Abstract

Today, people use computers for many different reasons depending on their
level of skill and their needs. A look at the number of people using computers
today reveals the surprisingly high amount of individuals. As technologies
increase, the number of people using computers increases. A good example
is China, which has close to three hundred million computer users. With the
high number of computer and cyber users, it is accurate to say that computer
crime and cybercrime also increases by the day. Computer criminals rely on
the changing technologies as much as regular people do. The first cyber crime
recorded occurred in 1820. This aspect is not a surprising fact because the first
form of computer, the abacus was already around for more than a thousand
years.

Introduction
Cyber crime is an illegal activity conducted through the use of a computer.
This aspect includes the hardware device as well as the internet. In this case, the
computer and the internet act as tools that facilitate the occurrence of the
crime. Cybercrime includes a broad range of the offense. These include cyber
stalking, child pornography, unauthorized access, forgery and fraud among
others. Industries, governments and people around the world tend to focus on
various kinds of cyber crime. These include piracy, cyber stalking, cyber
terrorism, cyber pornography and cracking.

Cyber crime also involves the traditional crimes that occur over the
internet. The issue of computer and cyber crimes represents the latest and
most complicated problem around the world (Cousins, 06). For instance, there
are individual and organized hackers. Individual hackers frequently perform
these activities as a way of proving that they are good at computer
programming and that they have the capacity of hacking and breaching
software. Organized piracy in most cases occurs for monetary purposes.
These groups could hack into large enterprises like banks to gain financial
benefits. Reports from around the world indicate that in the past two years,
there have been over a million complaints around the world. Most of these
complaints included issues of hack threats, denial of services, fraud and other
computer-based problems. In some cases, the company complains of the loss of
files and corruption by viruses.
 Computer crimes
Computer crimes, on the other hand, are crimes committed with the help of a
computer. Any criminal activity that occurs with the aid of a computer is
thus a computer crime. Computer crimes existed since the production of the
computer. With the changing world and increasing technology, the computer
is one of the tools that people use to aid them in their criminal activity.
This kind of crime does not necessarily involve the loss of data on the
computer or even the change of data on the computer.
A computer crime also refers to a situation whereby someone accesses
data without the permission of the administrator. This aspect shows that a
computer crime does not have to involve the loss or modification of data on
the network. The worst type of computer crime is the access to data without
notification of the administrator. Currently, many criminals conduct
computer crimes in groups. The reasoning behind this is that if done in larger
groups, there is a lower risk and ease of stealing. Many people that commit
these rogue crimes included rogue hackers and crackers, many of whom are
employees of different organizations. Statistics show an increasing amount of
computer crime, which shows the seriousness of the problem.

Types of cyber crimes

Various terms define the activities that occur in cyber and computer crime.
Fraud involves illegally taking money from individuals through tricking
them. Fraudsters are the highest population of people involved in computer
and cyber crimes. Fraudsters have various ways of attaining their goals. These
include the use of emails from prominent organizations or individuals and
luring innocent people to share amounts of money for non-existent products
and services. Black Hat criminals, on the other hand, are hackers that break
into networks and computers and create computer viruses. These types of
computer criminals are the villains of that world because they damage
networks and computers for what seems to be the fun of it. Identity theft is
another form of computer crime. It involves the use of another person's
identity illegally. This aspect means that the individual has no knowledge of
the use of his character. It usually has a devastating ending, because the
fraudster could conduct some activities using a person's sensitive information,
without their knowledge. The stolen details could include the name of an
individual, the social security number, their international passport or their
credit cards. An example is where one uses the details of an individual to create
and collect loans which eventually affect the person. Phishing is another type of
computer and cyber crime which involves the sending of millions of messages
to different people. The recipients in most cases fall for the trick and believe
that the messages have a genuine source. In most cases the messages look very
real. The hackers use the messages to look for information and extort money
from the people. Pharming is another way that people use the internet to trick
people. Unlike phishing, this technique involves the change of the IP address
of a website. When an individual types a website, they end up on a fake internet
site. The hackers use the same Domain name but a different IP address. In
this situation, an individual would end up filling a fake page with his sensitive
information. Denial of service attack refers to a situation where an organization
or intended users lack access to any computer resources. In most cases this
kind of attack results in no loss of information or other security losses.
However, this attack reduces the functionality of the inter sites and
services. Another form is malware where people create software that
penetrates the computer system and damages the system of equipment without
the consent of the owner. Hacking is a different kind of computer crime that
involves breaking into a computer system without the consent of the owner. It
is similar to trespassing, just in the internet world. Spyware, on the other hand,
includes the use of computer software that takes control of interactions
between the user and the rest of the world. In most cases the victim has no
idea that there is a program recording all his interactions. Spyware programs
have the capacity of storing personal information. The program further has the
capacity of redirecting web browser activities which end up causing harm on
the computer. Spyware causes other problems to the computer like slowing
down the internet and other programs. Logic bombs are programs that run on
particular dates or times to produce unwanted function. They affect data and
software and cause severe damage to the system. The logic bombs enter the
system as hidden content or installed by someone in the organization that has
evil intentions. A good example is where a bad employee plants a logic bomb
that activates one month after he quits his job. At the specified date and time,
the logic bomb goes off and crashes the whole system. The tricky part about
the logic bombs is that they are very hard to detect until after they cause the
damage. A solution to this issue includes various anti-virus software that
have the capability of detecting known logic bombs.

