Description of Cyber Crimes - Research Paper Example

Cyber Crimes Introduction In business laws, cyber crimes refer to a set of criminal activities committed on individuals or groups aimed at causing intentional harm to their reputation either physically or emotionally using chat rooms, short messages from phones and the internet in general. According to studies, cyber crimes have the potential of harming a nation’s security system and its financial well-being if these criminal levels escalate. In many cases, these cyber crimes include copyright infringement, underage pornography, government cracking, and child grooming. Other than these crimes, there is also a breach of privacy in which a person’s confidential information becomes compromised, which in legal parameters is unlawful. A majority of those found to engage in cyber crimes is normally between the age of fifteen and twenty-fivein which they find themselves serving time at correctional facilities when found guilty of the offense. Cyber crimes have both international and local engagements in which a government may choose to do so through spying on other governments or by non-state actors who may use these avenues to conduct financial theft (Girard 399). In essence, cyber crimes may also be an inter border in which the efforts to apprehend those involved in this economic crippling activity may spread across international boundaries hence becoming cyber warfare. With this, this essay will delve into cyber crimes and the laws that are in existence surrounding cyber crimes. The emphasis will also be on various cyber crimes that have gained international recognition across nations that have a direct correlation to business organizations. Description of Cyber crimes Ideally, cyber crimes have attracted immense costs to institutions and individuals alike in recent times making it to be of the most expensive crimes to exist for the current generation. On the contrary, cyber crimes is a term that serves as an umbrella to a wider range of activities that may include those that target computers and those that target computer networks and devices (Brenner 39). Principally, cyber crimes that target computer devices or their networks include viruses, malicious software (Malware) while those that may originate from computer devices or networks include fraud, information warfare, and identity theft among a list of other documented crimes (Turrini & Ghosh 51). On the contrary, the Department of Justice in the USA recognizes computer crime to exist in a category of three in which a computer may be the prime target for cybercrime or as a tool for conducting the offense. Thirdly, a computer or its network may be applicable in executing the crime as a tool for storing stolen information making it an accessory to these crimes. According to research, those that conduct cyber crimes who happen to be teenagers do not have to have manyskills in order to do this because the tools used in hacking into computer systems are readily available on the internet. Most of these crimes begin as pranks in which these youngsters may view the shutting down of websites as a joke without having the knowledge that these activities are illegal. Other than being hackers, people and children that fall within the 15-24 age brackets also find themselves engaging with crooks online who give out information to them about the ways of shutting down the online operations of certain companies. Therefore, those that commit cyber crimes may either download the software that are essential in committing these crimes or may acquire links to sites that may offer them pointers on how to commit the crimes effectively. On the other hand, some sections of the media have also praised cyber crimes portraying computer criminals as people that can liberate society from oppression similar to the legendary story of Robin Hood. According to the Interpol, cyber crimes have been on an increasing trend in recent years as compared to other intellectual crimes across the globe. With the increase in internet speed options, anonymity ofusers and the convenience associated with internet use, cyber criminals have continued to commit offenses in wide range hence making the vice to spread across nations. Arguably, the availability of the internet in most parts of the globe has influenced people to commit cyber crimes with ease hence invoking counties to adopt laws that cover these intellectual crimes. Cyber space has also become an avenue used by terrorists to create security vulnerabilities for nations and governments through the spreading of damaging propaganda and using software that hack into protected systems to access highly confidential government records. In recent times, the face of cyber crimes and criminals have changed in which crime syndicates and IT professionals have opted to merge their resources and expertise to create a new wave of this intellectual crime. Between 2007 and 2008, the estimated cost caused by cyber crimes was $8 billion while the theft of intellectual property from corporate translated to $1 trillion in the same period. The common types of cyber crimes Arguably, cyber crimes vary depending on a country and the policies surrounding the development of these systems in different nations. However, the implications caused by these crimes are undoubtedly similar in terms of costs and the economic devastation cultivated through this vice. One of the common forms of cyber crime activity is the spread of Spam, which is the sending of identical emails to different accounts in which clicked at leads people to sites that could be hosting Malware. In many cases, spam messages are unsolicited,in which the recipient does not ask for these messages hence making it to be a threat to those that may be unaware of the existence of such contents. Theother type of cyber crime is phishing where these emails coerce victims into disclosing their information such as passwords and personal identification numbers on their credit cards (Girard 400). 