Cyber Crime Investigation

What is cyber crime

Cybercrime is criminal activity that either targets or uses a computer, a computer
network or a networked device.
What is computer crime?
It is any incident involving an intentional act where a victim suffered or could have
suffered a loss, and a perpetrator made or could have made a gain and is associated
with computers (Parker, 1976).
What is the role of computer in a cybercrime?
1. The computer is the object, or the data in the computer are the objects, of the
act.
2. The computer creates a unique environment or unique form of assets.
3. The computer is the instrument or the tool of the act.
4. The computer represents a symbol used for intimidation or deception
Classification of terms
Computer crime has been traditionally defined as any criminal act committed via
computer. Computer related crime has been defined as any criminal act in which a
computer is involved, even peripherally. Cybercrime has traditionally encompassed
abuses and misuses of computer systems or computers connected to the Internet which
result in direct and/or concomitant losses. Finally, digital crime, a relatively new term,
includes any criminal activity which involves the unauthorized access, dissemination,
manipulation, destruction, or corruption of electronically stored data.
Brief history of Cybercrime

1969 — RABBITS Virus — An anonymous person installs a program on a computer at

the University of Washington Computer Center. The inconspicuous program makes
copies of itself (breeding like a rabbit) until the computer overloads and stops working. It
is thought to be the first computer virus. 

1970-1995 — Kevin Mitnick — Beginning in 1970, Kevin Mitnick penetrates some of the

most highly-guarded networks in the world, including Nokia and Motorola, using
elaborate social engineering schemes, tricking insiders into handing over codes and
passwords, and using the codes to access internal computer systems. He becomes the
most-wanted cybercriminal of the time. 

1971 — Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs — When Steve Wozniak reads an article about
Joybubbles and other phone phreaks, he becomes acquainted with John “Captain
Crunch” Draper and learns how to hack into phone systems. He builds a blue box
designed to hack into phone systems, even pretending to be Henry Kissinger and
prank-calling the Pope. He starts mass-producing the device with friend Steve Jobs and
selling it to classmates. 

1981 – Cybercrime Conviction — Ian Murphy, aka “Captain Zap,” hacks into the AT&T
network and changes the internal clock to charge off-hour rates at peak times. The first
person convicted of a cybercrime, and the inspiration for the movie “Sneakers,” he does
1,000 hours of community service and 2.5 years of probation.

1988 — The Morris Worm — Robert Morris creates what would be known as the first
worm on the Internet. The worm is released from a computer at MIT to suggest that the
creator is a student there. The potentially harmless exercise quickly became a vicious
denial of service attack when a bug in the worm’s spreading mechanism leads to
computers being infected and reinfected at a rate much faster than he anticipates. 

1989 — Trojan Horse Software — A diskette claiming to be a database of AIDS

information is mailed to thousands of AIDS researchers and subscribers to a UK
computer magazine. It contains a Trojan (after the Trojan Horse of Greek mythology), or
destructive program masquerading as a benign application. 

1998-2007 — Max Butler — Max Butler hacks U.S. government websites in 1998 and is
sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2001. After being released in 2003, he uses WiFi to
commit attacks, program malware and steal credit card information. In 2007, he is
arrested and eventually pleads guilty to wire fraud, stealing millions of credit card
numbers and around $86 million of fraudulent purchases.

2002 – Internet Attack — By targeting the thirteen Domain Name System (DNS) root
servers, a DDoS attack assaults the entire Internet for an hour. Most users are

2006 — TJX — A cybercriminal gang steals 45 million credit and debit card numbers
from TJX, a Massachusetts-based retailing company, and uses a number of the stolen
cards to fund an electronic shopping spree at Wal-Mart. While initial estimates of
damages came up to around $25 million, later reports add up the total cost of damages
to over $250 million.

2010 — Zeus Trojan Virus — An Eastern European cybercrime ring steals $70 million
from U.S. banks using the Zeus Trojan virus to crack open bank accounts and divert
money to Eastern Europe. Dozens of individuals are charged. 

2011 — Sony Pictures — A hack of Sony’s data storage exposes the records of over
100 million customers using their PlayStation’s online services. Hackers gain access to
all the credit card information of users. The breach costs Sony more than $171 million.

2011-2012 — LulzSec — Lulz Security, or LulzSec, a break-off group from hacking

collective Anonymous, attacks Fox.com and then targets more than 250 public and
private entities, including an attack on Sony’s PlayStation Network. They then publicize
their hacks though Twitter to embarrass website owners and make fun of insufficient
security measures.

