The World of Information Technology and Communication - Essay Example

In the world of today where much depends upon computers and their associated networks, computer-related crime appears to be becoming a major problem.Describe and analyse the range of computer-related crimes, based upon this analysis, offer up some effective countermeasures. The world of information technology and communication has changed not just small communities but societies globally – improvement in productivity, revolutionary labour processes, unhindered capital flow and much more. The use of computers has accelerated and penetrated every walk of life with computers becoming the lifeblood of societies. For example, infrastructures such as water systems, power supply systems, communication networks, transportation, businesses, individuals all need computers for effective and efficient operation of their tasks. Without it, life would be at a standstill. This does not hold true only for businesses and industries but for individuals also. With one click of a button, a person sitting in Asia can connect with his family and friends in any part of the world. It is said that “With power comes great responsibility.” However, many do not agree to this and abuse this power to create havoc in communication and information world. This is known as computer-related crimes. The concept of computer-related crime is usually most difficult to understand. It is mostly understood in the light of legislation and jurisprudence where any digital technology used as an offence against any other technology, computer or person is considered a crime (Moore, 2005). With the advent of Internet, this concept has become more complex and is sometimes synced with cyber-crime. To make it clear, computer-related crime and cyber-crime are both different terminologies with different meanings. Cyber-crime is an offence conducted using the Internet whereas computer-related crime does not necessarily use Internet to commit an offence (Moore, 2005). With the growth and advancements in technology, computer-related crimes are seen to escalate. In 1993, mere ten cases were reported worldwide of computer crime which grew to hundreds during the 21st century (Walden, 2007). Now the number his risen to thousands with hundreds of crimes happening daily in almost every part of the world. From DoS attacks to Internet frauds, these computer-related crimes cost billions of dollars to countries around the world (Walden, 2007). This is proven by the range of documented computer-related crimes not just in the US or the UK but around the world. Documented Computer-related Crimes Computer-related crimes mostly target other computers globally or nationally such as servers and websites with viruses that cause considerable amount of damage to business networks and consumer networks if any. Professional forgery, counterfeiting, electronic vandalism, electronic fraud or theft such as hacking and transferring electronic funds from banks and financial systems are all computer-related crimes. Computers are an essential part of today’s banking system which is where these crimes originated. Considered as the initial computer crimes, a chief teller at the New York’s Union Dime Savings Bank located at Park Avenue embezzled more than $1.5 million from different accounts in the 1970s (Computer Related Crime, 2005). Since it was considered as the first of its kind crime, the teller managed to amaze the people that such computer crimes can be done using computers. In the 1980s, a UCLA student used his personal computer to hack the Defense Department’s communications systems (Wall, 2007). With the evolution of computers, the crimes also evolved becoming more sophisticated. In 2000, a range of DoS attacks were launched by an individual against Amazon, Yahoo!, Dell Inc, and others. Many computers at different universities were also under the attack by the same individual who was caught by the Canadian federal prosecutors for these computer-related crimes (Wall, 2007). Recently in 2010, Spanish investigators caught a group of people who were responsible for infecting more than 13 million computers of companies belonging to Fortune 1000 and 40 world banks (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2011). In the August of 2010, the US Department of Homeland Security helped in the capture of an international group of hackers known as Dreamboard. These hackers had almost 600 members who were involved in distribution of 123 terabytes of child pornography. Although it may seem it is not a computer-related crime, but in fact according to the US law it is regarded as one (Ophardt, 2010). There are hundreds and thousands of such cases that are opened and closed every day. With each passing moment, the crimes become more refined and sophisticated as the advancements in technology not only boost power of the good guys but also the bad. Types of Computer-Related Crimes An individual or a group can commit a computer-related crime using any of the following types: Hacking One of the most common forms of computer-related crimes is hacking. It is the oldest and most widely committed offence. Breaking in a computer system and bypassing security measures to gain an unauthorized access using a computer or the Internet is known as hacking (Walden, 2007). Most of the computer-related crimes have been reported to be of hacking and gaining illegal access to private and confidential information. With technological advancements, the processes of hacking become more and more simple and complex at the same time (Bosworth and Kabay, 2002). Many youngsters and computer nerds break and hack other individual’s or small businesses computers very easily but the professionals use complex hacking techniques such