Computer Crime Is Increasing :: essays research papers fc

Computer Crime Is IncreasingA report discussing the proposition that figurer discourtesy has increaseddramatically over the last 10 years.IntroductionComputer crime is principally defined as any crime accomplished through specialknowledge of computer technology. Increasing instances of white-collar crimeinvolve computers as more businesses automate and the information held by thecomputers becomes an substantial asset. Computers can also become objects of crimewhen they or their contents are damaged, for example when vandals attack thecomputer itself, or when a "computer virus" (a platform capable of altering orerasing computer memory) is introduced into a computer system.As subjects of crime, computers represent the electronic environment in whichfrauds are programmed and executed an example is the ship of moneybalances in accounts to perpetrators accounts for withdrawal. Computers areinstruments of crime when they are used to plan or control such criminal acts.Exampl es of these types of crimes are complex embezzlements that might materializeover long periods of time, or when a computer operator uses a computer to stealor alter valuable information from an employer.Variety and closeSince the first cases were reported in 1958, computers have been used for mostkinds of crime, including fraud, theft, embezzlement, burglary, sabotage,espionage, murder, and forgery. One study of 1,500 computer crimes establishedthat most of them were committed by trusted computer users within businesses i.e.persons with the requisite skills, knowledge, access, and resources. Much ofknown computer crime has consisted of entering false data into computers. Thismethod of computer crime is simpler and safer than the complex process of paper a program to change data already in the computer.Now that personal computers with the ability to communicate by telephone areprevalent in our society, increasing numbers of crimes have been perpetrated bycomputer hobbyists, known as "hackers," who display a high level of technicalexpertise. These "hackers" are able to cook various communicationssystems so that their interference with other computer systems is hidden andtheir real identity is difficult to trace. The crimes committed by most"hackers" consist in the main of simple but costly electronictrespassing, copyrighted-information piracy, and vandalism. There is alsoevidence that organised professional criminals have been attacking and usingcomputer systems as they get down their old activities and environments beingautomated.Another area of grave concern to both the operators and users of computersystems is the increasing prevalence of computer viruses. A computer virus isgenerally defined as any sort of destructive computer program, though the termis usually reserved for the most dangerous ones. The ethos of a computer virusis an intent to cause damage, "akin to vandalism on a small scale, or terrorism