Chapter 9: Information Security and Computer Crimes

CHAPTER 9
INFORMATION SECURITY AND COMPUTER CRIMES

1. Introduction
Security issues go right to the heart of the workability of computer and communication
systems.
2. Types of Information Security Threats
The threats to computer system, in general, include:
• Errors and accidents
We frequently hear about “computer errors” but often what seems to be the
computer’s fault is human indifference or bad management. In general, errors and
accidents in computer systems may be classified as human errors, procedural errors,
software errors, electromechanical problems, ‘Dirty Data’ problems.
v Human errors: quite often, when experts speak of the
“unintended effects of technology” what they are referring
to are the unexpected things people do with it. People can
complicate the workings of a computer system in three
ways:
1. Human often are not good at assessing their own
information needs. Thus, for example, many users
will acquire a computer and communication
systems that either is not sophisticated enough or is
far more complex than they need.
2. Human emotions affect performance. For example,
one frustrating experience with a computer is
enough to make some people abandon the whole
system.
3. Humans act on their perceptions, which in modern
information environments are often too slow to
keep up with the equipment.
v Procedural errors: Some spectacular computer failures
have occurred because someone didn’t follow procedures.
v Software errors: This occurs because the software has
glitches or bugs (bugs are errors in a program that that
caused it not to work properly).
v Electromechanical problems: Mechanical problems, such
as printers, and electrical systems, such as circuit board,
don’t always work. They may be improperly constructed,
get dirty or overheated, wear out or become damaged in
some other way. Power failures (burnouts and blackouts)
can shut a system down. Power surges can burn out
equipment.
v “Dirty Data” Problems: these problems occur when the
entered data is incomplete, outdated, or otherwise
inaccurate.

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 Chapter 9: Information Security and Computer Crimes

• Natural and other ha zards

Some disasters do not merely lead to temporary system downtime; they can also
wreck the entire system. For example, Natural hazards like Tsunami, Civil strife and
Terrorism.
• Crimes against computers and communications
Crimes against computer systems and communications include:
o Theft of hardware: stealing of hardware can range from shoplifting an
accessory in computer store to taking away the already installed systems.
For example you hear Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation says
that the cables are stolen.
o Theft of software: Stealing software can take the form of physically
making off with someone’s diskettes, but it is more likely to be the
copying of programs.
o Theft of time and service: Theft of computer time is more common than
you might actually think. Probably the biggest use of it is that people use
their employer’s computer time to play games. Some people also may run
sideline businesses. For example theft of cable and telephone service.
o Theft of information: “information thieves” steal confidential personal
records and sell the information. E.g. people may steal exams.
o Crimes of malice and destruction: Sometimes criminals are more
interested in abusing or vandalizing computers and telecommunications
systems than profiting from them. E.g. A student at Wisconsin Campus
deliberately and repeatedly shut down a university computer system,
destroying final projects for dozens of students.
• Crimes using computes and communications
Just as a car can be used to assist in a crime, so can a computer or communication
system. For example forgery, email sniffing and credit card stealing. Among these
crimes Worms, Viruses, Trojan Horses, Hackers and Crackers are the most widely
known.
o Worms: A worm is a program that copies itself repeatedly into memory or
onto a disk drive until no more space is left.
o Virus: A virus is a “deviant” program that attaches itself to computer
systems and destroys or corrupts data. Viruses are passed in two ways:
§ By diskette: the first way is via an infected diskette, such as one
you might get from a friend or a repair person or even from a
sales demo disk.
§ By network: the second way is via a network, as from email or
and electronic bulletin board.
Virus usually attaches itself to your hard disk. It might then display
annoying messages like “Your PC is stoned-legalize marijuana”. More
seriously, it might add garbage to or erase your files or destroy your
system software. E.g. “I Love You”, “Pakistani Brain”
Types of viruses
1. Boot-sector virus (boot virus): the boot sector is that part of the
system software containing most of the instructions for booting, or
powering up, the system. The boot sector virus replaces these boot

