Computer Crime, Investigation, and the Law

Chapter 1

Types of Computer Crime

Identity Theft Cyber Stalking/Harassment Unauthorized Access to Computer Systems or Data Fraud Non access computer crimes

Identity Theft
The Federal Trade Commission found that in 2005 8.3 million Americans where the victim of some form of identity theft. The majority of identity theft incidents where financial in nature with 3.2 million involving the misuse of existing credit accounts and 1.8 million involved using the victims information to open new accounts. Even if each of these cases where relatively small in scale (under $5000), this would still amount to billions of dollars annually in identity theft loss There are four primary ways that one can gain access to personal information:
Phishing Hacking or spyware Unauthorized access of data Discarded information

Cyber Stalking/Harrassment
Although there is no universally accepted definition of cyber stalking, the term is used in this report to refer to the use of the Internet, e-mail, or other electronic communications devices to stalk another person. Stalking generally involves harassing or threatening behavior that an individual engages in repeatedly, such as following a person, appearing at a person's home or place of business, making harassing phone calls, leaving written messages or objects, or vandalizing a person's property The issue is how do you determine whether or not to take a threat seriously? The key is to look for three factors
Credibility Frequency Specificity Intensity

Unauthorized Access to Data

When unauthorized access to systems or data is the primary criminal activity, it is often in relation to corporate espionage. For example the perpetrator might wish to steal confidential corporate data, sensitive financial protestations, or other data. This information could be used to lure customers away from a competitor, it could be released in order to damage a companys stock, or it could be used for blackmail. In any case the common factor is that the perpetrator is either not authorized to access the data or is not authorized to use the data in the manner he or she is using it

Fraud
Fraud is a broad category of crimes that can encompass many different activities. However a few of the more common internet based frauds are:
Investment Offers Auction Fraud Check/Money Order Fraud Data piracy