The Effects Of Cyber Crime Information Technology Essay

The Effects Of Cyber Crime Information Technology judgePerhaps the most prominent form of cyber run intoensive is identity theft, in which pitifuls use the Internet to slue someoneal study from former(a) users. both of the most common ways this is done is through phishing and pharming. Both of these methods invite users to fake web identifys (that appear to be legitimate), where they ar asked to enter personal breeding. This includes login data, much(prenominal) as usernames and passwords, phone numbers, addresses, credit table numbers, swan account numbers, and other information criminals toilettenister use to abstract every(prenominal) other persons identity. For this reason, it is smart to perpetually check the URL or meshwork address of a site to acquire sure it is legitimate before entering your personal information.The starting signal recorded cyber villainy took place in the year 1820 That is not affect considering the fact that the abacus, which i s thought to be the earliest form of a data put to workor, has been most since 3500 B.C. in India, Japan and China. The era of modern reckoners, besides, began with the analytical engine of Charles Babbage.In 1820, Joseph-Marie Jacquard, a textile manufacturer in France, produced the loom. This device allowed the repetition of a series of steps in the weaving of special fabrics. This resulted in a dis whitethorn amongst Jacquards employees that their traditional employment and awake(p)lihood were being threatened. They committed acts of deprave to discourage Jacquard from further use of the new technology. This is the first recorded cyber criminal offenceWe be currently living in Cyber age, where Internet and calculating machines have major impacts on our way of living, social life and the way we fetch businesses.The custom of information technology has posed great security challenges and ethical questions in front of us. Just as all(prenominal) thing has positives and negatives, usage of information technology is beneficial as well as insecure.With the growth of the internet, profits security has go away a major c formerlyrn. Cyber crimes have emerged rapidly in the last few years and have major consequences. Cyber criminals atomic number 18 doing e original thing from stealing money, scoldering into others com pieceer, stealing intellectual property, spreading viruses and worms to damage calculators connected on the internet and committing frauds.Stoppage of cyber crimes is a major concern today.Cyber criminal make use of the vulnerabilities in electronic calculating machine soft w atomic number 18s and profitss to their advantage.HackingHacking or ginger nut is a major cyber crime committed today. Hacker makes use of the weaknesses and curve holes in operating frames to destroy data and steal important information from victims reckoner. Cracking is normally done through the use of a backdoor weapons platform installed on your machine. A lot of crackers in manage manner try to earn entre to resources through the use of password cracking soft wares. Hackers do-nothing also monitor what u do on your computing machine and cigarette also import files on your computer. A plug could install around(prenominal)(prenominal) programs on to your governance without your companionship. Such programs could also be utilize to steal personal information such as passwords and credit card information. beta data of a company move also be hacked to buy the farm the secret information of the future plans of the company.Cyber-TheftCyber-Theft is the use of computers and communication ashess to steal information in electronic format. Hackers crack into the systems of banks and transfer money into their own bank accounts. This is a major concern, as larger amounts of money can be stolen and illegally transferred.Many newsletters on the internet pop the question the investors with free advice recommending st ocks where they should invest. some epochs these recommendations are rack uply bogus and go loss to the investors. Credit card fraud is also very common.Most of the companies and banks dont reveal that they have been the victims of cyber -theft because of the fear of loosing customers and share holders. Cyber-theft is the most common and the most promulgateed of all cyber-crimes. Cyber-theft is a popular cyber-crime because it can quickly bring experienced cyber-criminal large immediate payment resulting from very little effort. Further much, there is little chance a maestro cyber-criminal leave alone be apprehended by law enforcement.Viruses and wormsViruses and worms is a very major threat to normal users and companies. Viruses are computer programs that are designed to damage computers. It is named virus because it spreads from one computer to another bid a bio system of logical virus. A virus mustiness be attached to some other program or documents through which it enter s the computer. A worm normally exploits loop holes in soft wares or the operating system. trojan horse provide is dicey. It appears to do one thing but does something else. The system whitethorn postulate it as one thing. Upon execution, it may release a virus, worm or logic joker. A logic joker is an attack triggered by an event, like computer clock comer a certain date. Chernobyl and Melissa viruses are the new-fangled examples.Experts estimate that the My doom worm infected approximately a quarter-million computers in a individual day in January 2004. Back in March 1999, the Melissa virus was so powerful that it forced Microsoft and a number of other very large companies to completely turn off their e-mail systems until the virus could be contained.SolutionsAn important question arises that how can these crimes be prevented. A number of techniques and solutions have been presented but the problems still exists and are change magnitude day by day.Antivirus And Anti spot ware