Term Papers on Computer Crime

Term Paper Title	Computer Crime
# of Words	3242
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	12.97

Computer Crime

     Computer crimes need to be prevented and halted thought increased
computer network security measures as well as tougher laws and enforcement of
those laws in cyberspace:

     Computer crime is generally defined as any crime accomplished through
special knowledge of computer technology.  All that is required is a personal
computer, a modem, and a phone line.  Increasing instances of white-collar crime
involve computers as more businesses automate and information becomes an
important asset. Computers are objects of crime when they or their contents are
damaged, as when terrorists attack computer centers with explosives or gasoline,
or when a "computer virus"--a program capable of altering or erasing computer
memory--is introduced into a computer system.  As subjects of crime, computers
represent the electronic environment in which frauds are programmed and
executed;  an example is the transfer of money balances in accounts to
perpetrators' accounts for withdrawal. Computers are instruments of crime when
used to plan or control such criminal acts as complex embezzlements that might
occur over long periods of time, or when a computer operator uses a computer to
steal valuable information from an employer.

     Computers have been used for most kinds of crime, including fraud, theft,
larceny, embezzlement, burglary, sabotage, espionage, murder, and forgery, since
the first cases were reported in 1958.  One study of 1,500 computer crimes
established that most of them were committed by trusted computer users within
businesses; persons with the requisite skills, knowledge, access, and resources.
Much of known computer crime has consisted of entering false data into computers,
which is simpler and safer than the complex process of writing a program to
change data already in the computer. With the advent of personal computers to
manipulate information and access computers by telephone, increasing numbers of
crimes--mostly simple but costly electronic trespassing, copyrighted-information
piracy, and vandalism--have been perpetrated by computer hobbyists, known as
"hackers," who display a high level of technical expertise.  For many years, the
term hacker defined someone who was a wizard with computers and programing.  It
was an honor to be considered a hacker.  But when a few hackers began to use
their skills to break into private computer systems and steal money, or
interfere with the system's operations, the word acquired its current negative
meaning. Organized professional criminals have been attacking and using computer
systems as they find their old activities and environments being automated.

     There are not a large number of valid statistics about the extent and
results of computer crime.  Victims often resist reporting suspected cases,
because they can lose more from embarrassment, lost reputation, litigation, and
other consequential losses than from the acts themselves.  Limited evidence
indicates that the number of cases is rising each year, because of the
increasing number of computers in business applications where crime has
traditionally occurred.  The largest recorded crimes involving insurance,
banking, product inventories, and securities have resulted in losses of tens of
millions to billions of dollars--all facilitated by computers.  Conservative
estimates have quoted $3 billion to $100 billion as yearly losses due to
computer hackers.  These losses are increasing on a basis equivalent to the
number of computers logged on to networks, which is almost an exponential growth
rate.  The seriousness of cybercrimes also increases as the dependancy on
computers becomes greater and greater.

     Crimes in cyberspace are becoming more and more popular for several
reason.  The first being that computers are become more and more accessible;
thus are just become another tool in the arsenal of tool to criminals.  The
other reason that computer crimes are becoming more and more common are that
they are sometimes very profitable.  The average computer crime nets...

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