Computer Crimes
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- Date Submitted: 11/30/2010 03:23 AM
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COMPUTER CRIMES
The current hot crime tool is the personal computer. Experts predict that the use of computers in homes, small and large offices, businesses and government installations will steadily increase; therefore, it can be expected that computer-related crimes will remain a serious police investigative problem. Electronic crime is affecting law enforcement at all levels, and no agency is escaping it. The increasing use of the Internet by businesses and consumers has created a fertile ground for those who use it for criminal purposes. Cyber crime is now a growth business that includes Internet auction fraud, stalkers, sending harassing e-mails, theft of trade secrets, software privacy, and virus infection and computer intrusion. Most criminals can defraud hundreds of people around the country using the same type of scam and take in tens of thousands of dollars without really worrying about any local department. All types of offences are increasing, and each presents unique challenges to investigators.
Computer crimes are relatively easy to commit and difficult to detect. Most computer crimes are committed by insiders, and few are prosecuted. Computer crimes may involve input data, output data, the program, the hardware or computer time. The FBI defines computer crime as that which involves the addition, deletion, change or theft of information. Computer crimes can be divided into the two general categories of the computer as tool and the computer as target. The computer-as tool category includes crimes in which the computer is used to commit a fraud, embezzlement by misusing passwords and access codes that protect information. One factor that makes these crimes difficult to investigate and stop is the reluctance of victims to report the offence [3, p. 38-43].
The second category, the computer as target, includes crimes in which the computer itself or the information stored on it is the target. Thieves may burglarize homes and businesses, stealing...
The current hot crime tool is the personal computer. Experts predict that the use of computers in homes, small and large offices, businesses and government installations will steadily increase; therefore, it can be expected that computer-related crimes will remain a serious police investigative problem. Electronic crime is affecting law enforcement at all levels, and no agency is escaping it. The increasing use of the Internet by businesses and consumers has created a fertile ground for those who use it for criminal purposes. Cyber crime is now a growth business that includes Internet auction fraud, stalkers, sending harassing e-mails, theft of trade secrets, software privacy, and virus infection and computer intrusion. Most criminals can defraud hundreds of people around the country using the same type of scam and take in tens of thousands of dollars without really worrying about any local department. All types of offences are increasing, and each presents unique challenges to investigators.
Computer crimes are relatively easy to commit and difficult to detect. Most computer crimes are committed by insiders, and few are prosecuted. Computer crimes may involve input data, output data, the program, the hardware or computer time. The FBI defines computer crime as that which involves the addition, deletion, change or theft of information. Computer crimes can be divided into the two general categories of the computer as tool and the computer as target. The computer-as tool category includes crimes in which the computer is used to commit a fraud, embezzlement by misusing passwords and access codes that protect information. One factor that makes these crimes difficult to investigate and stop is the reluctance of victims to report the offence [3, p. 38-43].
The second category, the computer as target, includes crimes in which the computer itself or the information stored on it is the target. Thieves may burglarize homes and businesses, stealing...