SoftwareAntivirus computer packet consists of computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other cattish software. Anti spy wares are used to restrict backdoor program, trojans and other spy wares to be installed on the computer.FirewallsA firewall protects a computer network from wildcat coming. Network firewalls may be hardware devices, software programs, or a combination of the two. A network firewall typically guards an intrinsic computer network a codst malicious access from outside the network.CryptographyCryptography is the science of encrypting and decrypting information. encoding is like sending a postal mail to another party with a lock code on the envelope which is populaten how ever so to the sender and the recipient. A number of cryptographic methods have been developed and some of them are still not cracked.Cyber Ethics and LawsCyber ethics and cyber laws are also being formulated to stop cyber crimes. It is a responsibility of every mortal to follow cyber ethics and cyber laws so that the change magnitude cyber crimes shall reduce. Security soft wares like anti viruses and anti spy wares should be installed on all computers, in order to re main(prenominal) secure from cyber crimes. Internet Service Providers should also provide high level of security at their servers in order to throttle their clients secure from all types of viruses and malicious programs.The Effects of Cyber crimeWhen you purchase a home it comes with a door and a lock. You always go away make sure that the door/lock exist and that the lock is working properly. If you sine qua non you can aim to further secure your home against any threats. You may purchase a new security system, an spare lock or maybe even a pet dog for added safety. Why would you not secure your investment? Would you invite criminals to use your home to commit additional crimes wherever he/she pleases?In the same fashion, computer viruses that can pose havoc on your PC system are just as criminal. Viruses can cost companies millions and dollars in time to repair an infected system. Recently, Microsoft went as far as to post a $250,000 bounty for the writers of the MSBlast worm and the SoBig.F virus. Organizations such as Interpol now have sections of their website devoted to cyber-crime, with other websites such as the IFCC Internet Fraud Complaint Center specializing in Internet Crime.In General, computer viruses can be transferred to an trusting PC through a variety of formats. Viruses can appear through e-mail, infected software, diskettes, infected CD/DVD discs or computer documents. Furthermore, if you do not run official Microsoft Windows updates (http//windowsupdates.microsoft.com), even regular Internet web browsing can cause major problems, through known security exploits in your Operating System. An unsuspecting user can open what they think is a legitimate webpage, however then end up downloading a virus or allowing access to their PC by a hacker. Viruses are showing up on a weekly basis. Your Anti-virus software, security applications or Windows Operating System is solitary(prenominal) as good as its last update. To get complete protection, you must regularly update with the latest virus definition files, scanning engines, patches and fixes. streak is always better then hours of frustration and lost data. Some of the main ways to ensure your PC is protected from malicious computer viruses are as follows.Computer-based crimeComputers facilitate the theft of money and property and the remainder of data when there are inadequate controls against their misuse. Crimes perpetrated by unauthorized access to keyboards, terminals and communications devices generally can be described as thefts, misapplications of assets, or destruction of information. These terms may apply to the misappropriation of money and real property, or of proprietary information and intangible assets. The misuse of th e computer may involve the forgery of computer signatures such as authorizing codes the humans of ill-advised accounts payable to disburse cheques improper use of personal information the creation of virus or rogue programmes which interfere in software trading operations and destroy data. All of these crimes include programming the erasure of any severalize of the computer crime perpetrated. Probably the fastest growing category of computer related crime is that involving electronic fund transfer systems. The most important types of computer crime were arson, sabotage and malicious damage of computer installations system penetration, or hacking unauthorized use of computer time thefts of assets, including software misapplication of funds defrauding of consumers and investors and destruction or alteration of data (including college transcripts and diplomas) and software. The motive is ordinarily personal financial gain, anger or revenge but another significant impetus is the intellectual challenge associated with computer crimeThe absence of, or inadequate provision for, documentation and access controls for computer installations, facilitates computer crime. Unauthorized access to software and hardware is almost exclusively the core of crime perpetration. With authorized access, but with criminal collusion, two or more persons may commit crimes unnoticed, until financial audits, inventories, and computer operation system checks reveal the fraud or misuse. In the case of theft of intangible properties such as computer-stored patents of engineering, chemical or other designs, processes, or marketing and strategical data, the crime is exposed, if at all, by inferences drawn from the activities, products or knowledge shown by competitorsStudies in the USA indicate that about one-third of such crimes were committed by staff or consultant data-processing personnel, almost exclusively on a lower floor management level but the bulk were committed by non-d ata-processing personnel with normal, job-related