With the advent of computer use by all and sundry, criminal minded people have also ventured into what is termed as cyber crime, which has as many ramifications as there are categories of crime. It has therefore become imperative for the government and law enforcement agencies to put up stringent measures against such criminals.
The main categories of crimes, perpetrated through computers are stealing computer hardware or software, manipulating data through computers, telecommunications and internal computer crimes.
When viruses are implanted into other people’s computers in a deliberate attempt at being malicious against such people this constitutes internal computer crime. In this case, a person may, say plant a virus in the company computers because he/she is unhappy with the manner in which things are run within the company.
Stealing software through piracy and file sharing through torrents are examples of theft using computers, whereas a person who tries to cover his/her tracks by manipulating data in a computer or through a computer is participating in computer manipulation crime. Examples of manipulation crimes include using computers to embezzle funds. Telecommunication crimes, on the other hand, comprise such misdemeanors as hacking, which applies long distance communications for accessing other computer networks without legal permission to do so.
The four most common computer crimes are as follows: tax refund fraud, taking over of corporate accounts illegally, stealing sensitive data, and identity theft. Some people have realized that they can make fake tax returns using social security numbers of people who have died, or who have lost their social security cards and have failed to report the loss to the relevant authorities. In October 2012, three people were on the dock for claiming tax returns worth more than 14000 dollars, and there were more than 5000 accounts which they had compromised before being caught by the arm of the law. The ideal course of this cyber crime proceeds as follows: an identity card is obtained whose owner shall not miss, taking the relevant information from black market acquisitions, social engineering, or getting them through phishing. It is also a crime that is highly dependent on insiders who shall furnish interested parties with the information in exchange for an agreed sum of money. Wages for such imaginary individuals are made up, and claims are made on tax credits, itemized deductions and standard deductions without giving full information required for the transaction. Since these crimes are perpetrated electronically, and preclude the usage of W2 forms, it takes the IRS office too long to realize that such a crime has occurred. The criminal has a debit card, which has been registered only for the receipt of these fraudulently obtained monies.
Among the speediest and most covert cyber crimes is the corporate takeover. The financial credentials of the targeted company are first obtained, then software is used through which the company’s computer is hijacked remotely. This is followed by the siphoning of funds from the company’s bank accounts. The illicit acquisition of credentials often occurs through the intentional sending of viruses through emails to unsuspecting employees of the targeted company. Such viruses act as Trojan horses through which the security systems of the target companies are breached without the companies’ awareness. This is an approach to crime which enables the criminal to act as though he/she was the bona fide owner of the banking account from which money shall be drawn. The money shall then be sent to a money mule’s account before being wired to the overseas account of the cyber criminal.
Without the incentive of gaining some money thereafter, cyber criminals will very rarely get involved in identity theft. However, this crime can be used as a stepping stone leading to other crimes like wage related fraud, credit card fraud, auction fraud, gaining employment illegally, buying or renting of real estate, and buying goods or paying for services. In the Federal Trade Commission’s list of cyber crimes, identity theft ranks the highest, and has been so for over a decade.
The latest method through which vital and crucial information can be stolen from a computer is a system known as Fansmitter. Ideally, a computer that is not connected to the Internet should be safe from theft of vital information, but it is not the case. Even the fan of such a computer can transmit ultrasound waves which cannot be heard through the naked ears of human beings. These frequencies are then sent to a cell phone, which then decodes them, and can sent the information to another computer of choice.
One other crime that is perpetrated by the usage of computers connected to the world wide web is the perpetuation of pornography in all its various ramifications, and a discussion of how it is an adjunct to illegal human trafficking. According to Westen (2015), more than ten bills were tabled with the express aim of curbing sex trafficking in 2015. It can be noticed here that pornography is adept at reining in sex addicts and causing them to become completely submerged in a subculture that does not allow them to progress any further than being sex slaves to other people who may or may not have the money to whet their base appetites. Grown ups and children alike have been drawn into the sex craze through web sites that would show lurid acts of sex involving minors, animals, and worse still taunting such acts between parents and their children.
The US government, through the Legislative Council tables bills which target deviant behavior in computer use, and when these bills are passed into law, the law enforcement agencies are empowered to take action against people who offend others through their use of computers. Some of these laws may be to impound the properties of such offenders, sentencing them to serve terms in jail, or to have them perform unpaid community service for a specified time. Furthermore, offenders can also be fined for their participation in heinous acts through computer use. One other way through which the authorities can curb such actions is by assuming the roles of children who shall be used as bait to get access to the lairs of unwitting sex offenders. Since most sex offenders usually target children, officers of the law can lie in wait in chat rooms where pedophiles are most likely to visit, and pretend to be the kind of children the pedophiles would like to molest. Eventually they shall come across such sex offenders and get to apprehend them.
References
Gaudin, S. (2006). Ex-UBS Systems Admin Sentenced To 97 Months In Jail. Information Week .
Kan, M. (2016, June 24). Researchers steal data from a PC by controllng the noise from the fans. PC World , p. 1.
Singleton, T. (2013). Top 5 Cyber Crimes. Durham, NC: AICPA.
Westen, J.-H. (2015, March 30). Want to Stop Sex Trafficking? Look to America’s Porn Addiction. The Huffington Post , p. 1.
