Computer Crimes - the Stats You Need to Know

Running head: Computer Crimes, The Stats You Need To Know

Computer Crimes, The Stats You Need To Know

Author Note:

Table of Contents

Abstract................................................................................................3

Definition of Computer Crime .....................................................................4

Cyber Crime the Past Decade ......................................................................4

The Statistical Increases in Cyber Crime..........................................................5

Global Economic Losses to Cyber Crime .........................................................6

Computer Crime in the United States .............................................................7

Top Ten Computer Crimes in the United States .................................................8

Billions of Dollars Loss in the United States ......................................................8

Global Eye is on Computer Crime ..................................................................9

Combating Computer Crime ........................................................................9

References ...........................................................................................11

Abstract

Imagine sitting at the dinner table at eight o'clock p.m. on a Friday night eating dinner with your spouse and children. The phone rings, it is a manager from a department store in a different time zone calling to verify your home number because you have just opened a line of credit and are making large purchases over the amount of $4,000.00. You are befuddled as to how this can happen and why is it happening to you. Your identity has been stolen! After investigating this crisis, you find out that the thief purchased your identity off a website that stole your information from your banking website. This paper will define computer and cyber crime. The intent of the paper is to educate computer users and make them aware of the amount of cyber and computer crime activity that has taken place over the past decade. The statistics will outline and show the how it is affecting the entire global world. By the end of the paper, the end users will have an idea as to what are the basics of computer and cyber crime, and how to research further information if needed.

Keywords: computer crime, cyber crime, Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

Computer Crimes, The Stats You Need To Know

The National Computer Crime Squad (NCCS) defines computer crimes as "crimes where the computer is a major factor in committing the criminal offense." (Cain) Another definition which is the most detailed definition says "A generalized definition of cyber crime may be " unlawful acts wherein the computer is either a tool or target or both"(3) The computer may be used as a tool in the following kinds of activity- financial crimes, sale of illegal articles, pornography, online gambling, intellectual property crime, e-mail spoofing, forgery, cyber defamation, cyber stalking. The computer may however be target for unlawful acts in the following cases- unauthorized access to computer/ computer system/ computer networks, theft of information contained in the electronic form, e-mail bombing, data didling, salami attacks, logic bombs, Trojan attacks, internet time thefts, web jacking, theft of computer system, physically damaging the computer system." (Pati) With the definition of computer crimes being defined so vaguely, it is easy to see how consumers assume the limitations instead of the limitless crimes that can be placed under this category. My personal definition would be any crime that is committed and has evidence that shows computer usage was a part of the crime. I would name it The Three C's, causing computers to commit crimes.

MacAfee the antivirus mogul shared a report called "A Good Decade for Cyber Crime". This report reflected on the ten years from 2000 to 2010. In the report it gives a brief history of the timeline on the rise and changes in computer crimes. "2000-2003--Notoriety and Personal Challenge." They showed off their skills by temporarily taking down popular websites, such as CNN, Yahoo and E-Bay by flooding them with traffic, known as a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. They also launched widespread attacks aimed at crippling users' computers." (MacAfee, 2011). I would refer to these as the beginning of a certain type of cyber terrorism. It is meant to do two things to gain attention to the perpetrator and install fear in the public or the users. The years of "2004-2005--Lure of Money and Professionalism By this time cyberscammers had proved their skills and it was time to move beyond doing damage and make real money." (MacAfee, 2011) This is when the notorious adware became famous. This is how the hackers committed heinous crimes and made money. "2006-2008--Gangs and discretion- With a growing amount of money at stake, cybercriminals began organizing into gangs. Some even had a Mafia-like structure, with malicious hackers, programmers and data sellers reporting to managers, who in turn reported to a boss who was in charge of distributing cybercrime kits." (MacAfee, 2011). No one would ever know that hackers would form mafia type gangs and cost many countries billions of dollars. The last two years were "2009-2010--Social Networking and Engineering As social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter started to takeoff in the later part of the decade, cybercrooks realized they could get their hands on a wealth of personal information ... With users posting everything from where they lived and worked to their current location, all cybercrooks had to do was virtually interact with users to gain access to their information." (MacAfee, 2011). Social networking sites have been diligently working to keep their users information safe. Cyber criminals are going to continue to do their best to do what they do and that is to commit crimes.

"Online financial cyber crime (hereafter, "cyber fraud"