Cybercrime & Computer Crime Research Center

The mesh has increasingly become a convenient avenue for commitments of crimes in the ever sophisticated randomness age. This is c any(prenominal)able to the defining characteristics of the online world where unmatched preserve interact with erupt physical contact. A electronic computing device consultant in Utah was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing 2 million dollar bills from a quote community where he worked (Computer offense enquiry Center).In an other incident, Jeffrey Lee Parson who pleaded immoral to charges of unleashing part of a worm that suitd chaos in the internet in 2003 got off with 18 to 37 months in jail (Computer law-breaking explore Center) In most cases of cybercrime, the penalisation does not fit the crime. The damages by computer functionrs in the hands of cybercrime offenders atomic number 18 very real and so the penalties should in like manner be as real. This paper pass on effort to oral sex and draw to a greater extent ligh t on this issue. This paper forget attempt to discuss and draw more light on the issue of cybercrimes and more or less of the proposed solutions that take in been suggested to counter the cyberterrorism.Problem Definition According to the Computer Crime Research Center, the penalty for illegally dooring a computer ranges from 6 months to 5 years. The penalty for illegal system access ranges from 5 to 10 years of handcuffs. communication interception, offensive material dissemination and telecommunication piracy crimes carry punishment of 1 to 5 years. Individuals who hack computer and computer devices get an imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine (Computer Crime Research Center. An act of trying to actualize access to a government protected system, results in a 10 year imprisonment and a heavy fine.Over the years this penalties have been make more severe, but the question still remains on whether they argon still too piano (Computer Crime Research Center). Cybercrime is the criminal exploitation of the internet. According to research carried out by the National Computer Security Association (NCSA) in 1996 both out of three U. S. companies were affected greatly by vir single-valued functions. 3-5 billion dollar losses were incurred in the United States annually in the late mid-eighties as a result of computer abuse. With advancement in engineering, newer and more complicated crimes have emerged which usually go unprosecuted.Cybercrime can be categorize into violent or potentially violent criminals, and unprovocative crimes (Shinder & Cross, 15). Types of violent or potentially violent crimes entangle Cyber husk, cyber terrorism, and child pornography. Cyber terrorism refers to deliberate politically motivated violence committed against innocent spate by individuals, group(s) of people through and through computer communicates. It involves use of the internet to convey tuition to be apply in violent activities as well as recruiting members to terrorist groups through blade sites.In extreme cases, it could include interrupting computer systems used in activate traffic control to arrest planes to crash or collide sabotaging the computer system controlling water treatment so as to cause contamination of water supplies. It also includes hacking into hospital entropybase and deleting or changing information that could result in incorrect or dangerous treatment of patients (Shinder & Cross, 15). Cyber stalking is a form of electronic harassment which involves implied physical threats which create terror in the victim. It mostly targets people in a certain race, gender, pietism or social status.Paparazzi use the internet to stalk celebrities and get unauthorised access to confidential information on them in order to act upon them. People from a particular race are harassed by distribution of hate e-mails through the internet this often occurs in gabble rooms and news groups. tyke pornography becomes a cyber crime wh en computers and networks are used to create, destine and access pornographic materials that use minor children. Child pornography is considered a violent crime because sexual abuse is secure in order to produce pornographic materials.Any related activity to nurture child pornography is considered to be a crime. Pedophiles use the internet to distribute and access pornographic material involving children through the internet (Shinder & Cross, 15). around cyber crimes are nonviolent offenses. The perceived anonymity of virtual experiences is unrivalled of the elements that make meshing an attractive venue to commit crimes. Nonviolent cyber crimes include cyber trespass, cyber theft, cyber fraud, destructive cyber crimes and other cyber crimes.Cyber trespass refers to accessing of a computers or networks resources without authorization barely for the fun of it. The individual may not damage or misuse the data nonetheless, cyber trespass is a crime in most jurisdictions. Most o f these cases are dismissed by law enforcers because no damage is do (Shinder & Cross, 18). Copyright onslaught is another manner of nonviolent cyber crime. This is unauthorized use of works covered by copyright law, in such a way that it violates the owners exclusive rights.These rights include the right to make the work. For electronic media copyright infringement is also referred to as piracy. Piracy is chiefly done for music and film works, where cyber criminals hack into entertainment websites and download maestro works. They then, create copies which they sell as their own (Shinder & Cross, 19). Cyber theft is the use of a computer and network to steal money, information or other valuables. It is one of the most popular cyber crimes this is because stealing from a distance reduces the risk of get caught.Cyber theft includes embezzlement an example is where an employee may use his/her legitimate access to a participations computerized payroll system to change the data s o as to move funds out of a high society bank into his own account. A person may also gain unlawful access to an organizations information and misappropriate funds. another(prenominal) example of cyber theft is industrial espionage, where a person from outside the company uses the network to steal trade secrets and marketing strategies for competitors (Shinder & Cross, 19). plagiarism is another case cyber theft. Plagiarism is stealing of roughones original writing and then go through it off as your own. Cyber fraud on the other hand is the rendering of network data so as to obtain benefits. An example is when one hacks into the police database so as to remove arrest records. Destructive cyber crimes include electronically vandalizing