2013 — Credit Card Fraud Spree — In the biggest cybercrime case filed in U.S. history,
Federal prosecutors charge 5 men responsible for a hacking and credit card fraud spree
that cost companies more $300 million.

2014-2018 — Marriott International — A breach occurs on systems supporting

Starwood hotel brands beginning in 2014. Attackers remain in the system after Marriott
acquires Starwood in 2016 and aren’t discovered until September 2018. The thieves
steal data on approximately 500 million customers. Marriott announces it in late 2018. 

2014 — CryptoWall — CryptoWall ransomware, the predecessor of CryptoDefense, is

heavily distributed, producing an estimated revenue of $325 million. 

2015 — Prepaid Debit Cards — A worldwide gang of criminals steals a total of $45

million in a matter of hours by hacking a database of prepaid debit cards and then
draining cash machines around the globe.

2016 — DNC Email Leaks — Democratic National Committee emails are leaked to and
published by WikiLeaks prior to the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

2017 — Equifax — Equifax, one of the largest U.S. credit bureaus, is hacked, exposing
143 million user accounts. The sensitive leaked data includes Social Security numbers,
birth dates, addresses, driver’s license numbers, and some credit card numbers.

History of Computer

Computer, Define

In its simplest sense computer is a device used to ascertain an amount or number by

calculation or reckoning

Charles Babbage (1822 and 1871). Babbage designed an analytical engine that could
receive instructions from punch cards, make calculations with the aid of a memory bank,
and print out mathematical solutions. An unprecedented ideal, Babbage’s device was a
dismal failure due to the lack of a technological infrastructure.

The credit for today’s machines is most often attributed to the work of Herman Hollerith.
Indeed, Dr. Hollerith was the first to successfully introduce a device exclusively
designed for data processing. This machine, developed an ocean away from Babbage,
was created to tabulate the 1890 Census in the United States

The first modern digital computer, for example, was built at Iowa State University by
John Atanasoff, professor of physics and mathematics, and his graduate student,
Clifford Berry, and was funded with federal monies. The Atanasoff–Berry Computer
(ABC) had capabilities which included binary arithmetic, parallel processing, separate
memory, regenerative memory, and basic computer functionality

This technology, passed on to John W. Mauchly and John Presper Eckert, eventually
resulted in the development of the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer
(ENIAC). Built at the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Electrical
Engineering, this device was responsible for calculating firing and bombing tables for
the U.S. military. Fully assembled in 1945, ENIAC was composed of 30 separate units,
coupled with separate power supplies and air-conditioning units, and weighed 30 tons!

Professor Max Newman. Unlike American innovations, ColossusI was designed

exclusively for cryptanalysis. Using punched paper tape to scan and analyze 5,000
characters per second, this device proved to be invaluable in World WarII asit broke the
heretofore impenetrable “Enigma” codes used by the Nazi forces.

The advent of PCs (originally containing operating systems like DOS and UNIX2 )
combined with the emergence of graphical user interface (GUI) platforms (like
Windows™ and many Macintosh products) created a world accessible to
technologically challenged individuals.