access to computers. A recent USA study has concluded that computer-related crime now rivals white collar crime in cost and seriousness. The report was based on a survey of 283 corporations and government agencies and among the conclusions were the following about 48% of those surveyed reported some form of computer crime during 1983 with total annual losings estimated to be $145 million to $730 million. More recent estimates based on actual reported crime place losses in the USA at $3 billion per annum. An Australian computer expert has estimated that there were about cd0 computer-related frauds over the period 1975-1983. Pranksters in Canada in the past have re-routed the entire delivery system for Pepsi-cola in 1971 the mod York-Penn Central Railroad Company discovered 200 of its box-cars had been re-routed and ended up near Chicago and another 200 cars were found to be missing. In New Jersey seven young pot, all under 18 years , were charge with conspiring to use their home computers for exchanging stolen credit card numbers, information on how to make free phone calls, and to call coded phone numbers in the Pentagon. They were found with codes capable of changing the position of communication satellites. One barbarian had run up a large phone bill at home and when berated by his parents, he proceeded to break into the phone billing system and cancelled the chargeFew computer crimes are actually reported. In the US is required by law to report computer crimes more commentators agree that only about 15% of computer-related crimes are actually reported. The Australian Computer Abuse Research Bureau argues that only one in 20 cases of the $2 million or so worth of computer-related offences in Australia during 1980 was in fact reported. The reasons given are that there is not much faith in the legal system and its ability to prosecute a case of computer crime successfully that companies fear that to declare publically that their system has been breached and that their assets are not as secure as once thought will cause a flight of capital in shareholders funds and deposits and that there is a reluctance to expose the companys records and systems to public test and competitorsIn the UK in 1989, it was estimated that the cost to industry of computer-based crime was over 400 million per year. The average annual incidence was9 incidents per 100 companies (rising in some cases to 1 in 2), costing on average 46,000 per incident. Other estimates put the cost of computer crime as high as 2 billion per year. The most vulnerable sector is the communications industry in which there were 192 incidents per 100 companies. Fraudulent input of information, notably on paysheet systems, accounted for 4.1 million pounds of lossesA person stealing trade secrets no longer has to physically copy documents because much scientific and technical information is now stored on computers. Instead of copying hu ndreds of pages of information on a duplicating machine, a person can download that material onto a single computer disk which can be easily concealed in a pocket. The information on the disk can then be sent or transmitted anywhere in the world without ever engendering the employers suspicions. Additionally, if a thief is able to illegally penetrate a companys computer system, he or she can download that companys trade secrets and transmit them on international computer networks without removing the originals from the victim company1. While the Internet provides salient and exciting benefits to enhance our lives, it also allows those who want to violate or evade the law an opportunity to reach exponentially greater numbers of peopleCommon Types of Computer Related CrimeThere are a number of common attacks and methods of committing a computer related crime. Some of these are less sophisticated than others, and can be committed by soulfulness with limited knowledge of computers. O thers require programming skills and/or an advanced knowledge of how computers and various software can work together to commit a crime.COMPUTER VIRUSESComputer viruses are programs that can attach themselves to other programs or files. The virus infected files can then become carriers of the virus, or become damaged in some way. The virus may effect computer serve, displaying messages or playing sounds, or may crash the operating system so that the computer wont run as expected (if at all).You can prevent computer viruses by put in an anti-virus program on your computer, which scans files for known viruses. There are a number of these programs on the market, and they can be purchased from software stores or acquired on the Internet. Once installed, you will adopt to regularly update anti-virus files, which are used to detect and remove viruses from your system. entropy DIDDLINGData diddling involves changing data prior or during input into a computer. In other words, information is changed from the way it should be entered by a person typing in the data, a virus that changes data, the programmer of the database or application, or anyone else involved in the process of having information stored in a computer file. The culprit can be anyone involved in the process of creating, recording, encoding, examining, checking, converting, or transmitting data.This is one of the simplest methods of committing a computer-related crime, because it requires almost no computer skills whatsoever. Despite the ease of committing the crime, the cost can be considerable. For example, a person entering accounting may change data to show their account, or that or a friend or family member, is paid in full. By changing or failing to enter the information, they are able to steal from the company.To deal with this type of crime, a company must implement policies and internal controls. This may include performing regular audits, using software with constituent(a) features to combat such problems, and supervising