The future of Cybercrime

Cyber crime has an unpredictable future judging from the trends where the
culprits always end up a step ahead of the authorities. Cyber criminals
always come up with a new way of committing the crimes. Authorities have
to increase the skill levels if they hope to catch up with cyber crime
committers. Cyber criminals seem always to find a new way of defrauding
people and scamming them for their money. Regions like Asia have a high
amount of cyber crime based on the vast populations and the exposure that
this massive population has to the computer systems. Close to eighty
percent of the population have access to computers. A look at the growth of
cyber crimes shows that there is a high chance that it would continue growing.
People Depending on current laws and technical protection is no longer enough
protection against cyber and computer crimes. There have to be better
protection measures in place to protect people against cyber crimes. For
example, people have to be more aware on where and when they can carry out
online banking. A lot of individuals lack awareness on the advancements of
cyber crimes. A good example is where someone does his banking with the
little information that the bank stores all his data. A solution to this issue would
be the installation of new anti-viruses and configuring firewalls.

The effects of cyber and computer crimes

Computer and cyber crimes result in the loss of billions of dollars every year.
The issue increases each day and causes significant losses to companies and
individuals around the world. The United States is the country with the
highest cases of cyber crimes. In most cases hackers and cyber criminals
flourish more in countries that have inadequate laws and regulations regarding
crime laws. Many insurance companies around the world try to provide
protection against cyber crime. Computer and cyber crimes cause businesses to
suffer losses in a scenario where hackers steal valuable and confidential
information from a company. The information could include the plans of the
company, which the hacker could sell to competitors of that particular company
and in this way, set the company back so many steps (Bassett, Jennifer, and
Evergreen, 02). In a different scenario, the company ends up wasting so much
time handling the harmful incidents caused by computer crimes. The wasted
time reduces the productivity of the enterprise. Many companies also spend a
lot of time creating preventive measures. The energy put in investing in
this preventive measure is also a derailleur and is one of the impacts of
cybercrime. Cyber crime could cause people to lose confidence in a company.
For instance, people would not feel safe banking or involve themselves with a
hacked organization. They would feel insecure about sharing their confidential
information with such an organization. This aspect affects the productivity of
the team. Further, the rising costs of stopping viruses and malware affects the
companies financially. Computer crimes cause a lot of harm and frustration
especially in a scenario where the individual has no knowledge of the offense.
Some of the current cyber criminals are so bright that they could hack and
steal information without leaving the slightest clue. Using the information for
the evil purposes eventually affects the individual in an adverse way, leaving
them feeling extremely frustrated. The fact that there are few tangible ways of
recovering the lost money or information makes it even worse because the
individual finds himself in a situation where there is nothing they can do about
the situation.
 Prevention of cyber crime
People could prevent cyber crime in various ways. An excellent way to the
creation of robust passwords those are hard to compromise. Another good
idea on the issue of passwords is the use of random passwords. Constantly
changing the password also helps the person stay ahead of any hackers. On
the issue of malware, individuals have to ensure that they use the lasts anti-
viruses and anti-spy software that prevent and kill off any malware. In the case
of misplaced gadgets, the person should make sure they have passwords
securing their systems. Knowing the location of all the software that a person
uses would reduce the cases of software vulnerability and its usability. In
other cases, people try to learn to people's passwords through observation. In
this case, people have to be aware of their surroundings, type fast and ensure
that people do not have the chance of observing their passwords. Another good
prevention method is ensuring that the firewall remains on at all times. An
upgrade or replacement would provide even better security. Installation of
windows updates would reduce any Windows vulnerability. In a case of
weak configurations, the individual could get professionals. The use of spam
blockers would help the users end the issue of receiving bogus mail. Most
internet providers provide a blocking feature that helps stop fraudulent and
phishing emails. On the topic of anti-virus, the individual has to ensure that
they update it regularly and scan the computer often to remove any malware
on the computer. There are free versions available but for better security an
individual has to consider investing in the best options available. Users with
children should ensure that they have parental control software which helps
limit the children's whereabouts online. This issue is the wise thing to do
because at times the children to go online and check malicious sites without
knowing. The parent could monitor the websites that the child visits as one of
the ways of spending more time with their children. Ensuring that the mother
keeps the firewall on is also vital in ensuring that they keep hackers from
accessing the computer. Law enforcers require investing more in training in
this field. They also have to specialize and learn more about technology and
all its technicalities. Using the people caught as part of community service
could help in dealing with the issue of cyber and computer crimes. Punishing
the offenders by forcing them to nab such criminals would help government
officials understand the maneuvers used in cracking and hacking. Big business
and also individuals should further ensure that they have the latest security
measure on a regular basis to avoid creating any vulnerability to their
businesses. The enforcement of proper intellectual property act laws could
further enhance the reduction of computer and cyber crime. The crime of
equipment an intellectual property section has the role of implementing
national strategies that help in intellectual properties crimes and computer
crimes from all around the world. Comprehensive programs like the computer
crimes initiative have the task of creating programs designed to help deal with
data thefts, electronic penetrations, and cyber attacks that occur on crucial
information. The section has a role in investigating, preventing and
prosecuting computer crimes. Working with government agencies, academic
institution, the rivet sector and foreign counterparts could help the section
deal with computer crimes.

Conclusion
In most cases, authorities tend to underestimate the threat imposed by computer
and cyber crimes. One of the reasons could be the lack of reliable statistics on
the actual effects of the risk. Also, the ministries of companies around the
world apply different techniques on dealing with cyber crime. In enhancing
cyber security, the various agencies have to ensure that they create cultural
awareness among people. They should also ensure that they enforce lawful
cyber behaviors among teenagers, children, individuals, and organization.
The creation of activities that improve the level of awareness of information
security would further help in dealing with the problem. For instance, people
subscribing to internet banking should always know the risk factors of internet
banking. People have to remain critical of what they see and read.