Computer Hardware
Input Devices
Modems are electronic devices which connect a computer and telephone line to enable
communication between computers by converting binary data to analog tones and
voltages communicable over an analog communications cable and vice versa (can also
be an output device).
Keyboards are devices through which commands and information are introduced to the
computer. They are, perhaps, the most recognizable of all. In fact, keyboards tend to be
somewhat universal, and are usually clearly marked.
The mouse (plural mice) is a device which moves a cursor on the screen when moved
by hand.
The scanner is a device for making a digital image of any graphic, for reproduction or
processing by the computer. Other input devices, such as microphones and the like, are
also commonly used.
Output Devices
Central processing unit is the single integrated circuit actually interpreting program
instructions and the processing of data in a computer.
motherboard, which is the primary circuit board of a PC to which all other elements are
connected. These components include the processor memory chips, BIOS, and ROM.
Central processors or microprocessors, which sit in a socket or a slot, are standardized
by manufacturer and model. They are responsible for all commands executed by the
computer
random access memory (RAM). RAM, which allows the computer to temporarily store
information in its short-term memory, does not have any moving parts.
Hard disk drives are those mass storage devices which are designed to permanently
store that information which users intend to keep.
Computer Software
It is a series of instructions that performs a particular task. More specifically, software is
the interpretation of binary byte sequences represented by a listing of instructions to the
processors.
Three main types of software
Boot Sequence
The boot sequence of a computer refers to the series of steps taken by a computer
immediately upon powering on which are necessary before it is usable.
Operating System
The operating system is a piece of software that runs user applications and provides an
interface to the hardware
Application software
Application software is prepackaged instructions which allow users to perform a variety
of functions, including but not limited to word processing, statistical analysis, and the
like.
Brief History of Internet
Advanced Research Project Agency Network (ARPANet) sponsored in 1969 by the
Department of Defense. Primarily designed to overcome threats from a blackout of
communication in the event of a nuclear war, this computer network linked four
universities (UCLA, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah) and was
intended to facilitate communications between computers over phone lines regardless
of system characteristics. ARPANet was opened to nonmilitary users later in the 1970s,
and early takers were the big universities—although at this stage it resembled nothing
like the Internet we know today.
NSF Net, established under the National Science Foundation by a small group of
supercomputer research centers and researchers at remote academic and
governmental institutions. This network was highly supported by the government, which
encouraged researchers and institutions to avail themselves of this communication tool.
most familiar with is the World Wide Web. This is a collection of hyperlinked pages of
information distributed over the Internet via a network protocol called hypertext transfer
protocol (HTTP). This was invented in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee, a physicist working at
CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory, who created the Web so that
physicists could share information about their research. Thus, the Web was introduced
as a restricted means of communication between scientists.
modem to ring up an Internet service provider (ISP) to get their connection to this (now
huge) network. Prior to these developments, the only computers connected were at
universities and other large organizations that could afford to wire cables between each
other to transfer the data over.
Traditional Computer Crime
Traditional Problems
Location of physical act- cybercrime usually occurs on the internet. potential for global
connectivity, transcend traditional spatial boundaries and all but obscure legislated
jurisdictions. Thus, locating the perpetrator is quite difficult.
Anonymity software- It is a software that conceals the data or the IP of a user. It masks
the origin of the user.
Phreaking
It involves the manipulation of telecommunications carriers to gain knowledge of
telecommunications, and/or theft of applicable services. Also identified broadly as
telecommunications fraud, phreaking includes any activity that incorporates the illegal
use or manipulation of access codes, access tones, PBXs, or switches.
Hacking
The root of the term hacking has been claimed by the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), and dates back to the 1960s when the term was used by MIT
students to refer to either the development of novel techniques to identify computer
shortcuts or clever pranks
Hierarchy of Contemporary Cybercriminals
Script kiddies
Also known as skidiots, skiddie, or Victor Skill Deficiency (VSD), are the lowest life form
of cybercriminal. The term is a derogatory one used by more sophisticated computer
users to refer to inexperienced hackers who employ scripts or other programs authored
by others to exploit security vulnerabilities or otherwise compromise computer systems.
Cyberpunks
It is an innocuous term which has been hotly contested by First Amendment advocates but has
been used by law enforcement officials to refer to individuals’ intent on wreaking havoc via the
Internet
Cybercriminal organizations
These are the groups comprised of criminally minded individuals who have used the Internet to
communicate, collaborate, and facilitate cybercrime.
Criminal hackers, or crackers
are those who target data which is valuable on its face (e.g., trade secrets and proprietary data)
or directed at data (e.g., credit card data) which may be used to further other criminal activity.
Theft of Intellectual Property
Software
Like other areas of commerce, the digital revolution has resulted in heretofore unprecedented
innovations in content industries such as book publishers, record labels, movie studios, software
companies, and all other industries involved in the mass production of intellectual property
Data piracy
refers to the reproduction, distribution, and use of software without the permission or
authorization of the owner of copyright. Making multiple copies for personal use or distributing
copies to friends or colleagues has become so commonplace that many individuals fail to
appreciate, or even recognize, the illegality of their actions.
Software piracy
is all but impossible to stop, although software companies are launching more and more
lawsuits against major infractors. Originally, software companies tried to stop software piracy by
copy-protecting their software
WareZ
sites are extremely popular on the Internet. These sites enable visitors to download software
illegally in violation of copyright protections
Film Piracy
The illegal copying and distribution of such films has been perpetrated by individuals and
organized criminal syndicates alike. For the most part, individual criminals use less
sophisticated means of data piracy, and bootlegged copies of prerelease films tend to be of low
quality as they are often products of video recordings of a movie screen.