Computer crime
The world has become impossible without computers. Nowadays it is a must to have at least one computer at home for your personal use and the other one at work. Information technologies are making significant changes in our society. Information has become a commodity that can be bought, sold or exchanged. This is the main reason why so many computer crimes appear. With every passing day we become more defenseless to malicious computer viruses and new computer hacking which are difficult to fight with. Hacking may cause a variety of damages to our society, especially to people`s personal lives when hackers break into a system to get some personal information. It can affect groups and systems of a broader spectrum – such as banks, companies, law firms, and etc. Overall, it also can create a lot of problems. So, what are the solutions of how to stop “the crashing”, and what should be done to avoid hacking at all? Stronger measures must be taken to stop and then punish the hackers. Because well-being and sometimes even the lives of many people depend on security of information technology.
Hacking has really become a serious problem in today's computer society. Though not all hackers are “ bad” ones. There is a group of those who hack to learn, discover something new or just for fun, take up as a hobby. Paul Ziegler once said: "Hacking - is an art. The artist usually has an idea, paints, canvas and brushes. And what I have is computer programming language. When I start to implement my idea - it could be software or the same virus - I use my tools and my materials. The mechanism is the same as that of the artist". But the definition of the word “ hacker” has changed over the last years greatly. Today a hacker is often associated with a person who secretly gets access to a computer system in order to get information, cause damage, etc. Today hacking is the activity performed to gain such access.
For many people computer is not just a piece of technology, it is a tool to make new friends, have fun and entertainment, communicate with those who live a long distance from each other. People keep their personal information and files in them, do the things they usually do on the computers, and when a hacker breaks into a system, it can sometimes destroy someone's life. Not only the Internet and the computer shut down, the closest friends and relatives may disappear. The entire world of wide web will be locked in front of you.
Every day we are dependent on a great number of businesses, banks, and corporations. And we can't allow hackers break into our systems because it may cause so many troubles with people`s jobs and career opportunities that can lead even to unemployment, the loss of money, and sometimes it may cost much more to restore the whole computer system.
What should we respond to the hackers, who focus their activities on hacking for personal gain, stealing money, threatening, and destroying? After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 the computer security of the United States has become a national concern. Certain laws have been passed by the government, which made hacking a computer crime. These laws have also become stricter and more effective. Developed security hardware and software appear in most companies, government agencies, and banks which make the hacker`s job more difficult or less successful, and the hacker may be easily caught, then arrested, fined or even put in jail when trying to unlock the security system. Internet security gets better by every year. It appears to be very hard even for the best hackers to break into a computer system. The former victims of computer hacking started to protect themselves with using complex passwords and then changing them regularly, maintaining the most recent operating systems and versions of software, and uploading of some new versions of anti-virus programs.
Many hackers became more careful nowadays. Most of them legitimized their activities or took hacking up as a hobby. But hacking still continues to be a severe problem among computer crimes. Hackers need to be stopped in order to avoid the problems they cause. Increasing responsibility lies on the shoulders of both government and people as the consequences of computer hacking can be serious. Something has to be done.
