Book Review of Net crimes & misdemeanors: Outmaneuvering webspammers, stalkers and con artists

J.A. Hitchcock, Net crimes & misdemeanors: Outmaneuvering webspammers, stalkers and con artists, 2^nd edition, 2006, Information Today, Inc., 459 pages. ISBN: 0-910965-72-2

J.A. Hitchcock understands the limitations of technical knowledge of the average computer user. Her revised edition of “Net Crimes and Misdemeanors: Outmaneuvering Webspammers, Stalkers and Con Artists” (2006) explains various types of Internet and computer based crimes, and provides definitions and tips applicable to the novice and experienced computer user. One of the nation’s leading authority on cybercrime, Hitchcock has years of experience working with computers and technology. She has taught various college level courses, written for magazines and newspapers, gives lectures, appears on television and radio and trains law enforcement on how to track cyber criminals and provide assistance to victims. Currently, she is president of WHOA, Working to Halt Online Abuse, and also their Kids/Teens Division. Hitchcock’s expertise is not based solely on her educational and professional resume; she herself is a victim of online harassment. Hitchcock shows that not only children and novice computer users, but also the most advanced online users, can fall prey to these criminals and their tricks. It appears that her goal is to educate computer users of the dangers of cyber world and how to be an informed user in order to safely navigate through the Internet. She also provides resources for those who find themselves the victim of a cybercrime.