COMPUTER CRIME AND VIRUSES

COMPUTER CRIME
Computer Crime is defined as any criminal activity in which
computers, or a computer network, is the method or source of a
crime.
This encompasses a wide variety of crimes, from hacking into
databases and stealing sensitive information using computers
to set up illegal activities.
Since computers are so widespread, cybercrime has the
ability to affect almost anyone today.
 Categories of Computer Crime
computer crime or cybercrime classified into four categories:
These are
i. The computer as a target
ii. The computer as an instrument of the crime
iii. The computer as incidental to crime, and
iv. Crimes associated with the prevalence of computers
 The computer as a target

This simply means that a computer is targeted where the

criminal act is focused on stealing the data, altering data, or
vandalizing the computer.
When such an act is committed, it can affect the business's
entire operation, while causing serious harm to the network
owner as well.
Some examples of the computer as a crime can be theft of
intellectual property, such as, auto designs, or theft of
marketing information (e.g., customer lists, pricing data, or
marketing plans)
 The computer as an instrument of the crime

The computer as an instrument of the crime is best described

as computers being used to cover crimes, such as, theft,
fraud, threat or harassment.
An example of the computer as an instrument can be the use
of a cellular phone to electronically bill other customers
Crimes in this category include fraudulent use of automated
teller machine (ATM) cards and accounts; theft of money from
conversion, or transfer accounts; credit card fraud; fraud
from computer transactions (stock transfers, sales, or
billings); and telecommunications fraud.
 The computer as incidental to crime
The computer as incidental to the crime is when the
computer is not used primarily as an instrument of the crime,
but it does facilitate it.
This means that the crime could occur without the
technology.
Some examples can be money laundering, child pornography,
or luring victims into situations that can be dangerous and
not in their best interest.
 Crimes associated with the prevalence of computers

Targets of these types of crimes are mainly the industry itself,

but also include its customers and even people who have
avoided information technology.
These crimes include intellectual property violations,
component theft, counterfeiting, identity theft, and a variety of
corporate offenses.
Copyright violation
The massive growth in small portable devices like iPods,
Blackberry devices, and other personal computers and their
perceived value make them attractive targets for thieves due to
their value and popularity.
 Types of Computer Crimes
The following are the types of computer crimes
i. Hacking
ii. Identity Theft
iii. Forgery
iv. Denial Of Service Attack
v. Virus Dissemination
 Hacking

Hacking is defined as to gain illegal or unauthorized access to

a file, computer or network.
Hacking behavior included spreading viruses, pranks and
phone phreaking.
The difference between hackers and other criminals is the
purpose of crime. Hackers commonly try to benefit not only
themselves but also other computer users
 Identity Theft

Are the crimes in which a criminal or large group uses the identity of
an unknowing, innocent person.
Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personally identifying
information, like your name, Social Security number, or credit card
number, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes.
Skilled identity thieves may use a variety of methods such as

i. Phishing: E-mail fishing for personal and financial information disguised as

legitimate business e-mail.
ii. Pharming: False websites that fish for personal and financial
information by planting false URLs in Domain Name Users.
 Forgery
Is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects,
statistics, or documents, with the intent to deceive.
Digital Forgery: New technologies are used to create fake
checks, passports, visas, birth certificates with little skill or
investments.
 Denial Of Service Attack
This is an act by the criminal, who floods the bandwidth of
the victim‘s network or fill's his e-mail box with spam mail
depriving him of the services he is entitled to access or
provide.
 Virus Dissemination
Malicious software that attaches itself to other software.
(virus, worms, Trojan Horse, Time bomb, Logic Bomb, Rabbit
and Bacterium are the malicious software's).
 Ways of Combating Computer Crime

This involves protection of sensitive personal and business information

through prevention, detection and response to different online attacks.
The following are some ways used for combating computer crime
i. Protect Your Personal Information
ii. Keep Software Up to Date:
iii. Disable remote connectivity
iv. Install or Update Your Antivirus Software
v. Choose a Strong Password and Protect It
vi. Keep Your Firewall Turned On
vii. Read the Fine Print On Website Privacy Policies
viii. Review Financial Statements Regularly
ix. Keep Your Firewall Turned On
 Keep Software Up to Date:

If the seller reduces patches for the software operating

system your device ,install them as soon as possible .
Installing them will prevent attackers from being able to take
advantage. Use good password which will be difficult for
thieves to guess.
Disable remote connectivity
Some PDA’s and phones are equipped with wireless
technologies, such as Bluetooth, that can be used to connect
to other devices or computers. You should disable these
features when they are not in use.
Choose a Strong Password and Protect It
Usernames, passwords, and personal identification numbers
(PIN) are used for almost every online transaction today.
A strong password should be at least eight characters in length
with a mixture of letters and numbers.
Using the same password for various sites or systems increases
the risk of discovery and possible exploitation.
It is never a good practice to write a password down and leave it
near the system it is intended to be used on
Changing a password every 90 days is a good practice to limit
the amount of time it can be used to access sensitive
information.
 Keep Your Firewall Turned On
A firewall helps to protect your computer from hackers who
might try to gain access to crash it, delete information, or
steal passwords and other sensitive information.
Software firewalls are widely recommended for single
computers.
The software is prepackaged on some operating systems or
can be purchased for individual computers
For multiple networked computers, hardware routers
typically provide firewall protection.
Read the Fine Print On Website Privacy Policies
On many social networking and photo sharing sites, there is
wording on the privacy policies that allow the website to
keep information and photos posted to the site.
 Review Financial Statements Regularly
Reviewing credit card and bank statements regularly will
often reduce the impact of identity theft and credit fraud
by discovering the problem shortly after the data has been
stolen or when the first use of the information is attempted.