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 Chapter 9: Information Security and Computer Crimes

instructions with some of its own. Once the system is turned on,
the virus is loaded into main memory before the operating system.
From there it is in a position to overtake the whole system and
infect other file. Any diskette that is used in the drive of the
computer then becomes infected. When the diskette is moved to
another computer, the contagion continues. Eg. AntCMOS,
2. File Virus: File viruses attach themselves to executable files(.exe
files)-those that actually begin a program. When the program is
run, the virus starts working, trying to get into main memory and
infecting files.
3. Multipartite virus: is a hybrid of the file and boot sector types.
Multipartite virus infects both files and boot sectors, which makes
it better at spreading and more difficult to detect.
4. Macro virus: take advantage of a procedure in which miniature
programs (called macros) are embedded inside a common data
files, such as email or spreadsheet, which are sent over computer
networks. Fortunately, the latest versions of Word and Excel come
with built- in macro virus protection.
5. Logic Bomb: Logic bombs or simply bombs differ from other
viruses in that they “explode” when a certain condition is fulfilled.
Fro example, an employee may write a program which checks the
existence of his name in the payroll. This bomb “explodes” when
the employee is fired and his name is deleted from the payroll.
6. Time Bomb: Time bomb is similar to logic bomb except that it
“explodes” at a certain date or time. For example, a 30-day trial
version software stops working after 30 days from the start of
execution.
7. Trojan Horse: the Trojan horse covertly places illegal, destructive
instructions in the middle of a legitimate program, such as a
computer game. Once you run the program, the Trojan horse goes
to work, doing its damage while you are blissfully unaware. An
example of Trojan horse is “FormatC”
3. The Difference Between a Virus, Worm and Trojan Horse?
The most common blunder when the topic of a computer virus arises is that
people will often refer to a Worm or Trojan Horse as a Virus. While the words
Trojan, worm, and virus are used interchangeably, they are not the same.
Viruses, worms, and Trojan Horses are all malicious programs that can cause
damage to your computer, but there are differences between the three, and
knowing those differences can help yo u to better protect your computer from
their often damaging effects.

A computer virus attaches itself to a program or file so it can spread from one
computer to another, leaving infections as it travels. Much like human viruses,
computer viruses can range in severity; some viruses cause only mildly
annoying effects while others can damage your hardware, software, or files.

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Almost all viruses are attached to an executable file, which means the virus may
exist on your computer but it cannot infect your computer unless you run or
open the malicious program. It is important to note that a virus cannot be spread
without a human action, (such as running an infected program) to keep it going.
People continue the spread of a computer virus, mostly unknowingly, by sharing
infecting files or sending e-mails with viruses as attachments in the e- mail.

A worm is similar to a virus by its design, and is considered to be a sub-class of

a virus. Worms spread from computer to computer, but unlike a virus, it has the
ability to travel without any help from a person. A worm takes advantage of file
or information transport features on your system, which allows it to travel
unaided. The biggest danger with a worm is its ability to replicate itself on your
system, so rather than your computer sending out a single worm, it could send
out hundreds or thousands of copies of itself, creating a huge devastating effect.
One example would be for a worm to send a copy of itself to everyone listed in
your e- mail address book. Then, the worm replicates and sends itself out to
everyone listed in each of the receiver's address book, and the manifest
continues on down the line. Due to the copying nature of a worm and its ability
to travel across networks the end result in most cases is that the worm consumes
too much system memory (or network bandwidth), causing Web servers,
network servers, and individual computers to stop responding. In more recent
worm attacks such as the much talked about .Blaster Worm., the worm has been
designed to tunnel into your system and allow malicious users to control your
computer remotely.
A Trojan Horse is full of as much trickery as the mythological Trojan Horse it
was named after. The Trojan Horse, at first glance will appear to be useful
software but will actually do damage once installed or run on your computer.
Those on the receiving end of a Trojan Horse are usually tricked into opening
them because they appear to be receiving legitimate software or files from a
legitimate source. When a Trojan is activated on your computer, the results can
vary. Some Trojans are designed to be more annoying than malicious (like
changing your desktop, adding silly active desktop icons) or they can cause
serious damage by deleting files and destroying information on your system.
Trojans are also known to create a backdoor on your computer that gives
malicious users access to your system, possibly allowing confidential or
personal information to be compromised. Unlike viruses and worms, Trojans do
not reproduce by infecting other files nor do they self- replicate.