employees.HACKERS AND CRACKERSIn computer jargon, hacker has a variety of meanings, including being synonymous with programmers and advanced computer users. In these cases, it refers to someone who hacks away at a keyboard for long periods of time, performing any number of computer-related tasks. In recent years, hacking has come to mean the same as another term cracker, which is a person who cracks the security of a system or computer application. Hacking (and cracking) now refers to the act of gaining unauthorized access to a computer, network, Web site, or areas of a system.A person may hack their way into a system for a variety of reasons curiosity, the challenge of break of serve through security measures, or to perform malicious actions and destroy or steal data. All to often, it involves performing mischief and damaging a Web site or corporate network in some manner.Commonly, hackers will impersonate a valid user to gain access to a system. If the system requires a username and password before allowing entry, a hacker may take an authentic users identity. On a network or an top executive with Internet access, a hacker can impersonate someone else by simply sitting at the unattended workstation of another user who hasnt logged off. It also commonly occurs when someone has an easy to guess username and password, or allows this information to be known by others.Another common method hackers use to gain access is to guess or crack a username and password thats used to access a computer, network, or Internet account. To prevent being hacked in this manner, you should use passwords that are difficult to guess. You should also make your passwords a commixture of letters, numbers, and special characters (e.g. , , , $, %, , , *). You should change your password at regular intervals, and set a minimal length to passwords (such as being a minimum of half-dozen or eight characters).LOGIC BOMBSA logic bomb is a program that runs a t a specific date and/or time to cause unwanted and/or unauthorized functions. It can effect software or data, and can cause serious damage to a system. Generally, it will enter a system as underground content, or may be installed on the system by someone within a company. For example, a disgruntled employee may write a program designed to crash the system one month after he plans to straggle the company. When this date and time arrives, the program then executes. In other words, the bomb goes off.Often, logic bombs arent detected until after they execute when the damage is done. However, by installing anti-virus software, firewalls, and other security software, you can block hidden content, and stop the bomb before it becomes a problem. Anti-virus software can detect known logic bombs, trojan horses, and viruses. Firewalls allow you to set policies on your system that will gaucherie hidden content out of messages, removed file attachments, and so forth. Trojan HORSETrojan hors es get their name from the story of the attack on Troy. In the story, the army couldnt get past the gates of Troy to attack. A covert attack was needed, so soldiers hid inside of a giant wooden horse, which was offered as a gift to the citizens of Troy. Once inside the gates of the city, the Trojan Horse opened and the attack began.In computer terms, Trojan Horses live up to the name derived from the Greek story. Covert instructions are hidden inside of a program. These instructions are embedded in software or email, and may provide any number of undesired or unauthorized functions. Once opened, they may modify or damage data, or send information over the Internet (which can then be used by a hacker for future attacks).By dealings hidden content in messages or software, you can avoid problems with Trojan Horses. Using anti-virus software, firewalls, and other security software, your system can check for Trojan Horses and prevent them from attacking.Computer Crime PreventionComputer crime is nice ever prevalent in our society. More and more, companies and individuals rely on the services and resources provided through networks and computers. Companies may be dependent on the data to conduct business, while individuals may store information that is important to their personal or work-related activities. Due to this, it becomes vital that steps are taken to protect computer systems and the data thats stored on them.It is important to remember that no system can ever be completely secure. The only network, Web site, or computer system thats 100% secure is one that cant be accessed by anyone or anything, which makes it completely unusable. Natural disasters, malicious, users who make mistakes, or motivated criminals can compromise security and/or cause damage. The goal for securing your system should be to balance security with accessibility.Community Crime PreventionEveryones Doing It Planning a Successful Community Crime Prevention ProjectAre you threadbare of walking by playgrounds that are filled with trash and broken equipment? You know kids wont play there because its such a mess. Make a difference by cleaning up that playground as a community crime prevention project.Keeping Insider Information Inside nurture confidential information against insider leaks, and corporate espionage.Take Crime Prevention to dallyLocal law enforcement agencies will experience greater cooperation and success with crime prevention programs if they include local businesses and corporate offices. Presentations at local businesses are designed to provide basic information and tips on crime prevention.Safer SeniorsAn increasing population of senior citizens, including those in assisted-living communities, has made police officers aware of the challenges of reaching this group with safety information. Strong support from the police chief and select officials helps ensure that time, staff, and resources are dedicated to aiding seniors.Also see Neighborhood d ecide and School Safety