Essay on "Computer Crimes"

Essay 4 pages (1811 words) Sources: 6

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Computer Crimes

Cyberspace has now become a thrilling new avenue for criminologists. The conventional methodology of criminology has been confronted by the virtual reality & computer-based communications, infusing new kinds of divergence, crime & social regulations. (Jaishankar, 2007) Most of the conventional crimes are presently being helped and controlled with the application of computer resources & networks. Such a crime which has never been thought of has presently being effected due to the unbelievable potentialities relating to the information systems. As per the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 'computer crime' has been indicated as any breach of law generated or assisted by a computer, in its role as an object of a crime, an instrument or a repository of evidence concerning the crime. Some of the significant types incorporate e-commerce deception, trafficking of child pornography, software theft and violation of network security. (Hinduja, 2007) All kinds of criminals, ranging from hackers & spies to sexual online predators and killers are capable of applying internet & computers to smoothen and ease the processes relating to their crimes. (Nykodym; Ariss; Kurtz, 2008)

Thesis Statement: "Computer crime or cyber crime is a serious crime which needs immediate attention of the law."

Discussion:

The computer crime is very much serious since the internet expands the accessibility of the criminal. Prior to the discovery of the internet, criminals were confined to perpetuating crimes against businesses or people in their geographical regions. However, the internet has now facilitated the criminals to expand their access all around the world. The computer crime is considered more severe than the conventional crimes since internet assists criminals to more simply access their potential preys. Criminals can modify their personality to acquire information directly from the prospective victim, apply the Internet to seek information on their prospective prey or even creep into the computers of their preys with the assistance of Trojan Horses or other viruses or spyware. Moreover, the criminals operating through the internet think themselves to be secure perpetuating their criminal acts since their capability to confide or modify their identities which makes it a more severe crime in comparison to the conventional crime. (Nykodym; Ariss; Kurtz, 2008) as a result of its unique characteristics that surpass national borders and the obscurity that it permits for its users, the internet is considered comprehensive for those who wish to evade law. (May, 2004)

Individuals as well as businesses and governments are all susceptible to cyber crime. A study exposed that among the various companies in the U.S.; about 90% of them have become targets of cyber attack. (Ngafeeson, 2010) Criminals make use of the internet facility to effectuate all process of deception, with the largest dollar losses catering to the advance fee deception e-mail messages. About 50% of the messages also request recipients to send their personal information, which makes way for effectuating an identity theft. As per a survey done on the 530 respondents from U.S. corporations, financial institutions, government agencies, universities & medical institutions, by the CSI in collaboration of the Computer Intrusion Squad of the San Francisco Federal Bureau of Investigation, it is revealed that about 56% reported unauthorized application of their computer systems. The aggregate financial loss of about 251 respondents, who opted to report, was $201,797,340. (May, 2004) 'CSI Computer Crime and Security Survey' for the year 2008 indicated that there is a mean loss of about $500,000 with regard to financial deception associated with computing confronted by the corporations along with an additional mean loss of $530,000 by the companies that came across "bot" attacks. The above provided statistics demonstrates that the capital losses caused by the unauthorized usage of computers have a considerable damaging effect on the economy. This is also confirmed in the considerable average capital losses in the 2008 survey. (Baggili;

In the year 2010 we have been witnessing the manner in which media outlets & major corporations, though not intentionally have been frequently revealing sensitive information. Hackers disturb business, embezzle personal information and even close down websites completely. The pharmacy king Walgreens became a prey to a computer criminal that had stolen its e-mail marketing list from a third party. The hacker then forwarded real looking spam that asked its preys to enter into a web page their personal information which was being regulated by the hackers. Further, even the clients who had opted for receiving various marketing e-mails from the drug store, found their information stolen. McDonald also confronted a data intrusion through a third party attack. McDonald had hired the services of another company Arc Worldwide to manage its promotional email campaigns. Arc Worldwide in turn hired another company to outsource the job. The company, name of which was not revealed, became the target of the hackers. Another prominent incident during 2010 was when Gawker media sites were intruded by the hackers stealing about one million commenter's passwords & usernames. (Holbrook, 2010)