as hacking IP addresses to commit organized computer crimes (Walden, 2007). Viruses Viruses are another common type of computer-crime. These are computer programs that can replicate and harm the systems without any knowledge of the user of the computer system (Bosworth and Kabay, 2002). The common method of spreading a virus is through other computers attached on a network system, Internet and removable devices such as CDs or USB drives (Bosworth and Kabay, 2002). The viruses are in the form of malicious codes written with one aim – destroy a computer system and all the information on it (Walden, 2007). Implanting and writing a virus is a criminal offence as it can cause great loss of critical data and cause monetary losses also. Internet Crimes The Internet is a wonder of the technological era. It has opened countless doors of opportunities for everyone. The set of everyone includes hackers and criminals. While you may think to use the Internet for a positive purpose, hackers and criminals may be thinking the opposite (Walden, 2007). The availability of computers and Internet to all has opened up doors for hackers and criminals to mould the technology to their benefit for scams, frauds and maybe even terrorists’ activities (Moore, 2005). Internet crimes are such that the victims do not even get a chance to see or speak to their attackers. Phishing An attempt to gain sensitive information such as passwords and credit card information using the disguise of a trusted source is known as phishing (Moore, 2005). This act of crime is carried out using emails and fake websites where users are lured to enter their personal information (Walden, 2007). Although this is a type of cyber-crime, it does involve the use of computer and technology. Cyber Stalking Many people, individuals and criminals alike use the Internet or communication technology to torture others. This is called cyber stalking. Activities such as threat transmissions, false accusations, causing damage to equipment and data are part of cyber stalking (Moore, 2005). People who perform this felony are known as cyber stalkers. They mostly target using chat rooms, social networks, online forums and other social activities to gather information on a person and harass him/her accordingly (Moore, 2005). Over hundreds of people report abusive phone calls, obscene emails and such has made cyber stalking a computer crime and punishable by law (Walden, 2007). Identity Theft Nowadays, people are warned to give out their personal information over the phone or the computer. This is due to a rising threat called identity theft. It is a grave crime as it involves obtaining the benefits of others and stealing money using other person’s identity (Bosworth and Kabay, 2002). Using a false name and identity, a felon can obtain services and goods using a financial identity, whereas a commercial identity felon can use someone else’s credit card and business details to gain commercial profits (Walden, 2007). Identity theft is a popular choice when an individual or group wishes to carry out activities such as terrorism, illegal immigration, blackmailing others, stealing and so on (Bosworth and Kabay, 2002). Analyses of Computer-related Crimes Analysing computer-related crime is not an easy job as the evidence is usually transient and intangible. In the computer-crime world, it is easy to establish stereotypes that who is doing what and who is good at it (Lammle, 2009). When a computer-crime is firstly committed, it is easily labelled that the Chinese, Nigerians, Israelis, Russians, Indians or Pakistanis may have done which is sometimes true and sometimes not (Harrington, 2009). These stereotypes have developed because felons usually pick those territories that have least computer-crime resistance, weak or no legislation and minimum chances of being caught (Harrington, 2009). The important factor to remember in analysing computer-related crimes is that the crimes can be committed from anywhere and by anyone and that the felons will be sure to cover their tracks once their attack has been carried out (Lammle, 2009). Therefore, to draw a definite line of analysis for computer-related crimes is far from actual science and it will be a mistake to assume that any single country has complete rights to computer crimes (Lammle, 2009). It is a global problem that is being tackled by all. The United States The United States Department of Justice places computer-related crimes in three categories – use of computer as a target to attack other computers such as spreading a malicious code or virus; use of computer as a storage device to store illegal information; and use of computer as a tool to commit crime such as illegal gambling or hacking (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2011). United States is categorised as having the highest number of computer and web literate felons which makes this powerful country as a major source of computer-related crimes (Computer Crime, 2006). For instance, according to Walden (2007) the US is responsible for more spam compared to other countries making it a worse country than the top 10 computer-crime countries put together. Although spam in US and other nations travels through China, the US does have the highest number of prolific spammers as well as the worst ISPs for relay of that spam (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2011). These ISPs points finger at the hidden menace which blurs the boundaries between computer crimes and cyber-crimes – that is the huge number of computers that have been compromised are now churning out malware and spam without the knowledge and acknowledgment of the computer users (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2011). Almost one-fifth or 18% of all