Cybercrime - an Issue of Growing Importance - Research Paper Example

Cybercrime - an Issue of Growing Importance Cybercrime or computer crime is an issue of growing importance today. With the growing use of technology, new issues and problems are developing. Cybercrime, as the name suggests, is an illegal or immoral act that involves a computer or a network. It includes activities such as fraud, unauthorized access, cyber stalking, and even the development of cyber weapons. The question arises how do we safeguard against cybercrime and who is responsible for this? Although the government is trying to protect computer users through existing laws, it may not be enough as more laws need to be enacted which focus on securing the internet, people need to be educated, and existing laws need to be enforced both nationally and internationally. People want their personal information to remain that way, personal. But can this really be achieved? Daily there are headlines telling us of yet another story of information being stolen by a criminal or looked upon by the government. There’s also the issue of wiretapping phones and having hidden security cameras. Some time ago, AT&T mentioned, “While account information may be personal to you, these records…are owned by AT&T and it may disclose such records to protect its legitimate business records, safeguard others or respond to legal process.” (Lamb, 2011) As history shows, there are truly malicious people among us, and even the most meticulous people can make mistakes, and security experts are becoming very wary of the privacy future for America (Marks, 2008). With such statements, it’s easy to feel that privacy may as well become a thing of the past. Cybercrime can be done in different ways and can occur anywhere. There are two categories of cybercrime. The first type involves crimes in which information and communications technologies are the target of offenses. Examples of this are computer vandalism, viruses, and the like. The other type involves crimes where technologies are used as tools to commit an offense, such as computer hacking. These two types are the umbrella categories, but there are many other subcategories involved in cybercrime. The computer may be the agent of the crime, the facilitator of the crime, or the target of the crime. The crime may take place in one location or sometimes in a network of locations. The end results of this type of crime include, to name a few, cyber drug trafficking, child pornography, identity theft, and phishing. But exactly what is being done to fight this? One may ask. The President’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board (PCIPB) has come up with a draft plan for upgrading the nation’s cyberspace infrastructure. This strategy calls for the cooperation of home computer users, business users, state and local governments, with the overall goal being empowering all Americans to secure their portions of cyberspace. The executing of the plan requires six steps, they being: educating and creating awareness among users of cyberspace, producing more secure technologies, developing a large and well-qualified cyber security workforce, fostering responsibility among individuals for security at all levels, increasing accountability and updating security practices, and finally developing early warning and sharing of information that will help with early detection of attacks and leading to the appropriate response. The US also seeks to ask for the participation of foreign counterparts as well in a peer-to-peer dialogue that aims to make an effective business case for cyber security and attain successful means for partnering with governments on cyber security. (Washington File, 2002) Other states have enacted what is known as a “security freeze” legislation which allows its citizens to lock their credit files against anyone who tries to open a new account or gain new credit, and they’re hoping this will keep thieves from exploiting stole Social Security numbers. (Lamb, 2006) There are also propositions of making of a “new internet”. “The whole notion of privacy and security has become so elusive that the only way to fix the problem would be to start over.” (Markoff, 2009). The idea of a new internet is one that is highly debated upon. Such a thing would require us to give up anonymity in exchange for privacy and security. Nick McKeown, a Stanford engineer says “Unless we’re willing to rethink today’s Internet, we’re just waiting for a series of public catastrophes.” While this is still being looked into, one thing remains certain, that proving ones identity remains hard today, and as long as this problem is here, building a completely trustable system will remain virtually impossible. (Markoff, 2009) Yet, with all these plans coming to action, does it really guarantee that this problem will be taken care of? Mr. Gellman, a privacy consultant, says “It doesn’t always help. Take, for example, those privacy notices businesses send to their customers: nobody reads them, ending up costing the company a lot of money while it not doing anything at all for consumers. Congress should create an independent federal privacy agency, which could better enforce privacy laws already on the books”. (Lamb, 2006) It is not enough to just settle for the laws that are already there, new ones must be legislated, cyber education must be initiated and Americans should be warned. All companies should re-evaluate the rules of evidence that they have, rules that cover digitized information, modern computers, communication systems and the global nature of the net. In addition to appropriate laws, it is imperative that the government develop the capacity to enforce these laws. There should be a development of an area of expertise in cybercrime and information sharing among borders. National security and intelligence agencies should be included in this fight, helping create specialized law enforcement agencies to deal with these issues at the national level. In addition, partnership between the government and different industries ought to be cultivated. To achieve this, law enforcement agencies should be careful not to expose company vulnerabilities, while at the same time the companies themselves should be willing to report any criminal activities detected in their information and communication systems (Williams, 2001). Despite all this, organized crime and cybercrime will probably still continue to grow. However, if steps are made in these directions, then there is at least some hope that cybercrime can be restrained within tolerable restraints, that it will not weaken the trust in electronic commerce, that it will not enhance organized crime groups that they can further debase and intimidate governments, and that the big winner from the growth of the Internet will not be cybercrime. Though there may not be a clear and surefire solution right now, while everyone continues to do what they can to fight this, there still remains the hope that the idea of surfing the internet, buying things online, and downloading attachments without having to look over our shoulder will one day become a reality. WORKS CITED Lamb, Gregory M. “Does Digital Age Spell Privacy Doom?” Christian Science Monitor. 28 Jun 2006: n.p. SIRS Researcher . Web. 17 May 2011. Markoff, John. “Do We Need A New Internet?” NewYork Times (New York, NY). 15 Feb 2009: p.WK.1. SIRS Researcher. Web. 17 May 2011. Marks, Alexandra. “Privacy Becoming More Elusive for Americans.” Christian Science Monitor.18 Apr 2008: n.p. SIRS Researcher. Web. 17 May 2011. “White House Issues Cyber Security Plan.” Washington File. 20 Sept 2002: n.p. SIRS Government Reporter. Web. 18 May 2011. Williams, Phil. “ Organized Crime and Cybercrime: Synergies, Trends and Responses.” Global Issues. Aug 2001. SIRS Researcher. 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