“They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,”(Romans 1:29,NIV)
The advancement of information technology and the expansion of data sharing have enabled the free flow of information and communication online, greatly enhancing convenience in daily life. At the same time, however, cyberspace has also become a breeding ground for a wide range of criminal activities.
Cybercrime refers to illegal acts that occur within computer systems connected through networks such as the internet, or within cyberspace created by these networks. Common examples include online gambling, cyberstalking, sexual exploitation, defamation and threats, election-related crimes, and e-commerce fraud. More severe forms, known as cyberterrorism, involve direct attacks on information networks themselves such as hacking, spreading viruses, launching email bombs, or using electromagnetic disruption devices against computer systems.
According to a survey by cybersecurity company McAfee, 81% of organizations worldwide experienced cyberthreats during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), operated by the FBI, reported that in 2021 cybercrime losses in the U.S. reached $6.9 billion across 847,000 reported cases, showing a sharp upward trend.
In Korea, police data from 2021 revealed that while overall crime fell by 13.4% over the past five years, cybercrime increased by 24.8%, from about 144,000 cases in 2014 to 180,000 in 2020. Cybercrimes accounted for 14.4% of all criminal activity. A police spokesperson explained that as daily life has become more closely tied to cyberspace, crime has shifted there as well. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, cybercrime rose 35.3% compared to the same period in 2019, with fraud up 29.3%, cyberfinancial crimes up 114.2%, and digital sexual crimes up 69.3%. Particularly alarming is the sharp rise in juvenile cybercrime, often spread through social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
According to Korea’s 2021 Prosecutors’ Yearbook, 16,866 digital sexual crime offenders were caught in 2020, a 17% increase from 14,380 in 2019, the highest figure since statistics began in 2016. Digital sexual crimes inflict severe psychological trauma on victims, to the point that many consider or attempt suicide. This is largely due to the nature of the crime: once such material is distributed online, complete removal is virtually impossible.
Even aside from notorious cases like the “Nth Room” and “Doctor’s Room” sexual exploitation scandals, more routine digital sex crimes have steadily risen. For example, cases of “obscene use of telecommunications media” reached 1,379 in 2018, 1,455 in 2019, and 2,071 in 2020. These typically involve sending obscene messages or photos through apps like Instagram or KakaoTalk. Professor Lee Soo-jung of Kyonggi University remarked, “There is no other country in the world where digital sex crimes are this prevalent.”
》Prayer Points
1. The expansion of opportunities in virtual space brought by advances in information technology has given many benefits to our lives, but it has also increased the potential for cybercrime. Let us pray that the spread of borderless cybercrimes will cease and that such crimes in the virtual world will be eradicated.
》Scripture Prayer
Galatians 5:16–24 (NIV)
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Daniel 12:2–4 (NIV)
2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.“
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. Those who inherit the kingdom of God bear the fruit of the Spirit. Yet even Christians sometimes continue in sin, practicing the works of the flesh while believing they are already saved. Let us pray that such falsehood would be stripped away by the truth. Let us pray that those who belong to Christ Jesus would proclaim and believe that they have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires, and that they would live by faith, bearing the fruit of the Spirit.
2. Let us pray that the consciences of those who plot crimes in cyberspace—hacking, organized crime, industrial espionage, e-commerce disruption, sexual crimes, and terrorism—would be awakened. May they realize the eternal shame and disgrace that awaits them, cast off the desires of the flesh, and come into the light of truth.
3. Let us pray that the Church would hold fast to the Word of God, which says, “Those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3), and continue interceding against ongoing cybercrimes. Let us pray that digital platforms would instead become channels through which the thirsty encounter the gospel, so that both perpetrators and victims may be led by the Holy Spirit.
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