The first 10 years of the Trojan Horse defence. (January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bowles, Stephen; Hernandez-Castro, Julio
• Is Part Of: Computer fraud & security. Number 1(2015)
• Page Start: 5
• Page End: 13
• Publication Date: 2015-01
• Subjects: Computer crimes -- Periodicals; Computers -- Access control -- Periodicals; 364.168
• DOI: 10.1016/S1361-3723(15)70005-9
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1361-3723

Abstract

Abstract : Apprehended criminals throughout history have always attempted to put the blame on someone else, a strategy popularly known as a SODDI defence (Some Other Dude Did It). When this defence is used, the act of the crime ( actus reus ) and the guilty mind (mens rea) is blamed on another party. A Trojan Horse Defence (THD) is a type of modern SODDI defence, where the mens rea and actus reus are blamed on a piece of software, known as a trojan. 1 It has now become common for people accused of some computer-related crime to claim that the responsibility lies with malware placed on their machine without their knowledge. This so-called Trojan Horse Defence (THD) was first used a decade ago. In this article, Stephen Bowles and Julio Hernandez-Castro of the University of Kent undertake a timely retrospective with an in-depth and critical literature review plus a detailed look at the peculiarities of many court cases from around the world.