The Issue and Nature of Computer Crimes - Essay Example

Running head: computer crimes Computer Crimes Affiliation August 29, 2009 This paper presents a comprehensive study of the main computer crimes problems faced all over the world. In essence, this research throws light on different computer crimes and the online crimes. This paper presents a comprehensive study of the Computer crimes, types of computer crimes such as unauthorized access, how to alter websites, malicious program codes including Viruses, Trojan horses, Logical Bomb, Sniffers, Software piracy, Antipiracy, Hacking, aggravation and nuisance, and Cybercrimes. The usage of these terms is very common when we talk about Computer crimes. Computer Crime Computer crime can be defined as “the usage of computers to carry out any criminal proceedings or events” (Parker, 2002) and (Shelly, Cashman, & Vermaat, 2005). Precise figures on the level of this observable fact have verified to be vague because of the complexity in sufficiently defining computer offenses or crimes (ecommerce, 2009). Computer crime can also be expressed as “illegal utilization of computer technologies, generally concerning with the Internet, to hold crimes such as deception, theft of identity, sharing of information, and misuse is called computer crime” (Computer Crime Research Center, 2005). Fortunately many people are fighting against computer crimes and it is taken very critically by government organizations. Examples of computer crime are: given by (Computer Crime Research Center, 2005) Deception attained by the exploitation of computer records and information. Spamming everywhere illegitimate entirely or where systems controlling it are despoiled. Unofficial entrance to or alteration of programs. Logical assets theft, as well as software piracy. Business spying through access to or stealing of computer resources. Identity stealing wherever it is accomplished by employment of counterfeit computer dealings. Writing or dispersing computer viruses or worms. Salami slicing is the observance of pilfering money constantly in really small quantities Denial-of-service attack, anywhere company websites are swamped with service requests and their website is congested and either becomes slowed down or collapses absolutely. Types of Computer Crimes and Criminals Computer crime has a lot of outlines. Some cases involve the application of computer system for stealing of monetary assets, for example memory chip or physical equipment (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004). Although types of computer-related crimes are numerous and widespread and computer criminals can do a great deal of harm working with standard alone PCs and LANs, the Internet has given them global reach (Norton, 2001). Illegal Access The types of illegal access to the computers generally involve the following: (Standler, 2002) 1. Computer voyeur. The criminal reads (or copies) confidential or proprietary information, but data is neither deleted nor changed. 2. Changing the data. For instance, changing a “grade: on a school result card, adding "money" to a scrutiny account, etc. illegal changing of data is usually a deceptive act. 3. Deleting data. Deleting entire files could be an act of vandalism or sabotage. 4. Refusing service to legitimate users. A time-sharing computer of modern age, any user can take disk space and time thus access to resources is denied to the legitimate users. Changing websites Within a distinctive attack, the hacker removes some pages or some contents on the page; hacker afterward uploads new altered pages over the internet with the old file name, so that the hacker monitors and controls the message transmitted over the site (Parker, 2002) and (Standler, 2002). Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks This type of attack happens as soon as an Internet server is swamped with an almost constant stream of fake requests for web pages, thus denying valid users a chance to download a web page over the internet and too perhaps deafening or crashing the web server. In this type of attack the attacker uses specialized type of software to send a flood of data packets to the target computer with the aim of overloading its resources (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004) , (Standler, 2002) and (Brenton & Hunt, 2002). Malevolent computer programs The subsequent are common requisites for some computer program that is intended to damage its victim(s): (Standler, 2002) and (Brenton & Hunt, 2002): 1. Malicious code 2. Malicious program 3. Malware   (by similarity with "software") 4. Rascal program Malicious computer programs are classified into the following categories: A virus is a program that infects and spoils an executable file. When the file is infected it works in a strange way than before: perhaps only showing a gentle message on the monitor, perhaps erasing various or almost all files on the users secondary storage or hard drive, perhaps changing data files (Brenton & Hunt, 2002) and (Standler, 2002). A worm is a program that replicates itself. The difference between a virus and worm is that a virus not at all replicates