COMPUTER CRIME - Coursework Example

Computer Crime Computer crime refers to utilization of information technology to attain illegal objectives or to access a computer system without authority with the intention of causing damage or altering data in the system (Stephenson & Gilbert, 2013). Despite the full use of computers from the 1970s, crimes related to computers as victims and tools remained rare. When the first such crime was reported, Kizza (2013) observes that it was difficult for law enforcement agencies to act appropriately due to their limited knowledge as compared to perpetrators.

However, the modern world experiences an increasing rate of computer crimes, both in quantity and complexity. The latest statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI (2014) indicates that the complaints received in 2012 were 289,874 amounting to losses of $525,441,110, this representing 8.3% increase in losses reported to the agency in a span of one year. The trend is similar to what has been recorded from 2008. In spite of the adjustments by the FBI in tackling current wave of crimes, the threat continues to present most dynamic transformations, making them increasingly sophisticated, dangerous and common.

The widespread interconnectivity leveraging on the Internet is to blame for this trend. The Internet provides a shared and integrated platform that fosters anonymity and inability to be traced thus propagating computer crimes (Stephenson & Gilbert, 2013). Furthermore, there is a rapid increase in computer knowledge in the modern world which propagates formulation of complex attacks. There is an increasing list of the types of computer crimes. Among the common types are hacking, phishing and virus distribution.

Hacking refers to the beating of computer system security capabilities so as to gain illegal access to information stored therein. This also includes the hacking of IP addresses so as to transact under a false identity, hence anonymity in carrying out crime. Secondly, phishing entails the acquisition of sensitive information such as passwords, usernames and credit card details in the disguise of a trustworthy source. It could be executed through emails or luring users to key in personal information in criminal websites.

Criminals would often use websites having familiar looks so as to gain the users’ confidence. Finally, the crime of computer viruses involves use of computer programs with the capability of self replication that harms computer systems in a network. This occurs without the user’s knowledge and spreads from a computer to another through Internet, network or removable devices (Kizza, 2013). These crimes continue to increase in number and complexity.The usual crime detection strategies cannot be used for computer crimes.

This is because the perpetrators fast adopt new technologies than law enforcement agencies can cope up with. However, sharing information on specific security classifications could help organizations track down such criminals (Stephenson & Gilbert, 2013). Such information remains well guarded secret of the involved organizations, and excludes anyone who is not part of the security team. User awareness would also be an effective strategy as Kizza (2013) observes that it would equip users with the requisite knowledge to report any suspicious incidences that could lead to the perpetrators.

Finally, transaction audits would be critical in revealing any foreign transactions and consequently the criminals who write and distribute viruses. Whereas these measures could be effective on themselves, a combination of various approaches would give better results.ReferencesFederal Bureau of Investigation. (2014). Today’s FBI facts and figures 2013 – 2014. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice. Retrieved 11 March 2014 from http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publicationsKizza, J. M. (2013).

Guide to computer network security (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.Stephenson, P. & Gilbert, K. (2013). Investigating computer-related crime (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.