Computer Crimes
Computer Crimes
Alicia Brown
Computer Literacy 103
Professor Sally Rogers
October 9, 2008
Computer Crimes
A computer crime would be defined as criminal activity where a computer or network is the source or place of a crime. Computer crimes have become more common in today’s society. In the old days people would rob banks to get a pay out, nowadays people are committing crimes through computers. Besides the obvious difference, computer crimes have a much larger pay out than the old fashioned bank robbery. Someone who may rob a bank could walk away (that’s if they get away) with a couple hundred thousand, someone who commits a crime through the network will walk away (they usually get away) with millions. Personally I believe the reason for increasing computer crimes is because so many are unaware of them.
It has been estimated that 85-95 percent of computer crimes are not even detected. That is a lot of crimes and money that we are not even aware of. If agencies who strictly work on detecting crimes over the network are unaware of them, then the likely-hood of the public having known is about a zero chance. With the internet becoming ever so popular each day, it is the perfect “neighborhood” for a criminal to invest their time in picking the perfect crime. Let us also face the facts; the criminals are too aware of the chances of getting themselves caught.
There are many different types of computer crimes. The five main types are identity theft, malicious code, child pornography, online predators, and software piracy. Each is very different but equally important. They each hurt someone in some way even if it isn’t a direct harm. Identity theft is something all Americans fear. It is estimated that about nine million Americans have their identity stolen each year. When identity theft happens, it takes years to fix the damage that has been done. To break it down identity theft is when someone uses personal information to commit fraud or other
Alicia Brown
Computer Literacy 103
Professor Sally Rogers
October 9, 2008
Computer Crimes
A computer crime would be defined as criminal activity where a computer or network is the source or place of a crime. Computer crimes have become more common in today’s society. In the old days people would rob banks to get a pay out, nowadays people are committing crimes through computers. Besides the obvious difference, computer crimes have a much larger pay out than the old fashioned bank robbery. Someone who may rob a bank could walk away (that’s if they get away) with a couple hundred thousand, someone who commits a crime through the network will walk away (they usually get away) with millions. Personally I believe the reason for increasing computer crimes is because so many are unaware of them.
It has been estimated that 85-95 percent of computer crimes are not even detected. That is a lot of crimes and money that we are not even aware of. If agencies who strictly work on detecting crimes over the network are unaware of them, then the likely-hood of the public having known is about a zero chance. With the internet becoming ever so popular each day, it is the perfect “neighborhood” for a criminal to invest their time in picking the perfect crime. Let us also face the facts; the criminals are too aware of the chances of getting themselves caught.
There are many different types of computer crimes. The five main types are identity theft, malicious code, child pornography, online predators, and software piracy. Each is very different but equally important. They each hurt someone in some way even if it isn’t a direct harm. Identity theft is something all Americans fear. It is estimated that about nine million Americans have their identity stolen each year. When identity theft happens, it takes years to fix the damage that has been done. To break it down identity theft is when someone uses personal information to commit fraud or other
References: ← O’Leary, T.,& L (2008) Computing Essentials New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin ← What is Malicious Code? Retrieved October 7, 2008 from www.aladdin.com/csrt/malicious-code.aspx ← Wikipedia retrieved on October 7, 2008 from wikipedia.org/wiki/child_pornography ← Fighting Back Against Identity Theft retrieved on October 6, 2008 from http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/about-identity-theft.html ← Computer Crime Research Center retrieved on October 6, 2008 from http://www.crime-research.org/library/crime1.htm