experiences. Shifted behaviours of customers in the e-commerce platform because of the cyberattack incidents can be further explained using the theory of planned behaviour as discussed in the previous studies by Pittayachawan, Singh and Corbitt (2018) and Leena (2019). Nonetheless, it is important to note that the purchasing behaviours among e-commerce consumers in the UK and Malaysia in the context of cybercrime were significantly different. Specifically, Cyber Protect (2019) and Kent Cyber Crime Unit (2020) reported that purchase intentions among UK e-commerce customers were largely informed by the online ratings or reputations of the sellers.

In contrast, evidence from the Malaysian context shows that most e-commerce consumers do not have adequate knowledge about the innovation and availability of cybercrimes within the e-commerce market. The findings reported in the present study are supported by those from the previous studies by Ali et al. (2020), Reitano, Oerting and Hunter (2019) and Torres, Torres and Budgud (2022), which established that behaviours of e-commerce consumers are often largely influenced by the key trends in the e-commerce market including increasing incidences of cybercrimes. In essence, it is important to note that knowledge about the perceived threats and risks of cybercrimes is not limited to the UK population as in the case of the Malaysian population. Therefore, it is imperative to report that negative perceptions of e-commerce users about cybercrimes often negatively impact their attitudes and purchase intentions.

Conclusion and Reflection

Conclusion

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the efficiency of legal jurisdiction, cyber-hunting and law enforcement in the UK and Malaysia. With reference to the results reported in the present study, it is justifiable to note that the increasing incidences of cybercrimes in both the UK and Malaysia have significantly impacted the adoption rates of e-commerce practices in these countries. However, both the UK and Malaysia have developed different legal frameworks for dealing with the increasing incidences of cybercrimes. From the UK perspective, the conducted analysis revealed that the Computer Misuse Act 1990 is the primary legislation in the country which is related to offences or attacks taking place against computer systems, including denial of services and hacking. Newly developed knowledge from the present study shows that there is a legal jurisdiction in the UK to prosecute all the Computer Misuse Act 1990 offences in a situation where there is at least one link to the domestic jurisdiction, including England and Wales. In the Malaysian context, the conducted analysis revealed that cybersecurity activities in the country are governed by different legislations, such as the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, Computer Crimes Act 1997, as well as the Malaysian Penal Code and Personal Data Protection Act 2010.

In both countries, it has been established that the available legal jurisdictions allow for the prosecution of individuals who commit cybercrimes outside the UK or Malaysia but target the cyberspaces of the two countries. Even though the adoption of e-commerce has been associated with positive impacts on consumers, such as cost reduction and enhanced convenience, the conducted analysis has revealed that the increasing incidences of cybercrimes have threatened the use of e-commerce technologies in transactional operations in both the UK and Malaysia. The present study has further established that incidences of cybercrimes and cyberattacks in the e-commerce market have negatively impacted perceptions, trust and faith levels of consumers towards the online purchase platforms in the UK and Malaysia. Therefore, the present study has emphasised the importance of trust and positive cybercrime perceptions among consumers for enhanced use of e-commerce platforms in both the UK and Malaysia.

Reflection

Successful completion of the present study has provided me with the opportunity to gain in-depth insight into the key impacts of cybercrimes on consumer trust and faith levels towards the e-commerce market in both the UK and Malaysia. Prior to conducting this study, I believed that most cybercrime victims are those individuals who are not keen when conducting their online purchases. Nonetheless, this has significantly changed as I came to realise that even those people who are aware of the tactics used by cybercriminals are still vulnerable to such crimes. Therefore, it is justifiable to note that there is a need for increased public awareness regarding the prevention strategies of cybercrime activities, especially in the e-commerce market. The conducted analysis has further provided me with the opportunity to learn that both the UK and Malaysian legal frameworks allow for the prosecution of individuals who are involved in cybercriminal activities either within or outside the country as long as the activities primarily target either of the country’s jurisdictions.

Furthermore, I can confidently report that the present study has significantly addressed a noteworthy gap within the e-commerce context through the extension of the theory of planned behaviour with cybercrime protection and trust. Specifically, I have learned that trust is an important variable within e-commerce transactions and that any activity which compromises the quality of trust may lead to the development of negative perceptions among consumers towards the e-commerce market. Even though both e-commerce and trust in business have gained significant recognition as well as being well-grounded in most of the developed economies, I have realised that there is still a paucity of research in most of the developing countries, especially those that are still reporting great emergence of e-commerce activities. Contrary to my previous thought that most of the developed countries, such as the UK, have well-established programmes and legislations for protecting their citizens from cybercrime activities, results from the present study have shown that most of the cybercriminals are largely targeting e-commerce markets of the developed countries as they believe that consumers in such markets have larger sums of disposal incomes compared to those from the developing or underdeveloped countries.

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