Computer Crime :: essays research papers

Computer Crime     Computer crimes need to be prevented and halted thought increased computing device network surety measures as well as tougher laws and enforcement ofthose laws in cyberspace     Computer crime is generally defined as any crime accomplished through finicky 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 much businesses automate and information becomes animportant asset. Computers are 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 environment in which frauds are programmed and kill an example is the transfer of money balances in accounts toperp etrators accounts for withdrawal. Computers are instruments of crime whenused to plan or control such criminal acts as complex embezzlements that indexoccur over long periods of time, or when a computer operator uses a computer tosteal valuable information from an employer.     Computers have been used for near kinds of crime, including fraud, theft,larceny, embezzlement, burglary, sabotage, espionage, murder, and forgery, sincethe first cases were reported 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. a great deal of know computer crime has consisted of entering false data into computers,which is simpler and safer than the complex process of writing a program tochange data already in the computer. With the advent of personal computers tomanipulate information and access computers by telephone, increasing dig its 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 technical expertise. For many years, theterm hacker defined someone who was a wizard 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 word acquired its current negativemeaning. organise 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 extent andresults of computer crime. Victims often resist reporting suspected cases,because they can lose more from embarrassment, lost reputation, litigation, andother consequential losings than from the act s themselves.