Revisiting the Computer Crime Index-Revised (CCI-R): Assessing Individual Differences and Cyber-deviant Behavior Two Decades Later.

Computer criminal behaviors have changed drastically over time, and researchers need to consider updated scales that assess the prevalence of these more modern cybercriminal behaviors. The goal of this study was to update the Computer Crime Index, a questionnaire assessing self-reported computer criminal behavior, which has not been updated since its revision in 2006. We revised and created the Computer Crime Index-Revised 2 (CCI-R2), assessed the scale's factor loadings, then respondents from MTurk completed an anonymous, internet-based survey measuring self-reported cybercriminal behavior (CCI-R2) and individual differences (extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, neuroticism). Of the 250 respondents, 82% self-reported engaging in at least one type of cybercriminal behavior. Like the older versions, all items from the CCI-R2 loaded on to a single factor component. Results suggested a significant relationship between cybercriminal behavior and low scores on extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Gender was not related to cybercriminal behavior. We concluded that the name of the instrument needs to better reflect its true focus on measuring cyber-deviant behavior, not just computer criminal behavior: Cyber Crime Index (CyCI). We recommend moving forward that researchers assessing cybercriminal behavior adopt the new Cyber Crime Index (CyCI) in place of the CCI or CCI-R, as this scale measures more current cybercriminal behaviors, and continuing to use outdated scales will likely result in poor validity of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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