Published on: Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Today, the United States Sentencing Commission published Cyber Technology in Federal Crime (Sept. 18, 2024), which provides "demographic and sentencing information for individuals who used hacking, cryptocurrency, and the dark web in the commission of a federal offense."
Key Findings:
- Between 2014 and 2021, 2,590 sentenced individuals used at least one of three types of cyber technology—hacking, cryptocurrency, and the dark web—in connection with a federal offense, and the number increased substantially during the time studied from 2014 to 2021. However, this number represented less than one percent of the total federal caseload.
- Individuals who used cyber technology in their offense were more likely to be White, male, younger, and have completed at least some college than other sentenced individuals.
- Individuals who used hacking, cryptocurrency, or the dark web in their offense had less criminal history than individuals who did not use cyber technology in the commission of a federal crime. Less than half of other sentenced individuals were in Criminal History Category I, the lowest category.
- The most common offenses committed by individuals who used cyber technology in their offense were child pornography (28.9%), fraud (27.5%), drug trafficking (20.6%), and money laundering (8.9%).