computers located in the US have been comprised which is said to be infecting others computers as we speak (Cottrell, 2011). These compromised computers have been nicknamed botnets. This is not just a problem within US but is for everyone. Felons rarely care about the location of their botnets - they only care about a broadband connection through which computer-related crimes can be committed (Computer Crime, 2006). In addition, according to Kaspersky Labs, the US accounted for almost one-fifth of the internet attacks in the last year being second to China (Walden, 2007). According to a recent computer-related crime and security survey conducted by the Computer Security Institute, 494 security practitioners in corporations, financial institutions and government agencies were evaluated. They gave top ten types of computer-related crimes that occur in US every year. These are (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2011): Abuse of net access by an insider (59%) Spreading Viruses (52%) Theft of laptop and mobile devices (50%) Phishing and scams (26%) Misuse of instant messaging services (25%) DoS attacks (25%) Unauthorized access to data and information (25%) Attack of bots within organizations (21%) Employee/customer data theft (17%) Misuse of wireless networks (17%) According to Cottrell (2011), the losses from computer-related crimes in 2007 was more than US$66 million which is high compared to the loss of US$52 million in 2006. Europe A twin role is played by Europe in the world of computer-related crimes similar to that of US which is not only a victim but also a perpetrator (Computer Crime, 2006). It is not without surprise that the advancements in technology and computers have attracted computer-crimes to such economies as they are derived by a higher financial incentive and better technology to abuse (Cottrell, 2011). According to recent investigations, UK is considered to have a very active network of hackers and virus writers who over the years have been arrested in connection to serious computer attacks. One of the famous hacker apprehended is Sven Jaschan, a German virus writer of Sasser (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2011). Another very famous virus that terrorised the Europe was Kournikova for its social engineering and payload which was written by a Dutch hacker (Walden, 2007). These criminals are just the tip of an iceberg. There have many reports of people involved with several DoS and malware attacks in countries within and associated with the European Union (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2011). According to British Crime Survey in 2003, 18% of the household computers had been infected with a virus which increased to 27% by 2004 destroying their computers and information (Computer Crime, 2006). The Department of Trade and Industry Security Breaches evaluated that almost 62% of the UK businesses had been a victim of a type of computer-related crime in 2006 (Cottrell, 2011). As a result, like the US, Europe is also guilty of the malware infections that have been distributed to household computers and business through large ISPs (Walden, 2007). France, Italy, Germany, UK and Spain are among the top 10 nations from which Trojan infections, spam and botnets have originated (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2011). China If one is to look at the origins of the computer-related attacks or cyber-crimes, their heads will undoubtedly turn toward China as it leads the way for other countries in this area (Cottrell, 2011). In 2009, China reported to be accountable for more than one-quarter of the computer-related crimes around the world which included hacking, viruses, cyber-crimes and so on (Computer Crime, 2006). In addition, the country also has a reputation of distributing the largest quantity of spam globally. As the population of China grows, so does the adoption of computers and Internet. People are not only becoming computer savvy but equipping themselves with the latest technology that the world has to offer (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2011). This clears the fact that China does originate a higher number of computer-related attacks than US and UK. This goes without saying that the population of China is almost the double of that of UK which is then a question of magnitude of computer-related crimes (Cottrell, 2011). Criminals use China as a base for their computer attacks because of the legislations which are still at a less mature stage compared to US and UK (Computer Crime, 2006). This does not mean that China is the sole responsible for the computer-related attacks but in fact is also a victim of these crimes. Countermeasures Many countries especially United States and Europe have laws that cover computer-related crimes as well as cyber-crimes as aforementioned. Since the offences against the computer systems are new as they arise and evolve with the digital age, the functionality of the computer systems is threatened because of which the existing laws seem inadequate (Bosworth and Kabay, 2002). As computer systems are an asset of the information and technological society, various initiatives are been taken to create and promote the awareness of the computer-related crimes and help in combating them. Council of Europe, the European Union, OECD, Group of Eight, and the United Nations are active members of combating computer-related crimes (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2011). Other than that, there are various other countermeasures that can be taken to reduce computer-related crimes. These are: Technical measures Since computer-related crimes are technically based, it is only logical to first tackle them on the technical front. There are different ways