Exposure to Cyber Victimization: Results from a Swiss Survey

ABSTRACT

This study tests the assumptions of the routine activity theory on three online forms of victimization: computer virus, online fraud, and unauthorized use of personal data. Data come from a representative victimization survey conducted in the Swiss city of Lugano from January 2019 to April 2019. The analysis resulted in the following conclusions. First, victims are more common among regular internet and social media users, independent of the type of crime. Second, the installation of an antivirus program is more likely to work as a protective measure to detect and disarm digital threats rather than a preventive measure that reduces the opportunity for crime to occur. Third, computer literacy is associated with a lower risk of malware victimization. Fourth, users’ characteristics partially reflect differences in internet consumption. These findings are consistent across different specifications.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Municipality of Lugano and the City of Lugano Police (Switzerland) for supporting the project LOSAI - “La Sicurezza a Lugano nel 2019”. The authors also thank the participants of the 2019 Annual Congress of the European Society of Criminology held in Ghent on the September 18–21, 2019 for providing their input, discussions and feedback.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest

Notes

¹ Previous studies have used terms such as technical, physical, and digital protection as synonyms when referring to antivirus software and firewalls (Reyns, Henson, and Fisher 2016).

Additional information

Funding

The data presented in this study have been collected from the LOSAI survey, which was financially supported by the Municipality of Lugano and the City of Lugano Police (Switzerland).

Notes on contributors

Riccardo Milani

Riccardo Milani (PhD) has been a research fellow on the LOSAI project at the University of Lausanne’s School of Criminal Justice. He has a PhD in criminology from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.

Stefano Caneppele

Stefano Caneppele (PhD) is a professor of criminology at the University of Lausanne’s School of Criminal Justice. He supervised the LOSAI project and coordinated it with Professor M. F. Aebi.

Christine Burkhardt

Christine Burkhardt is a PhD candidate (SNSF) in criminology at the University of Lausanne’s School of Criminal Justice. She was part of the LOSAI project research team.