Computer Crime

by: Manik Saini

Advances in telecommunications and in computer technology have brought us to the
information revolution. The rapid advancement of the telephone, cable, satelli
te and computer networks, combined with the help of technological breakthroughs
in computer processing speed, and information storage, has lead us to the latest
revolution, and also the newest style of crime, "computer crime". The followin
g information will provide you with evidence that without reasonable doubt, comp
uter crime is on the increase in the following areas: hackers, hardware theft, s
oftware piracy and the information highway. This information is gathered from e
xpert sources such as researchers, journalists, and others involved in the field
.
Computer crimes are often heard a lot about in the news. When you ask someone w
hy he/she robbed banks, they world replied, "Because that's where the money is."
Today's criminals have learned where the money is. Instead of settling for a
few thousand dollars in a bank robbery, those with enough computer knowledge can
walk away from a computer crime with many millions. The National Computer Crim
es Squad estimates that between 85 and 97 percent of computer crimes are not eve
n detected. Fewer than 10 percent of all computer crimes are reported this is ma
inly because organizations fear that their employees, clients, and stockholders
will lose faith in them if they admit that their computers have been attacked. A
nd few of the crimes that are reported are ever solved.
Hacking was once a term that was used to describe someone with a great deal of k
nowledge with computers. Since then the definition has seriously changed. In e
very neighborhood there are criminals, so you could say that hackers are the cri
minals of the computers around us. There has been a great increase in the numbe
r of computer
break-ins since the Internet became popular.
How serious is hacking? In 1989, the Computer Emergency Response Team, a organi
zation that monitors computer security issues in North America said that they ha
d 132 cases involving computer break-ins. In 1994 alone they had some 2,341 cas
es, that's almost an 1800% increase in just 5 years. An example is 31 year old
computer expert Kevin Mitnick that was arrested by the FBI for stealing more the
n $1 million worth in data and about 20,000 credit card numbers through the Inte
rnet. In Vancouver, the RCMP have arrested a teenager with breaking into a univ
ersity computer network. There have been many cases of computer hacking, anothe
r one took place here in Toronto, when Adam Shiffman was charged with nine count
s of fraudulent use of computers and eleven counts of mischief to data, this all
carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail.
We see after reading the above information that hacking has been on the increase
. With hundreds of cases every year dealing with hacking this is surely a probl
em, and a problem that is increasing very quickly.
Ten years ago hardware theft was almost impossible, this was because of the size
and weight of the computer components. Also computer components were expensive
so many companies would have security guards to protect them from theft. Today
this is no longer the case, computer hardware theft is on the increase.
Since the invention of the microchip, computers have become much smaller and eas
ier to steal, and now even with portable and lap top computers that fit in you b
riefcase it's even easier. While illegal high-tech information hacking gets al
l the attention, it's the computer hardware theft that has become the latest in
corporate crime. Access to valuable equipment skyrockets and black-market deman
d for parts increases. In factories, components are stolen from assembly lines
for underground resale to distributors. In offices, entire systems are snatched
from desktops by individuals seeking to install a home PC. In 1994, Santa Clara
, Calif., recorded 51 burglaries. That number doubled in just the first six mon
ths of 1995. Gunmen robbed workers at Irvine, Calif., computer parts company, s
tealing $12 million worth of computer chips. At a large advertising agency in L
ondon, thieves came in over a weekend and took 96 workstations, leaving the comp
any to recover from an $800,000 loss. A Chicago manufacturer had computer parts
stolen from the back of a delivery van as he was waiting to enter the loading d
ock. It took less then two minutes for the doors to open, but that was enough ti
me for thieves to get away with thousands of computer components.
Hardware theft has sure become a problem in the last few years, with cases poppi
ng up each day we see that hardware theft is on the increase.
As the network of computers gets bigger so will the number of software thief's.
Electronic software theft over the Internet and other online services and cost
the US software companies about $2.2 billion a year. The Business Software Allia
nce shows that number of countries were surveyed in 1994, resulting in piracy es
timated for 77 countries, totaling more than $15.2 billion in losses. Dollar lo
ss estimates due to software piracy in the 54 countries surveyed last year show
an increase of $2.1 billion, from $12.8 billion in 1993 to $14.9 billion in 1994
. An additional 23 countries surveyed this year brings the 1994 worldwide total
to $15.2 billion.
As we can see that software piracy is on the increase with such big numbers.

Many say that the Internet is great, that is true, but there's also the bad side
of the Internet that is hardly ever noticed. The crime on the Internet is incr
easing dramatically. Many say that copyright law, privacy law, broadcasting law
and law against spreading hatred means nothing. There's many different kinds o
f crime on the Internet, such as child pornography, credit card fraud, software
piracy, invading privacy and spreading hatred.
There have been many cases of child pornography on the Internet, this is mainly
because people find it very easy to transfer images over the Internet without ge
tting caught. Child pornography on the Internet has more the doubled on the Int
ernet since 1990, an example of this is Alan Norton of Calgary who was charged o
f being part of an international porn ring.
Credit card fraud has caused many problems for people and for corporations that
have credit information in their databases. With banks going on-line in last fe
w years, criminals have found ways of breaking into databases and stealing thous
ands of credit cards and information on their clients. In the past few years th
ousands of clients have reported millions of transactions made on credit cards t
hat they do not know of.
Invading privacy is a real problem with the Internet, this is one of the things
that turns many away from the Internet. Now with hacking sites on the Internet,
it is easy to download Electronic Mail(e-mail) readers that allows you to hack
servers and read incoming mail from others. Many sites now have these e-mail re
aders and since then invading privacy has increased.
Spreading hatred has also become a problem on the Internet. This information ca
n be easily accessed by going to any search engine for example http://www.webcra
wler.com and searching for "KKK" and this will bring up thousands of sites that
contain information on the "KKK". As we can see with the freedom on the Intern
et, people can easily incite hatred over the Internet.
After reading that information we see that the Internet has crime going on of al
l kinds.
The above information provides you with enough proof that no doubt computer crim
e is on the increase in many areas such as hacking, hardware theft, software pir
acy and the Internet. Hacking can be seen in everyday news and how big corporat
ions are often victims to hackers. Hardware theft has become more popular becau
se of the value of the computer components. Software piracy is a huge problem,
as you can see about $15 billion are lost each year. Finally the Internet is go
od and bad, but theirs a lot more bad then good, with credit card fraud and chil
d pornography going on. We see that computer crime is on the increase and somet
hing must be done to stop it.