ABSTRACT

The study set out to investigate whether digital forensic model will help reduce related SNS related crimes in Ogun State.  The major problems identified was an increasing wave of SNS related crime in the country which portends enormous challenge to customers, banks and threatens the nations’ economy. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The perception of male and female social network users and crime detectives and legal professionals were elicited using a descriptive questionnaire, the responses were subjected to descriptive analyses. It was found that fishing, identity theft, illicit sexual advances’ Loss of identity, illegal money transfers, scamming, spamming, skimming, PIN interceptions are the most frequent forms of SNS related crimes committed in Nigeria. It was also found that the SNS related crimes have negative impacts on Nigerians and the image of the nation. Adoption of digital forensics and increased awareness on SNS related crimes will help to reduce SNS related fraud in Nigeria. Low level of awareness on SNS related crimes, Low literacy level, cost of installing digital forensics applications and Technological know-how are the limitations of the digital forensic techniques in combating card fraud. It was suggested that Steps should be taken to introduce digital forensics into Nigerian It resources and National assembly will make legislation to make computer generated evidences tenable in Nigerian courts.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Certification. ii

Dedication. iii

Acknowledgement iv

ABSTRACT.. vi

TABLE OF CONTENT.. viii

Chapter One                                                                                                                  Introduction  1

1.1 Background to the Study. 1

1.2 Statement of the Problem.. 6

1.3 Research Questions. 6

1.4 Objective of the Study. 7

1.5 Significance of the Study. 8

1.6 Research Hypotheses. 8

1.7 Scope of the study. 8

1.8 Operational Definition Terms. 9

Chapter Two                                                                                                                       Literature Review   10

2.0 Introduction. 10

2.1 The Concept of Cybercrime. 11

2.2 The concept of Computer Forensics. 11

2.3 The Concept of Social Network Service (SNS), 12

2.4 Cybercrime prevalence across the Globe. 13

2.5 Cybercrime in Nigeria. 15

Mediums for Perpetrating Cybercrimes In Nigeria. 18

2.6 Efforts at mitigating Cybercrime and. 19

2.7 Appraisal of the literature review.. 20

CHAPTER THREE.. 22

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.. 22

3.1 Introduction. 22

3.2 Research Design. 22

3.3 Population of Study. 22

3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique. 22

3.5 The Research Instrument 23

3.6 Validity of the Instrument 24

3.7 Procedure for Data Collection. 24

CHAPTER FOUR                                                                                                                  DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS. 26

4.1 Introduction. 26

4.2 Data Presentation. 26

4.2.1 Description of Respondents. 26

4.2.2 SNS Awareness and Usage. 29

4.3 Analyses of Results. 31

4.3.1 Crimes associated with the use of SNS. 31

4.3.2 How Digital/Computer Forensic techniques will assist in reducing SNS related Crimes  32

4.3.3 Effects of Cybercrimes on Nigerians. 34

4.3.4 Limitations of Digital Forensic in combating SNS related fraud in Nigeria. 35

Confirmatory Test 36

4.4 Test of Hypotheses. 36

Ho₁ Social Network Sites related Cybercrime will have no significant impact on Nigerians  36

Ho₁ Adoption of digital forensics will not significantly mitigate SNS related cybercrime in Nigeria. 37

4.5 Summary of Findings. 38

CHAPTER FIVE                                                                                                                 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMENDATION.. 40

5.1 Introduction: 40

5.2        Summary of research. 40

5.2        Conclusion. 42

5.3        Recommendations. 42

Appendix 1. 47

Appendix 1 Questionnaire. 47

Chapter One                                                                                                                  Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

The social changes of recent decades have been primarily driven by the development of information and communications technology. One of the most significant negative impacts in this context is the emergence and rampancy of cybercrime. Research on criminal activity related to information and communications technology has become a focus of study in the fields of criminology, criminal law and information security.

Cybercrime is a comprehensive topic and attracts scholars from different disciplines. Many have written about the theoretical explanation for cybercrime.

