Examining the Relationship Between Routine Activities and Malware Infection Indicators

The threat of attacks enabled by malicious software, or programs used to compromise computer systems and steal information, has increased dramatically over the last two decades. There has, however, been little research considering the correlates of malware infection victimization. Thus, this study attempts to refine the existing literature on malware victimization using multiple measures for the presence of an infection and a Routine Activities framework to identify the correlates of infection in a sample of students, faculty, and staff at a southeastern university. The implications of this study for criminological theory and cybercrime research are discussed in detail.