this can be done. Firewall is the first defence line in securing a computer system through determining which services can enter the computer (Cottrell, 2011). It can be done using Access Controls in the computers. Antivirus and Internet security software is another measure to defend against malicious codes that can enter to hack and destroy a computer (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2011). Heuristic files like file emulation and file analysis can be used to identify and remove any viruses or malicious codes (Cottrell, 2011). Many antivirus and Internet security software are available in the market depending on the type of operating system. This software should be regularly updated to keep the computer safe and secure. In addition to the above basic technical defences, some complex defences are also used such as cryptography to encrypt sensitive information such as ciphers, VPN, SSL, TLS, PPTP and so on (Cottrell, 2011). These are system or network level encryptions. On a file level, encryption can be used using DES, Advanced Encryption Standard and Triple Data Encryption Algorithm (Bosworth and Kabay, 2002). Although these are standard encryption and cryptography standards, these can be moulded and combined according to one’s needs. Another technical line of defence is the network vulnerability testing which is performed by programs and technicians on regular basis on devices, systems and networks (Bosworth and Kabay, 2002). This test ascertains the degree of security of a system and tries to make it stronger. In addition, occasion monitoring tools can used to identify and detect and suspicious activity in the systems (Cottrell, 2011). Physical electronic devices such as card keys, locks and biometric systems can also be an effective countermeasure to prevent unauthorized people from gaining physical access to a computer or system (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2011). Lastly, a strong password usually in the BIOS is also considered an effective measure to prevent physical computer-crimes (Cottrell, 2011). Economic measures On the economic level, the security against computer related crimes depends upon the incentives security and Internet providers have that is the economic payoffs and costs of increased security (Ophardt, 2010). Computer security fails because of prisoner’s dilemma, negative externalities and public goods where private returns to security are much higher than social returns (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2011). Therefore, it is important that we increase the ratio of public returns to private benefits to prevent computer-related crimes by investing in computer security. Legal Measures In the UK and US, a number of legislations define the prosecution conditions for a computer crime which are not only legal counter measures against such crimes but also a behavioural measure. Some of such legislations are Computer Misuse Act (CMA) 1990, The Data Protection Act (1998) and European Council Framework Decision on Attacks against Information Systems 2005/222/JHA (Computer Crime, 2006). In addition, each state or region should also adopt its own act or legislation which can effectively respond to the computer-related crimes without waiting for the national laws to be broken (Bosworth and Kabay, 2002). In addition, international cooperation should be gained through developing and promoting international legislation that can effectively deal with trans-border computer-related crimes (Ophardt, 2010). This also calls for compatibility of laws amongst various countries and mutual legal agreements for this cooperation of function successfully (Ophardt, 2010). This can substantially reduce the power of the international computer criminals and consequently reduce crimes. Behavioural Measures Behavioural measures such as public awareness programmes and campaigns can be an effective tool in preventing computer-related crime. People can be educated to know the type of computer-related crimes that have occurred and can occur (Ophardt, 2010). They can try to come up with their own ways to provide security to their systems which if proven effective can be used by others also. Computer-related security can be practiced such as stronger passwords, security patches, and monitoring tools to detect intrusions and signs of malicious attacks (Ophardt, 2010). Conclusion It is clear from the discussion that computer-related crime is not going to disappear. This should not come as a surprise because it is in reality a side-effect of the technology and digital age. In simple language, if a person has created something for the good of all, someone will always find a way to misuse it. This is true for computers. Although we are trying to bring in more and more technology in a little device to allow us a better connectivity, we are also increasing chances of it being misused. So it is not about eliminating the problem but mitigating the risks that is associated with it. As a result, new countermeasures are required with every introduction of new technology to protect the digital environment. The use of latest computers and technology only devise new ways for committing traditional offences in which case, the aforementioned countermeasures may seem inadequate. The technology and connectivity super highway that we are traveling on is similar to any traditional highway – it needs to be well-designed for better driving, clear signs and roads and with competent drivers. In other words, although we should excel in computer technology, it should have a blend of proper and effective legislations, policing and high-level of awareness. WORD COUNT (3494) REFERENCES Bosworth,S. and Kabay, M. 2002. 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