4. Computer criminals
Computer criminals are those people who commit crimes on computers. They
commit crimes by writing malicious programs which:
⇒ harm computer systems operation,
⇒ break security,
⇒ reads personal data, etc.

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These criminals can be

⇒ employees,
⇒ Outside users (like suppliers and clients)
⇒ Hackers (people who gain unauthorized access to computer systems for
challenge or even the principle of it).
⇒ Crackers (people who gain access to information for malicious purposes.
These malicious purposes include: breaking into computers deliberately to
obtain information for financial gain, shutdown hardware, pirate software, or
destroy data).
⇒ Professional criminals: Members of organized criminals not only steal
information or computer technology but they also use it the way legal
businesses do-as a business tool, though for illegal purposes. Computers,
Scanners, and printers can be used to forge checks, immigration papers,
passports, and driver’s licenses. For example, Russian hackers were able to
break into a Citibank electronic money transfer system and steal more than
$10 million before they were caught.
4. Ways of Controlling Computer Security Threats
Security is a system of safeguards for protecting information and computer technology
against disasters, system failures, and unauthorized access that can result in damage or
loss. This includes:
Physical guard: Keeping unauthorized persons away from computer systems.
Identification and access: using PIN(Personal Identification Number), Password, ….
Encryption: encryption or enciphering is the altering of data so that it is not usable unless
the changes are undone. For example, You can write ‘sisay’ as ‘TJTBZ’ by shifting every
letter in the word ‘sisay’ one step forward in the English alphabet. There are different
powerful algorithms to do this.
Disaster recovery planning: is a method of restoring information processing operations
that have been halted by destruction or accident.

Combating Viruses, Worms and Trojan Horses

The first steps to protecting your computer are to ensure your operating system (OS) is
up-to-date. This is essential if you are running a Microsoft Windows OS. Secondly, you
should have anti- virus software installed on your system and ensure you download
updates frequently to ensure your software has the latest fixes for new viruses, worms,
and Trojan Horses. Additionally you want to make sure your anti- virus program has the
ability to scan e-mail and files as they are downloaded from the Internet. This will help
prevent malicious programs from even reaching your computer. If this isn't enough
protection, then you may want to consider installing a firewall as well.

A firewall is a system which preve nts unauthorized use and access to your computer. A
firewall can be either hardware or software. Hardware firewalls provide a strong degree
of protection from most forms of attack coming from the outside world and can be
purchased as a stand-alone product or in broadband routers. Unfortunately, when battling
viruses, worms and Trojans, a hardware firewall may be less effective than a software
firewall, as it could possibly ignore embedded worms in out going e- mails and see this as

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regular network traffic. For individual home users, the most popular firewall choice is a
software firewall. A good software firewall will protect your computer from outside
attempts to control or gain access your computer, and usually provides additional
protection against the mo st common Trojan programs or e- mail worms. The downside to
software firewalls is that they will only protect the computer they are installed on, not a
network.

It is important to remember that on its own a firewall is not going to rid you of your
computer virus problems, but when used in conjunction with regular operating system
updates and a good anti- virus scanning software, it will add some extra security and
protection for your computer or network
5. Ethiopian Criminal Code in Relation to Computer Crimes (Reading assignment:
Article 706 to Article 711 of the Penal Code)

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