itself – a virus is copied on the hard drive simply as the infected executable file is run by the operating system or by some other means (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004) and (Standler, 2002). A Trojan horse is a deceivingly labeled program that holds at least one function that is unfamiliar to the client and that creates unknown problems to the user. Usually Trojan horse does not copy itself, which differentiates it from viruses and worms (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004) and (Standler, 2002). A logic bomb is a program that "detonates" when some event occurs. The detonated program might stop working (e.g., go into an infinite loop), crash the computer, release a virus, delete data files, or any of many other harmful possibilities. A time bomb is a type of logic bomb, in which the program detonates when the computers clock reaches some target date (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004) and (Standler, 2002). A Sniffer is a program that looks for content or even passwords in a packet of data, as they get across the internet in order to get something meaningful to the hacker (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004) and (Standler, 2002). Spoofing is to send fake email messages or web contents or web pages to deceive users to get their personal information or to get money from the user by deception (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004) and (Standler, 2002). Backdoors attackers to system make a number of access points yet if you learn and close one. They possess the potential to break into other’s systems (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004) and (Standler, 2002). Malevolent Applets are small programs written in java language in order to make use of your computer resources, alter or modify your file, initiate a fake e-mail etc (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004) and (Standler, 2002). Hacking The word ‘Hacking’ is a computer word pointing out to the action of people who acquire their chuck out of using computers or terminals to break the safety of distant computer systems. An example illustrates that United States Department of Defense computers are assaulted by master brain hackers hundreds of thousands of times a year with more than the numbers of attacks are going to be undetected (Parker, 2002) and (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004). Cybercrimes The internet atmosphere gives a very easy site for carrying out unlawful operations. Such operations are known as cybercrimes, in a sense that they are accomplished over the internet. Hundreds of diverse techniques and tricks are utilized by modern criminals to snatch money from naive citizens over the internet, shopping without paying, selling without delivery, to mistreat people, and also to hurt the people (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004). Software Piracy The major official concern disturbing the computer business is Software Piracy, which is the unauthorized copying of program or software. Piracy is the major problem because it is much easy to copy programs. Even, software pirates relinquish the height to get technical support and upgrades; however they attain the right to use software programs even without paying for them (Norton, 2001). Antipiracy At present, piracy is so hard to prevent is that definite types of copying are legal, a truth that excites some people to pass over the differences. For instance it is usually authorized to copy software that you buy with proper license with the intention that you encompass a backup copy in case if the original one is spoiled (Norton, 2001). Targets of computer crime Most of the attacks do not have an exact target. Up till now, attacks carried out against definite computers or groups of computers are being observed enormously. Home computer users, corporations with big networks of computers, or whole infrastructures may be the target of computer criminals (parliament.uk, 2006). Crime Rate According to an online study time-honored by the FTC, there were more than 67500 complaints of identify theft were reported in United States. A comprehensive survey shows that the persons who commit these frauds fall in the age between 19 years to 28 years (National Criminal Justice reference Service, 2008). Almost five percent people were found whose age is more than 30 years. This reveals that the persons committing these types of crimes are mostly youngsters. At present, more awful information were observed in later years. This state of affairs is looking extremely serious as the time progresses. At present, lots of remedial steps have been employed by the government of various states for the eradication of these criminal activities and for their punishments too (National Criminal Justice reference Service, 2008). Moreover, more shocking figures in the later years have been observed (National Criminal Justice reference Service, 2008). TECHNIQUES FOR MINIMIZING COMPUTER CRIMES Assess Risk The most important way an organization can minimize crime is by having a good plan for security, and the centerpiece