The concept of "high-tech crime" in criminalistics

The article considers the application of the concept of "high technology" in criminal law research, identifies various interpretations of this term; describes the broad and narrow interpretations of this concept in criminalistic theory and the relationship of these interpretations to the technological evolution of computer systems. On the basis of generalisation of judicial and investigative practice the concept of high-tech way of committing crimes is proposed, characterised by such steadily recurring features as the presence of actions on preparation of a criminal act, its direct commission and concealment of traces, on creation of new or modification for criminal purposes of existing software, hardware and hardware means of committing a crime, on use of information and telecommunication networks for remote access to objects of crime The application of high-tech method as the main classification criterion for the formation of a new criminalistic group of criminal acts is substantiated. In accordance with the ideas of the theory of criminalistic classification, a criminalistic group of high-tech crimes united by a similar high-tech method of commission, as well as a number of other criminally significant common features was singled out. Among the main identifying features and peculiarities of high-tech crimes along with the method of commission are the group subject of criminal activity, the presence of resistance to the investigation, increased latency of crimes included in this group, high forensic complexity of their investigation. The author proposed a criminalistic definition of the concept of "high-tech crimes", based on these characteristics. The methodological significance of singling out the criminalistic group of high-tech crimes as a separate object of study to identify patterns and trends in the development of these criminal acts, as well as the practical significance of this singling out to improve the effectiveness of forensic recommendations in law enforcement practice is noted.