Unpunishable crime: the rise of industrial cybercrime and the threat to state legitimacy

• In Event: Crime, Science and Politics WG Panel 1: Global Disciplines and Southern Perspectives in Criminology

Abstract

The legitimacy of the state is fundamentally tied to its ability to enforce laws and impose legal consequences for criminal offences. From Hobbes to Weber, theorists have argued that the sovereignty of states ultimately depends on their capacity to maintain order and security, thereby fulfilling their role in the social contract. Over the last decade, however, this capacity has been eroded by a new criminal phenomenon: unpunishable crime. We define unpunishable crime as criminal offences that states cannot effectively prosecute or deter due to jurisdictional, technological, or geopolitical constraints. This paper examines how the proliferation of unpunishable crime, particularly industrial cybercrime, exposes the structural limits of contemporary law enforcement and governance. Through an analysis of three case studies – ransomware, online fraud, and carding markets – we demonstrate how unpunishable crimes defy traditional enforcement models based on arrests, prosecutions, and legal deterrence. The paper further explores whether and to what extent the growing pivot to disruption-based policing strategies, such as infrastructure takedowns and sanctions, can produce meaningful prevention and deterrent effects. We conclude with a warning that states have yet to formulate a coherent response to industrial cybercrime, posing an unprecedented risk not only to law enforcement agencies and the general public but to state legitimacy itself.

Authors

• James Martin, Deakin University

• Chad Whelan, Deakin University

• Cassandra Cross, Queensland University of Technology

• Thomas J. Holt, Michigan State University