A recent review of cybercrime estimates that the internet was used commit at least 20% of sexual crimes in Scotland over a year long period. In 2016/17, 51% of ‘other sexual crimes’ were cyber related. This is up from 38 % just three years previously.

This is made up mainly of non-contact offending but the study has shown that this is not always the case and the internet can be used as a first step to commit a sexual crime that psychically harms their victim.

The Scottish Justice Secretary, Michael Matheson said: “The Policing 2026 strategy acknowledged the need to respond to new challenges in crime and Police Scotland are committed to recruiting more civilian cyber specialists to ensure they have the right mix of skills in place to counter the threat posed by cyber crime” This shows how policing has had to adapt over the recent years to face these new challenges.