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Background Paper Harmonizing National and Legal Approaches on Cyber...
this paper deals with harmonization of cyber crime and laws against it
From anaslegal
Computer crime
,
cybercrime
,
e-crime
,
hi-tech crime
or
electronic crime
generallyrefers to criminal activity where acomputer or network is the source, tool, target, or place
of a crime. These categories are not exclusive and many activities can be characterized as
falling in one or more. Additionally, although the terms
computer crime
and
cybercrime
are more properly restricted to describing criminal activity in which the computer or network is a necessary part of the crime, these terms are also sometimes used to includetraditional crimes, such asfraud,theft, blackmail,forgery, and embezzlement, in which
computers or networks are used. As the use of computers has grown, computer crime has become more important.Computer crime can broadly be defined as criminal activity involving an informationtechnology infrastructure, including illegal access (unauthorized access), illegalinterception (by technical means of non-public transmissions of computer data to, from or within a computer system), data interference (unauthorized damaging, deletion,deterioration, alteration or suppression of computer data), systems interference(interfering with the functioning of a computer system by inputting, transmitting,damaging, deleting, deteriorating, altering or suppressing computer data), misuse of devices, forgery (ID theft), and electronic fraud.
Computer crime issues have become high-profile, particularly those surroundinghacking,copyright infringementthroughwarez,child pornography,andchild grooming.There are
also problems of privacywhenconfidential information is lost or intercepted, lawfully or
otherwise.
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Generally
Computer crime encompass a broad range of potentially illegal activities. Generally,however, it may be divided into one of two types of categories: (1) crimes that targetcomputer networks or devices directly; (2) crimes facilitated by computer networks or devices, the primary target of which is independent of the computer network or device.Examples of crimes that primarily target computer networks or devices would include,
•
Malware and malicious code
•
Denial-of-service attacks
•
Computing virusesExamples of crimes that merely use computer networks or devices would include,
•
Cyber stalking
•
Fraud and identity theft
•
•
Information warfareA common example is when a person starts to steal information from sites, or causedamage to, a computer or computer network . This can be entirely virtual in that theinformation only exists in digital form, and the damage, while real, has no physicalconsequence other than the machine ceases to function. In some legal systems, intangible property cannot be stolen and the damage must be visible, e.g. as resulting from a blowfrom a hammer. Where human-centric terminology is used for crimes relying onnaturallanguage skills and innate gullibility, definitions have to be modified to ensure thatfraudulent behavior remains criminal no matter how it is committed.A computer can be a source of evidence. Even though the computer is not directly usedfor criminal purposes, it is an excellent device for record keeping, particularly given the power to encrypt the data. If this evidence can be obtained and decrypted, it can be of great value to criminal investigators.
Specific computer crimes
Spam
Spam, or the unsolicited sending of bulk emailfor commercial purposes, is unlawful to
varying degrees.As applied to email, specific anti-spam laws are relatively new, however limits on unsolicited electronic communications have existed in some forms for sometime.
Fraud
Computer fraud is any dishonest misrepresentation of fact intended to induce another todo or refrain from doing something which causes loss.
]
In this context, the fraudwill result in obtaining a benefit by:
•
altering computer input in an unauthorized way. This requires little technicalexpertise and is not an uncommon form of theft by employees altering the data before entry or entering false data, or by entering unauthorized instructions or using unauthorized processes;
•
altering, destroying, suppressing, or stealing output, usually to concealunauthorized transactions: this is difficult to detect;
•
altering or deleting stored data; or
•
altering or misusing existing system tools or software packages, or altering or writing code for fraudulent purposes. This requires real programming skills and isnot common.Other forms of fraud may be facilitated using computer systems, including bank fraud,identity theft,extortion, and theft of classified information(Csonka, 2000)
Obscene or offensive content
The content of websites and other electronic communications may be distasteful, obsceneor offensive for a variety of reasons. In some instances these communications may beillegal.Many jurisdictions place limits on certain speech and banracist, blasphemous, politically
subversive,libelous or slanderous, seditious,or inflammatory material that tends to incite
hate crimes.The extent to which these communications are unlawful varies greatly between countries,and even within nations. It is a sensitive area in which the courts can become involved inarbitrating between groups with entrenched beliefs.
Harassment
Whereas content may be offensive in a non-specific way, harassment directs obscenitiesand derogatory comments at specific individuals focusing for example on gender, race,religion, nationality, sexual orientation. This often occurs in chat rooms, throughnewsgroups, and by sending hate e-mail to interested parties (seecyber bullying, cyber
of 00
Computer Crime
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| Category: | Uncategorized. |
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| Upload Date: | 07/23/2009 |
| Copyright: | Attribution Non-commercial |
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