Studies of cybercrime have revealed different dimensions of this phenomenon.

While the limited previous first-hand explorations have been widely accepted and cited, inconsistencies exist among various studies. Unfortunately, in the field of cybercriminal and cyber-victim profiling, most subsequent theoretical treatises tend to reinforce the earliest findings, or at most provide some modest revisions.

It is critical to answer the following questions: Who is most likely to commit cybercrime? Who is most likely to be victimized by cybercrime? And what are the similarities between cybercrime perpetrators and their victims? The subject of cybercrime leads the tide of the theory and practice of legislation and law enforcement in the sense that the perpetrators are those who challenge the traditional legal system. Studies on the subject of computer crime have a history of several decades and have established widely-accepted profiles for cybercriminals and their victims.

With the deepening of the research on cybercrime, lawyers and law enforcement officials are paying increased attention to the hallmarks of cybercriminals and the security of cyber-victims. The purpose of this study is to present an updated profile of cyber-criminality and cyber-victimization, through the analysis of 115 typical cybercrime cases prosecuted in the United States of America between 18 March 1998 and 12 May 2006, and published on the Department of Justice website.

Social Networking Sites (SNS) have become the new go-to attack point for malware, phishing and spam, security vendor (Hickey 2012) found in its Security Threat Report 2011. The report, which examines and analyzes cybercrime during 2010 and highlights trends to watch out for this year, revealed that scammers and cyber-criminals have their sights trained on users of social networks like Face-book and Twitter and that the number of social network attacks grew significantly in 2010.

According to Hickey (2012), about 40 percent of the 1,200 social networking users polled have been sent malware, such as worms, via the social networking sites they frequent. That’s an increase of about 90 percent second the summer of 2009. Additionally, two thirds of users queried, said they have been spammed via a social networking site, which is more than double the proportion of social networking users just two years earlier. And, Hickey (2012) found, 43 percent of respondents said they have been on the receiving end of phishing attacks, which is more than double the number from 2009. Besides, the SNS expose private information of users which sometimes aid more severe infringement on users personal rights.

In fact the issue of cybercrime in Nigeria has been of much concern to all and sundry. The problem is so much that it has exposed the nation to ridicule in the committee of nations. Certain publication of the Transparency International once paraded the nation among the topmost most corrupt nations in the world. Concerted efforts by the nation have led to the formation of a fifteen man committee on cybercrime. Later a draft cybercrime laws which spelt out what offences constituted cybercrime was presented to the Federal Government and the Central Working Group on Cybercrime was also inaugurated. Similarly in the international scene, an International Task Force on Cybercrime has been formed to report and trail cases of cybercrimes to various international security agencies. These task force draws membership from all over the world including Nigeria.

Though laws have been made to tackle cybercrime, some problems still persist in the Nigerian society. These includes the level of awareness of cybercrime in the society with respect to what offences constitute cyber crime; also, the question of how cybercrime is to be investigated against the backdrop of a highly ICT illiterate society. Besides, the level of sophistication with which cybercriminals operate and the difficulties in the collection of evidence acceptable by laws in jurisprudence of cybercrime are major challenges.  It is against this backdrop that we seek a reliable means of investigation in cyber crime.

Several accusing fingers are pointed at security agents for being responsible for the laxity in the security situation in the country which permits virtually all kinds of crime to be perpetrated, since offenders often go scot free. Some studies suggest that the quality of training received by security agents in Nigeria ill-prepared them to tackle the challenges of cybercrime (Ajao 2001).  On the other hand, Some have indicted, poor infrastructures, government policy, leadership style and active connivance of financial institutions with criminals as major catalyst of cybercrimes in Nigeria (Ogun, 2010).

Also, Kaspersky Lab (2012) suggested that use of obsolete and inappropriate online aids such as browsers as major aid to cybercrime which enables hackers to access private information of internet users.

