Cybercrime is one of the fast growing areas of crime in the world. It is worth noting that more criminals are exploiting the convenience, anonymity, as well as speed of the internet to commit various crimes. In today’s technological era, the computer and internet are not only a tool to supervise law enforcement activities, but also an avenue for new offender to undertake their criminal activities. There are various cybercrimes in the world today; these include abuse, financial crimes, as well as attacks on computer software and hardware. Evidently, new trends of computer crime and cyber war are emerging daily. In fact, the government of the United States continues to increase funds to Department of Justice due to increase in computer crimes. In the past, cybercrime was committed by small groups or individuals. In the modern society, criminal organizations are the main offenders of cybercrime causing a major threat to economy and security (McFeely, 2013). The cybercriminal networks are very complex and bring people across the globe together. Criminal organization uses the internet to maximize their profits and carry out illegal activities. The merging trends tend to cause more threat and damages in society. In the general perspective, there are new kinds of crimes emerging today.
In the information age, cyber-terrorism is one of the emerging kinds of crime in the world. There are various reported cases whereby terrorists hack into commercial, social, government and military computer systems. The terrorists hack into the computer systems and introduce a worm or a virus that will alter sensitive information, turn off public services, steal information, as well as route bogus messages (The Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2011). These mean that terrorism is one of the darkest sites of advancement of technology and information revolution. Terrorism is a serious threat to the security of the nations. Critically, the information age is a platform for terror groups to steal billions of money and cause harm to society.
Electronic funds transfer fraud and identity thefts are other kinds of emerging crimes in the information age. In the modern society, financial transactions are intercepted electronically and diverted to a different account (Cyberwarfare: Connecting the Dots in Cyber Intelligence, 2011). On the same note, the information that is stored in the credit cards is counterfeited increasing the risk of financial fraud. The use of emails to lure individuals to send money or share their bank information is trending in the world today. The information age gives opportunity criminals to steal personal information and use them for financial gains.
Computer technology is not only a platform for criminals to undertake criminal activities, but it is generating new ways of tracking lawbreakers. Since criminals are using computer technology then, the law enforcement agency have implemented a strategy in tracking lawbreakers (McFeely, 2013). Computer technology is not limited to traditional geographic boundaries; hence, the law enforcement agencies have to track criminals outside their jurisdictions. Computer forensics is a new way of investigating crime in the modern society (The Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2011). In fact, computer forensics has been used in the conviction of many criminals, which include murderers, sexual predators, and terrorists. Terrorists may use the internet and other computer technology to recruit its members, but through computer forensics criminal investigators track the activities of terrorist. The FBI uses computer technology to track criminals.
In the general perspective, computer crime and cyber war in the 21st century is a reality. There are many crimes that are committed online in the information age. Computer technology is an avenue for criminals to commit criminal activities, but the criminal investigators also use the same technology to track lawbreakers. Computer forensic is one of the new ways of tracking lawbreakers.
References
Cyberwarfare: Connecting the Dots in Cyber Intelligence. (2011). Communications of the ACM, 54(8), 132-140. doi:10.1145/1978542.1978569
McFeely, R. (2013). Federal Bureaus Investigation: Cyber Threat. Retrieved on 7 October, 2014 from http://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/cyber-security-preparing-for-and-responding- to-the-enduring-threat
The Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2011). Digital Forensics. Regional Labs help Solve Local Crimes. Retrieved on 7 October, 2014 from http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/may/forensics_053111