of such any plan is an assessment of which operations are most vulnerable to attach. Thus a list can be made about disaster-level events that can occur (Parker, 2002). Have a Recovery Plan Since no security guarantee 100 percent safety, so organization should specifically take steps to have backup ready if or when disruptive events such as fires, floods, or computer outage occur. Backup copies should include having copies of all important programs and data stored at another site as well as on site. The sole purpose of recovery plan is to keep the business running after a disaster occurs (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004). Control for prevention and deterrence Properly designed controls may prevent errors from occurring, deter criminals from attacking the system, and better yet deny access to unauthorized people (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004). Physical Control These controls constitute the physical protection of the computer system and resources. This includes protecting physical boundary, computer system, data centers, software, manuals, and networks (Shelly, Cashman, & Vermaat, 2005). Use Encryption To stop computer crimes over the internet an intensive method is to encrypt the network traffic crossing over the network. Encryption ensures the confidentiality of sender and the receiver. Encryption uses the key of specified length for encoding and decoding the message to read it (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004) and (Parker, 2002). Hire Trustworthy Personnel Employers should properly examine the background of persons being attached with critical computer related tasks. Some people falsify resume to get jobs. Some have criminal records. So company should hire trustworthy personnel to minimize crimes related to computers (Parker, 2002). Beware of Malcontents Let us consider a case in which an employee has been terminated from an organization and still a potential for computer crime exists, then the former employer should update his records to show that the person involved is no longer employed in the company (Parker, 2002). Restrict System Use People who use a computer should only have access to the things they need to do their tasks. A computer operator should only be told about executing a program rather than what the program does and what it is designed for? (Parker, 2002) And (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2004). Password Protected Programs and Data In a shared corporate environment, user can restrict access to programs and data with passwords. User can specify that a person can only access certain type of data requiring certain password otherwise his/her access to the program must be denied (Parker, 2002). Use Firewalls To avert the threat of hackers, firewalls should be employed at the border of the network. Firewalls are set of software or hardware intended to protect company network from attackers as most attacks are carried out outside of the company. Firewalls are used to implement control access policy as it allows certain type of traffic to cross through the network that meet certain criteria otherwise it blocks the traffic (Brenton & Hunt, 2002). Conclusion The Information Technology is making progress in every walk of life. As it has facilitated our lives, it has also created lot of troubles in the form of computer crimes. Criminals target computer systems or make use of them as tools to carry out old as well as modern types of crimes. This paper has discussed the computer crimes in detail. In this paper I have outlined detailed overview of computer crimes, their types, methods to handle computer crimes, crimes ratio, and targets of computer criminals. This paper provides a deep insight into the topic. Bibliography 1. Brenton, C., & Hunt, C. (2002). Mastering Network Security. Sybex. 2. Computer Crime Research Center. (2005, November 26). Types of computer crimes. Retrieved August 29, 2009, from crime-research.org: http://www.crime-research.org/news/26.11.2005/1661/ 3. ecommerce. (2009). Computer Crime - Definitions. Retrieved August 28, 2009, from ecommerce.com: http://ecommerce.hostip.info/pages/237/Computer-Crime-DEFINITIONS.html 4. National Criminal Justice reference Service. (2008, 09 15). In the Spotlight, Identity Theft - Facts and Figures . Retrieved 06 23, 2009, from NCJRS, National Criminal Justice reference Service: http://www.ncjrs.gov/spotlight/identity_theft/facts.html 5. Norton, P. (2001). Introduction to Computers, Fourth Edition. Singapore: McGraw-Hill. 6. Parker, C. S. (2002). Understanding computers Today and Tomorrow. Harcourt Brace College Publishers. 7. parliament.uk. (2006). COMPUTER CRIME. Retrieved August 27, 2009, from Parliament.uk: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/postpn271.pdf 8. Shelly, Cashman, & Vermaat. (2005). Discovering Computers 2005. Boston: Thomson Course Technology. 9. Standler, R. B. (2002). Computer Crime. Retrieved August 26, 2009, from RBS2.com: http://www.rbs2.com/ccrime.htm 10. Turban, E., Rainer, R. K., & Potter, R. E. (2004). Introduction to Information Technology,3rd Edition. New York: Wiley. Read More