Four
Categories of Computer Crime
Leslie
K. Penny
Module
1 Research Assignment 1
Chancellor
University
Four
categories of Computer Crime
After a review of the United States Department of
Justice: Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section website, the
following essay will give a thorough descriptions of the four computer crime
categories that are reflected in this week's learning materials: the computer
as a target, the computer as an instrument of the crime, the computer as
incidental to crime, and crimes associated with the prevalence of computers as
well as which category the crimes listed on the website provided fall under. An offense will also be given that falls into
at least one of the four categories that isn't depicted on the above
website.
The first crime to be discussed is the computer as a
target. This refers to when the computer
itself is the target where access and data have been denied from the rightful
user or when "network intruders target the server and may cause harm to the network owner or
the operation of their business" (E.J. Fritsch, 2011).
The author's goes on to state that there is a key difference between
data alteration and network intrusion.
This difference is the intent of the intruder, whether the intruder
intends to look through and copy particular files in ones system which is theft
but causes no significant loss of access of data for the user or whether the
intruder intends to put the computer data down for the count until it can be
corrected.
Another crime that falls under the computer as being the
target is vandalism where "an intruder removes valuable information from a
computer system" denying the owner access to that information which could
then be a potential loss of expected revenue or pertinent information for the
owner/company (E.J. Fritsch, 2011).
The type of computer crime listed on http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/reporting.html
that falls under the computer as a target would include computer intrusion such
as hacking. The site doesn't
specifically list malware but that also falls under using the computer as a
target (Yang, 2011).
The second computer crime category is the computer being
used as an instrument of the crime meaning "that the computer is used to
gain some other criminal objective" (E.J. Fritsch, 2011).
The examples the book gives are theft, theft of service, fraud,
exploitation, and threats or harassment (E.J. Fritsch, 2011).
Examples the website provides include password trafficking, internet
harassment, internet bomb threats, trafficking in explosive or incendiary
devices or firearms over the internet, child exploitation and internet fraud
matters that have a mail nexus, internet fraud SPAM, trademark counterfeiting, as
well as theft of trade secrets/economic espionage (Report Crime).
Moving on to the third computer crime category where the
computer is not the primary instrument of the crime otherwise known as, the
computer as incidental to a crime, it merely facilitates the crime (E.J. Fritsch, 2011). Types of crimes listed on the website
researched include counterfeiting of currency and child pornography (Report Crime). The site does not include criminal enterprise
such as loan-sharking, drug rings and prostitution rings which helps to
facilitate the sex trade (E.J. Fritsch, 2011).
The website also doesn't include the use of the internet to lure victims
to pedophiles or possible death.
The last category to be discussed are crimes associated with
the prevalence of computers, which include "mainly the industry itself,
but also include its customers and even people who have avoided information
technology" (E.J. Fritsch, 2011).
The book states that those crimes that fall under this category are
intellectual property violations, component theft, counterfeiting, identity
theft, and a mixture of corporate offenses (E.J. Fritsch, 2011).
The Department of Justice site provides copyright piracy such as
software, movie, and sound recordings, computer intrusion by hackers to obtain
identity theft, and password trafficking as examples of computer crimes that
fall under this category.
In response to the last piece of the this essay, this
writer feels one particular offense that falls into the crimes associated with
the prevalence of computers that wasn't listed clearly on the US Department of
Justice website is the theft of desktop and laptop computers, monitors,
printers, scanners, modems, and other computer components which has become a
prevalent problem due it their easy portability and the information that can be
found on such items (E.J. Fritsch, 2011). A good example are laptops stolen from the
Veterans Association that store veterans names, birthdates, home addresses, and
social security numbers.
To conclude, grouping these crimes into categories give a
better understanding of what each crime represents, who is affected, and the
intent of the offender. This essay
provided a definition of each of the four computer crime categories, offenses
that the book provides under each category and which category the crimes listed
on the US Department of Justice falls under. Some of the crimes listed fell
under a couple of the same categories and some of the crimes this writer is not
fully educated on as of yet. Therefore,
much was learned and the hope is that all were correctly identified under the
write crime category.
Works Cited
E.J. Fritsch, T. H. (2011). Digital Crime and
Digital Terroism. New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Report Crime. (n.d.). Retrieved 11 03, 2012, from The United
States Department of Justice: http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/reporting.html
Yang, Z. (2011,
November 27). A Survey of Cybercrime. Retrieved 11 03, 2012, from
Washington University in St. Louis:
http://www.cse.wustl.edu/~jain/cse571-11/ftp/crime.pdf
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