Solutions to the problem of cybercrimes especially SNS related crimes seem to be far from been discovered. There seem to be a dearth of studies on the awareness, nature and effect and control of SNS related cybercrimes in Nigeria.

Since cybercrimes are digital in nature, it is pertinent to implore the use of digital technology in curbing it. Suggestions have been made that computer forensics could be used in tackling the menace of cybercrime. Computer forensics (sometimes known as computer forensic science) according to Michael, Mark and Lawrence (2010) is a branch of digital forensic science pertaining to legal evidence found in computers and digital storage media. The goal of computer forensics is to examine digital media in a forensically sound manner with the aim of identifying, preserving, recovering, analyzing and presenting facts and opinions about the information. It is most often associated with the investigation of a wide variety of computer crime. But its applicability in SNS related cybercrime in Nigeria is a subject for study in-view of the nature of Nigerian evidence act and the permissibility of digital evidences in court. This study therefore seeks to examine if computer forensics will be effective in the management and control of SNS related cybercrime in Nigeria.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Cyber crime constitutes a huge source of economic sabotage as millions of Dollars are lost to cybercriminal otherwise known as ‘yahoo-yahoo’ on a day to day basis. This are in form of unauthorised withdrawal of bank deposits, illegal importation of good on fraudulent payment terms and many others. Yet, the Nigerian public seem to be unaware of the extent of the wide range of activities that constitute cybercrime.

Besides the general public, law enforcement agents seems also to lack the capacity to match the sophisticated ICT manipulation techniques of cybercriminal especially those SNS related cybercrimes. The establishment of committee and task force as well as the promulgation of law seem only like scratching the surface of the solutions to the gamut of a problem called cybercrime; hence the need to explore technological compliant means of curbing cybercrimes especially through the adoption of digital forensics.

1.3 Research Questions

It was aimed at answering the following question:

1. How prevalent is the use of social network sites among Nigerian public?
2. To what extent are the members of Nigerian public aware of the various activities that constitute cybercrime?
3. What are the impacts of SNS related cybercrimes on Nigerians?
4. How can the adoption of digital forensics assist in tackling the problem of cybercrime in Nigeria?
5. What are the limitations of digital forensic as a tool for curbing SNS related cybercrimes in Nigeria?

1.4 Objective of the Study

In answering this question,

1. The study will highlight and describe the various activities that constitute cybercrime in Nigeria
2. Explain how digital forensics can help to curb or mitigate SNS related cybercrime.
3. Describe the impact of SNS related cybercrime on Nigerians.
4. Describe how digital forensics can assist in curbing SNS related cybercrime.
5. Outline the limitations of digital forensics as a tool for cybercrime

1.5 Significance of the Study

This study is significant because the results will bring the public, teachers and students to an awareness of cybercrime and what activities constitute cybercime in Nigeria.

It will assist students of computer in understanding the basic components of cybercrime and expose them to the concept of digital/computer forensics and its use in beefing up online security.

It will also stimulate further studies into the development of digital forensic tools as a means of reducing cybercrime and strengthen public confidence in on-line transactions.

1.6 Research Hypotheses

The following research hypothesis was formulated to be tested.

1. Social Network Sites related Cybercrime will have no significant impact on Nigerians
2. Adoption of digital forensics will not significantly mitigate SNS related cybercrime in Nigeria.

1.7 Scope of the study

The study covers discussions on Social Network sites, its awareness, the crimes aided and perpetrated via SNS, the use of digital forensics to control and prosecute such crime and the limitations of digital forensics in tackling such crime. It will cover tertiary institutions in Ogun State and purposively select its samples among the computer literate society in the institutions.

1.8 Operational Definition Terms

Digital forensics: Computer forensics, also called cyber-forensics, is the application of computer investigation and analysis techniques to gather evidence suitable for presentation in a court of law.

Social Network Sites (SNS): Web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.

Cybercrime:  Cybercrime refers to any crime that involves a computer and a network

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