Widespread use of internet has its advantages as well as disadvantages. One serious form of disadvantage which is making headlines relates to harassment through internet. Taking into account its speed, anonymity and reach, the internet provides an unprecedented forum for harassment and defamation. (Areheart, 2007) Ever since the mid 1990s, e-love networks have been proliferated and are estimated to generate $1.9 billion by the year 2012. However, such successful international industry is a regular field of cyber crime that entails serious problems for daters and matchmaking services globally. (May, 2004)

Another important issue relates to the widespread prevalence of online child pornography that has resulted in serious crimes against teenagers and children. Newspaper reports on "online predators" making use of the Internet to attain accessibility to young victims have become a prominent factor in news reports since the late 1990s, when the youth internet usage became extensive. Much of the publicity relating to such issues portrays online manipulators who make use of the internet to lure children into sexual assaults. The fact regarding internet-induced sex crimes -- wherein sex offenders meet up with the juvenile victims online is varied, more complicated and more severe. Internet sex crimes associated with juveniles and adults is frequently attached with statutory rape -- adult offenders who meet, foster relationships with, and allure the underage teenagers -- than compared to a model of 'pedophilic child annoyance' or 'forcible sexual assault'. This is taken to be a serious problem. (Wolak; Finkelhor; Mitchell; Ybarra, 2008) the feature of such "cyberbullying" is that the victims are left without sufficient remedy. (Areheart, 2007)

In the present day context wherein communication tools have unified the world, have also brought about anxiety for computer owners across the world. The primary cause of such insecurity is 'Hacking' -- more particularly affecting computer systems. (Farsole; Kashikar; Zunzunwala, 2010) Current deliberations of computer 'hacking' refer to the disproportionate involvement of the juveniles in this type of cyber crime. There has been excess representation of youngsters among the computer hackers. (Yar, 2005)

While our dependence on the internet & computers persists to increase, the significance of the laws which safeguards us from the computer criminals would continue to increase also. (May, 2004) There is no gainsaying that computer crime "business" would go on to be billions of dollar industry unless something is performed quickly. (Ngafeeson, 2010) There exists no remedy except initiating strict recourse to deal with computer crimes against wide spread expansion of the communications & information technology and telecommunication networks. Suitable execution of cyber security & cyber law proficiency is a pre-requirement. (Rahman, 2010) Cyber crimes are necessitating law enforcement departments as well as criminal investigators to customize a growing amount of their recourse toward fruitfully detecting, apprehending & helping in the effective prosecution of cyber criminals. (Jaishankar, 2007) it is comprehended that the technical knowledge of the law executing institutions are very poor to find out about cyber crime and deal effectively with criminals. Strict measures such as amendment of the prevailing law are urgently required in these circumstances. (Rahman, 2010)

In view of the boundless characteristics of computer crime, global legislation and actions are necessary to deal with the issue. The present legal tools, along with the persistent efforts of global organizations entail an important base in this arena. But significant concerns are still prevailing, like a standardized or synchronized definition of the crimes as well as relating to the sanctions to be made obligatory on perpetrators, which are a pre-requisite for averting domestic legislations attributing varied approaches to the issue. The explanation relating to such concerns is also a precondition for increasing the international assistance and making it successful, if this has to be dependent upon the regard for the norm of dual criminality. In this regard it is also important to be emphasized that inter-regional cooperation might not be adequate if the private sector including firms generating software & hardware are not associated. Lastly, a harmonized approach to jurisdictional concerns incorporating meticulous consideration of the principle of universality would also generate a crucial role in dealing with computer crimes. (Pocar, 2004)

Conclusion:

A critical concern that… READ MORE

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