1. Computer fraud Ideally, this cyber crime refers to the misrepresentation of facts in a dishonest manner intended to influence another or refrain them from performing certain activities that translate to losses in the end. Computer fraud is not uncommon practice in which employees tend to change data before they enter it or entering falsified data as a way of gaining personally while harming the organization that the work for. Other than altering information, this cyber crime also includes theft of organizational outputs as a way of hiding transactions conducted without authorization and intentionally deleting or changing stored data. Most of the computer fraud activities target naive consumers that end up losing most of their earnings or savings through bank fraud, extortion, and identity theft among other computer crimes that thrive because of the facilitation from computer systems. 2. Threats and harassment cyber crimes The argument that encourages this cybercrime is the protection that each individual has under the freedom of speech human rights, but these privileges do not apply when an individual or group makes damaging utterances or test to another. Harassment as a cyber crime involves the directing of obscenities or comments that are derogatory aimed at an individual because of their gender, sexual preferences, religion, and nationality among a list of many other personal attributes. In many instances, this cyber crime also has connections to cyber bullying, hate crimes, stalking, or online stalking (Halder & Jaishankar 82). Online predators that use the internet or computers to lure young children to have prohibited sexual conduct also fall under this category of crime. 3. Cyber terrorism and drug trafficking Recent surveys have indicated that most terrorists and drug traffickers have opted to use cyberspace to conduct their illicit transactions at internet cafes or courier websites (Girard 398). In essence, the internet has made many things to be virtual including illegal trade hence influencing these businesses to thrive because of the minimized risk levels. Foreign intelligence services can also be the source to some cyber crimes reported in developing nations by launching computer attacks aimed at weakening government databases making them susceptible to attacks. The results of most harassments or acts of terrorism tend to be extortion in which the criminals may demand for payment in ransom in order for them to stop conducting the crimes on their identified targets (Brenner 73). In recent years, the reported cases of cyber terrorism aim at bringing down websites and computer networks for establishingcompanies hence crippling certain functionalities such as payment demands of their clients. In relation to harassment, a cyber criminal in possession of confidential information attained through hacking may also use blackmail as a way of extorting money from their prey, which is also an illegal practice. Laws governing cyber crimes Globally, there is no standard definition of cyber crime but the common ground shared by the various definitions is that activities relating to them are criminal and are punishable by law. As much as cyber crimes tend to present huge expenses, many countries lack the appropriate infrastructure required in combating these crimes effectively. With the increase in the rates of both reported and unreported cyber crimes, international responses were critical as a way of curbing the implications brought by these crimes. For instance, the UN General Assembly adopted legislation on cyber crime in 1990 and it also adopted resolutions controlling the misuse of IT in the year 2000. The G8 developed an action plan in 1997 aimed at establishing principles that were to safeguard data and computer systems from unauthorized alterations. Some of the laws that have sought to curb the cybercrime menace include the Cyber Security Enhancement Act of 2002, Cyberspace Electronic Security enacted in 1999, the Anti-Phishing Act of 2005, and the Can-spam law of 2003 (Dulaney 281). Other laws applied in the USA include the National Infrastructure Protection Laws in 1996 and the Digital Millennium Copyright enacted in 1998 among a list of many others. On the contrary, other countries have also been on the frontline to achieving cyber security in nations such China considered to have been one of the leading developers of spam in the world. In this nation, many did so in 2009 as a way of showing patriotism to their nation in order to allow for the underground economy in China to thrive. However, China appended to the laws aimed at reducing cyber crimes as formulated by the UN G A aimed at ensuring they created a globally secure cyberspace. Britain also established the 2005 London Action Plan on the spamin which also China participated in the signing because its ranking was number three in the world in the development and distribution of spam in the world. Famous cyber crimes related to business organizations Convicted computer criminals are persons found answerable to crimes of breaking into computer networks or computers without having authorized access to make the alterations. The first case reported and received a conviction was won by the 414s group of friends who in 1983 broke into several high profile computer systems such as the Security Pacific Bank, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre and the National Laboratory in Los Amos. The ruling was the first in this field of organized crime in which the leader received a two-year probation sentence for having been found liable for the cyber crimes leveled against the group. In many cases, the sentencing of people of groups found to be in breach of existing cyber crimes vary from probation to a maximum of two years in a correctional facility. However, the longest sentencing ever documented was that of computer hacker Gonzalez Albert who got twenty years in 2012 for masterminding credit card theft(Weinsten, Macewan & Geach 318). In 2007, Gonzales sold over a hundred and seventy million ATM numbers making this crime to have been the biggest between 2005 and 2007. According to evidence presented at his trial, Gonzalez together with his accomplices used ARP Spoofing attacks that enabled them to be gaining access to data belonging to corporate networks. In one case, Gonzales hacked into TJX Maxx company’s systems and compromised customer information in a period of eighteen months in which the company discovered theintrusion after many of its customers had become victims (Wolny 48). The credit and debit card information that Gonzales had hacked into totaled to almost forty six million, which was the highest as compared to that of CardSystems Solutions that was at forty million(Weinsten, Macewan & Geach 317). The other notorious hacking attempt that Gonzales made was on the Dave & Buster’s network 2007 where the reported number of stolen card numbers was at five thousand at the time of realization. Sony’s PlayStation network also fell prey to cyber crimes in 2011, where hackers accessed information for about seventy million of its subscribers (Daniel 15). The possible information that the hackers at that time could have accessed included billing information and purchase history for Sony’s consumers that could have resulted in identity theft. In 2013, the global leader in social networking Facebook hinted at a possible breach to its systems, which the company suggested that it was no ordinary attempt of gaining access to its network systems. Investigations conducted over the source of the system breached traced back to a mobile developer site that compromised the Facebook website because the site installed malware to the employees’ laptops. Adobe also experienced a similar predicament to that of Facebook where on October 2013 the company announced that information for thirty eight million people in its system had fallen in the hands of hackers. However, with the increase in reported cyber crimes aimed at corporations, many organizations have opted to increase their budgetary allocations aimed at inching up their network security systems. Further, companies have also opted to engage in research activities aimed at ensuring that a company has protection solutions to cyber crimes in order to safeguard against sophisticated attacks on their sites. The intrusion on Twitter and Facebook led the two companies to advise their users to seize using the Java’s Oracle as the systems that they used could not detect malware hence fostering their installation to the systems of their users. Remarkably, when people switched from using Java the hackings to these social sites reduced significantly, but Java did not respond to the allegations leveled against its product. Conclusion Over the years, cyber related crime has become the most profitable activity with many of those involved in these sorts of offenses being young adults. Most of them begin these activities as innocent pranks, but they later end up committing crimes that they did not think could attract any legal repercussions. However, the availability of software that makes hacking into confidential systems easy also makes the curbing of this vice to be challenging to the nations that have established legislation that seeks to protect the population against such crimes. Many of those attacked by such crimes may be individuals or organizations that end up losing a million dollars to intellectuals that inch their knowledge in computer applications higher than average. The amount of money that goes into establishing computer networks security translates to billions, but this has not assured corporate of their safety from cyber criminals. The anonymity associated with cyber crimes also makes it a sustaining venture that may involve the employees working for a particular company aiming at crumbling the financial position of the organization. Ideally, all corporations and individuals that use the internet and the computer often are at high a risk of falling prey to these crimes because cyber crimes require devices or networks in order for their destruction attempts to be effective. In the end, cyber crimes continue to change form hence requiring that security agencies charged with the responsibility of curbing cyber professionals should have upto date information on how these criminals operate (Turrini & Ghost 110). Lastly, the sentences handed down to those convicted of cyber crimes should be harsher rather than the standing ones that give up tofive years maximum or probation in order to discourage youngsters from committing such offenses. In so doing, the rates of reported cyber crimes would decrease significantly for corporate because people and terror organizations would fear wasting their years in jail. Works cited Brenner, Susan W. Cybercrime: Criminal Threats from Cyberspace. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2010. Print. Daniel, Larry. Digital Forensics for Legal Professionals: Understanding Digital Evidence from the Warrant to the Courtroom. Waltham, Mass: Syngress/Elsevier, 2012. Print. Dulaney, Emmett A. Comptia A+ Complete Review Guide [exam 220-701, Exam 220-702]. Indianapolis: Wiley Pub, 2009. Internet resource. Ghosh, Sumit, and Elliot Turrini. Cybercrimes: A Multidisciplinary Analysis. Berlin: Springer, 2010. Print. Girard, James, E. Criminal: Forensic Science, Crime and Terrorism. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2011. Print. Halder, Debarati, and K Jaishankar. Cyber Crime and the Victimization of Women: Laws, Rights and Regulations. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference, 2012. Print. Weinsten, Stuart, Macewan, Neil and Geach, Neal. Electronic and Mobile Commerce Law: An Analysis of Trade, Finance, Media and Cybercrime in the Digital Age. Hatfield, Hertfordshire: University of Hertfordshire Press, 2011. Print. Wolny, Philip. Understanding Financial Frauds and Scams. New York: Rosen Pub, 2013. Internet resource. Read More