Term Paper on "Cyber Crimes in Today's World"

Term Paper 8 pages (2933 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Cybercrime

Cyber theft is a major criminal issue surrounding the use of the Internet. Cybertheft is not just identity theft; it entails so much more. The most obvious, and easiest, targets of Cyber crime are small networks, personal home pcs, small business systems, and the like. Cybercrime has been increasing dramatically since 1985 with the advance in computer technology (Carvajal, 2008). The basis of Cybertheft is the ease at which information is uncovered and utilized. There is an entire new legal industry focused on uncovering and prosecuting cybercrime. Federal, State and Local Agencies are attempting to curtail Cybertheft by implementing joint initiatives. In 2007 the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) complied and received statistical information from all 50 states (Britz, 2008). In the state of Illinois for example, IC3 received at total of 6214 complaints with the top complaint reported being Auction Fraud with a total of 38.8 per cent (Hughlett, 2005). Even the large multinational computer and communications organizations see cybercrime as one of the largest problems in their industry. MSNBC, for instance, acknowledged that "The threat to corporate computer systems from worms, viruses, and cyber bone attacks is getting worse, despite stronger corporate defenses. The data shows that while corporate America isn't losing the war against computer hackers, it certainly isn't winning it" (The Impact of All These Threats, 2010).

In an era in which we must choose which issues for focus, the issue of cybercrime has the potential of impacting more Americans than any other single criminal activity. Cyberspace is real, and so are the risks -- damage comes in all forms, not just fraud, but downtime, information crime, and indeed, the ability to work and live within a global environment ("President on Cybercrime," 2009). Nothing short of a strong security and continual monitoring system have any chance of controlling the plethora of Internet crime. Individuals need to exert more personal diligence to control Cybertheft. The future of Cybertheft is dependent upon the next generation of computer chips and the next generation of computer hackers (Balkin, 2007). The frightening thing about Internet-based crime is while it is virtually bloodless and silent; the damage done may affect individuals at many levels in their work, home, and even their ability to appropriately interface with their financial and governmental institutions.

Fig. 1 -- Yearly Dollar Loss Because of Cybercrime

(Source: U.S. Government, 2009).

In fact, three out of every four businesses reported being some type of a victim of cybercrime and 25 per cent more than once in a given year. While larger, more technologically oriented companies experienced more attacks than smaller businesses, the fiscal impact of hacking and credit card fraud to small businesses is a serious problem. While many of these companies actively suspect employees as part of the problem, it is interesting that 80 per cent were willing to report embezzlement to authorities (internal theft), only 50 per cent were willing to actively pursue fraud charges (Rantala, 2004). This data suggests that the figures used by insurance companies and governmental databases may be significantly underreported.

Cybercrime is more pervasive than the typical computer user realizes. Today's computer prices have become very affordable making it so most people can afford to buy a computer. Millions of people are using the information highway because of the convenience of online banking, researching information, job hunting, or communicating with loved ones in our fast paced society (Garfinkle, 2001). Unfortunately, with the surge of Internet use, the Internet is seeing an increase of crime happening daily because of the lack of laws and the inadequate ways of catching the lawbreaker. Because of the huge growth in technology, hackers are becoming more sophisticated with their crimes causing a huge economic impact that affects everyone (Meyer, M.L. (1995). Despite the best efforts of manufacturers of protection software, cyber criminals continue to gain leverage (Knetzger, 2007).

It is also important to remember that the pervasive use of the internet is only still in its infancy -- really only 10-15 years old outside of the realm of academia and science. Before the internet, though, computer law existed, but often failed to take into account some of the unknowns that occur when a vast majority of people utilize a system for commerce, entertainment, personal and business organization, and just about any avenue possible (Wall, 2007, p. 11).

Figure 2 -- Yearly Complaints Received Focused on Cyber theft

(Source: U.S. Government)

Cybercrime is a worldwide problem; many cyber criminals work in overseas offices. Since 1985, Cybercrime has increased geometrically, most especially since this same growth curve exists for the Internet (Moore, 2005). As usage of the online community and online commerce grow, so does Cybercrime -- and this, despite the best efforts of manufacturers, law enforcement agencies, and even hardware and software solutions, has not seen a slowing of the Cybercriminal's leverage (Garfinkle, 2001). In fact, because of this overwhelming growth "industry," there is an entirely new legal focus on uncovering and prosecuting Cybercrime. Several major corporations have dedicated themselves to preventing Cybercrime by the development of new, saleable, technologies that will inhibit and protect both the business and consumer user from data theft, but also to focus on larger mainframe entities (banks, etc.) in which hacking is certainly more risky, but far more profitable. A number of new agencies, though, have been tasked to seek out and protect the public from Cybercrime and most especially to liaison with law-enforcement from other countries to assist in cross-border criminal activity (Mehan, 2008).

Figure 3 -- Types of Internet Crime

(Source: U.S. Government)

Cyber theft has many guises, but is defined in three major areas: crimes against persons, crimes against property and crimes against government or industry. Crimes against persons are the most oft committed, but not necessarily the most fiscally damaging. They are crimes committed online relating to a person or family such as email spoofing, spamming, cyber defamation or stalking. They are individualistic and person in focus, and find personal, emotional, and/or very individual issues to exploit (Wiles, 2007).

Credit card hacking (or hijacking), is one of the more serious permutations of cybercrime, and affects businesses and consumers alike. Credit card hacking (or hijacking) is a term used to describe a person's credit card used by an unauthorized person (thief or vendor) to purchase goods or services. Unless the owner of the card is particularly vigilant, it is often difficult to track and manage this type of fraud. In effect, though, credit card hacking is also a form of identity theft, in which there is a deliberate assumption of a person's identity to use their property to make fraudulent changes and compromise personal and financial information. With credit cards, this can be either utilizing the card to make purchases outright or opening up fraudulent new accounts. In many cases, credit card hacking has involved intercepting credit card offers from the mail, filling out new address data, and submitting; phishing for credit card information over the Internet; or applying false charges for credit cards used in commercial transactions. Sometimes this type of theft is individualized, but as more and more transactions occur nationally and internationally over the Internet, organized groups (rings) of credit card thieves are increasingly becoming more of an international problem (Martin, 2010).

A second permutation of credit card hijacking is one in which the thief sets up continuing charges on another person's credit card for subscriptions or services no longer desired. This type of charge, perfectly legal because of the fine print in many subscription services (online dating, credit monitoring, etc.) requires that the person actively cancel the service within a few days or automatic billing will occur. In addition, even when service is cancelled, there is usually a period of 30 days that the consumer is still charged. This type of hacking was created by unscrupulous marketers who noted that subscription services had relatively low periodic billings that remained unnoticed on most consumers' credit card statements. Often the fees are so low that they escape most consumers' attention (Internet Fraud, 2010).

Crimes against property are related to a specific asset or tangible good. For instance, credit card fraud, intellectual property theft, time theft of Internet assets, or any other specific theft of property. If someone steals a person's credit card number and purchases online merchandise, this is property crime; similarly, if a social security number is stolen, along with personal information, and then used to open an account or fund a fraudulent activity, this is also property crime. Indeed, property crime is one of the single most issues in Cybertheft, simply because it touches numerous individuals at the micro level (McQuade, 2008)/

In its own class, Cybercrime against Government or Industry is one of the largest fiscally damaging crimes occurring in this genre. Governmental data records are especially vulnerable to cybercrime, as are records from the U.S. Post Office, Social Security Administration, Banks, the military, mortgage companies, or any company dealing with large amounts of fiscal dollars, or security (McQuade, 2005). These types of Cybercrime… READ MORE

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