Computer Crime :: essays research papers

Computer Crime     Computer crimes bring to be prevented and halted thought increased reckoner network security measures as well as tougher laws and enforcement ofthose laws in cyberspace     Computer crime is loosely defined as any crime accomplished through exceptional knowledge of computer technology. All that is required is a personalcomputer, a modem, and a phone line. Increasing instances of white-collar crimeinvolve computers as more businesses automate and information becomes animportant asset. Computers ar objects of crime when they or their contents aredamaged, as when terrorists attack computer centers with explosives or gasoline,or when a "computer virus"--a program capable of altering or erasing computermemory--is introduced into a computer system. As subjects of crime, computersrepresent the electronic purlieu in which frauds are programmed andexecuted an example is the transfer of money balances in accounts toperpetra tors accounts for withdrawal. Computers are instruments of crime when functiond to plan or control such criminal acts as complex embezzlements that mightoccur over coherent periods of time, or when a computer operator uses a computer to sneak valuable information from an employer.     Computers have been used for most kinds of crime, including fraud, theft,larceny, embezzlement, burglary, sabotage, espionage, murder, and forgery, sincethe first cases were describe in 1958. One study of 1,500 computer crimesestablished that most of them were committed by trusted computer users withinbusinesses persons with the requisite skills, knowledge, access, and resources.Much of cognize computer crime has consisted of entering false data into computers,which is simpler and safer than the complex parade of writing a program tochange data already in the computer. With the advent of personal computers tomanipulate information and access computers by telephone, change mag nitude numbers ofcrimes--mostly simple but costly electronic trespassing, copyrighted-informationpiracy, and vandalism--have been perpetrated by computer hobbyists, known as"hackers," who display a high level of technological expertise. For many years, theterm hacker defined someone who was a witching(prenominal) with computers and programing. Itwas an honor to be considered a hacker. But when a few hackers began to usetheir skills to break into private computer systems and steal money, orinterfere with the systems operations, the countersign acquired its current negativemeaning. Organized professional criminals have been attacking and using computersystems as they find their old activities and environments being automated.     There are not a large number of valid statistics about the period andresults of computer crime. Victims often resist reporting suspected cases,because they can omit more from embarrassment, lost reputation, litigation, andoth er consequential losses than from the acts themselves.