web pages, hacking into a system and deleting data, introducing worms, viruses or other leering codes into a computer system or network (Shinder & Cross, 21).Viruses, worms and vixenish codes cause damages worth millions of dollars (Shinder & Cro ss, 23). Virus writers and hackers are highly active and ceaselessly creating and modifying new viruses, making it difficult for antivirus software system to detect them. Other nonviolent cyber crimes include soliciting prostitution over the internet, gambling through the internet, internet do drugs sales and other contraband goods that are banned in some countries (Shinder & Cross, 24). An important question arises on how these crimes can be prevented.Approaches to Counter Cybercriminals single-valued function of antivirus and anti spyware software is one of the solutions which are currently in use. The antivirus software contains a political platform that attempt to identify and eliminate viruses, worms and other beady-eyed codes. Backdoor programs and Trojans are restricted by the anti spy wares. Firewalls are also other effective ways of preventing unauthorized access to a computer network. Network firewalls may be software programs, hardware devices or a combination of bot h.The firewall protects internal computer networks from outside access by malicious intruders (Shinder & Cross, 532). secret writing is another very effective method of dealing with cyber crime. Cryptography is the science of encrypting and decrypting information. This is where, when one is sending information through the internet, software decrypts the information and encodes it. The information is sent in coded form which can only be decoded by the recipient who has the decoding software. This is a very effective method that crackers find hard to hack (Shinder & Cross, 512).Awareness can also be raised on the issue of cyber crime. Youths are increasingly getting pull into cyber crime because most of them are not aware of its legal consequences. This can be done through informative advertisements on the internet which will attempt to inform them on the dangers of cyber crime. People should also be boost to report cyber criminals to authorities through links on the web, so as to use the internet as a weapon against cyber crime perpetrators (Shinder & Cross, 551).Cyber morals and laws are being formulated to combat cyber crime. It is the responsibility of service sufferrs to provide high level of security to their clients so as to keep them sound from malicious programs. Laws have been passed over the years which have attempted to tame the problem of cyber crime. One of the most effective laws which were passed in the regular army is the USA Patriot moment which increases penalties and allows the prosecution of individuals who intend to cause damage. It was pushed through the U.S Senate aft(prenominal)ward the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. This law gives authority over monitoring private communications and private information (Shinder & Cross, 10). In August 2007 President Bush, sign-language(a) into law Patriot II Act. This act gives authority to the government to portion out domestic wiretaps without a court order for 15 days after an attack on the country or congressional authorization, access citizen credit reports with a subpoena and criminalize use of encryption software that was used in planning of a felony.This act was put in butt to address the shortcomings of the law that dont deal with modern technology (Shinder & Cross, 10). In USA it is a federal crime to advertise or knowingly receive child pornography. The child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) expanded the definition of child pornography to any visual impression of sexually explicit behavior in which the production involved the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. This has made it illegal to distribute and access child pornography on the internet (Shinder & Cross, 16).The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has also developed a cyber program to deal with cyber threats. Over the years, the FBI has developed a Cyber Division whose main culture is to address cyber crime. It has industrious the use of highly specialiazed personnel made up of agents and analyst who are able to identify cyber crimes. They have also employed the use of state-of-the-art-technology and resources to deal with this menace. Partnerships have also been developed with the Department of defense mechanism and Homeland Security which enable them to share information on cyber crime.The Cyber Crime Treaty Preferred Approach It has become clear that a well-developed network of international cooperation is required to fight cyber crime, due to its ever changing nature. I think an international Cyber crime treaty is the best solution. Many countries have united their anti- cybercrime efforts through a proposed treaty known as the form on Cyber crime. Australia, Canada, Japan, USA and 43 member nations in the Council of europium were involved in the drafting process.The Cyber crime Treaty is an internationally reliable law, which has made it easier to get help and bear witness from other countries to prosecute remote nationals within the country (Shinder & Cross, 548). The treaty has three features, whose target is to set sanctioned cyber law standards for all nations. First, it requires all nations to outlaw unauthorized usage of protected computer the usage of a computer to commit fraud, computer infringement (piracy), distribution of child pornography or terrorism.Secondly, it is a requirement to regulate procedures used to capture and retrieve information online. There is also fill to capture the origin and time of all traffic on all networks. Thirdly, national governments are required to cooperate and share electronic evidence across boarders. This is the most effective means by which cyber criminals can be deterred as they wont find refuge in any country (Shinder & Cross, 548). Conclusion Even though cyber crime is getting the realization it deserves, it is not going to be maintained easily.It is actually more likely that perpetrators will continue upgrading and developing so as to stay ahead of the kee n-sighted arms of the law. It therefore becomes very important for governments and organizations to keep consulting and coming up with more advanced and updated methods of detecting and dealing with cyber crime, in order to curb this ever growing menace. Works Cited Computer Crime Research Center. Legislation. Web August 17, 2010 from, http//www. crime- research. org/legislation/ Shinder Debra L. & Cross Michael. Scene of the cybercrime. Burlington, MA Syngress Publishing, Inc, 2008