CyberCrime

Nicco M., Skylar Wilburn, Ronniere Whaley, William Brennan, Corinne Mooney

Looking Through the Window of Cyber Crime

(crime)

Proof of Cyber Crime
 * 1) Proof of Cyber Crime
 * 2) Causes of Cyber Crime
 * 3) Effects of Cyber Crime
 * 4) Future of Cyber Crime
 * 5) Possible Solutions of Cyber Crime

Cyber crime is one of the most prevalent crimes occurring in the modern day society. This includes spam, harassment, fraud and even cyber terrorism as well as other smaller categories. Fraud is a wide category of crime including identity theft, bank fraud, as well as extortion (Wiki). Credit card fraud makes up twenty-six percent of identity theft. Utilities fraud and bank fraud make up eighteen percent and seventeen percent respectively. Employment, loan, and government fraud make up the other thirty-nine percent (Spendonlife). Besides the statistics, here are some documented cases of cybercrime. The Yahoo website was attacked by someone by the username of MafiaBoy on Monday, February 7, 2000 at 10:30 PST. The attack lasted for three hours. Yahoo was pinged at the speed of one gigabyte a second. He was also documented attacking Amazon.com, EBay, and the dell computer system (Wiki). MafiaBoy pleaded not guilty to 66 counts of cybercrime. Close to fifty computers at Stanford University, along with computers in the University of California was part of the computers sending pings in the DDos attacks (Wiki). “ In Australia alone, an estimated 10 percent of computers are infected with malware. (CNN)” "At current trends, in three or four years people will start to think twice about transacting on the Web, individuals and businesses (CNN)," More and more of internet spam is containing malware in other words malicious software a 900 percent increase has been recorded from the previous year. Malware are the viruses that search through your computer for your bank and personal information many times without alerting the computer owner. Americans have less malware due to less broadband penetration compared to other countries. Cyber criminals tend to attack individuals who spend time on social networking sites so they can send spam or malware to the victim’s friends (Wiki). We have seen a rise in scareware this past year, scare ware is the type of malware that tells you you have a virus then asks you to download the antivirus software for it, but in actuality the antivirus software is the virus. Just this past year Symantec reported forty- three million attempts to install scarware (CNN). You can find malware anywhere you go the internet, though most malware you find will be related to current events and celebrity news (CNN). One of the most alarming attacks this past year were on U.S. government sites, including the White House, New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. These attacks were all triggered by the same botnet, a large collection of computers sending malware e-mails to the same IT systems and overwhelming it (CNN). North Korea was the primary suspect in the attack. Vice president of threat research at MacAfee Dmitri Alperovicth suggested that it ”could have been to test the impact of flooding South Korean networks and the transcontinental communications between the U.S government, which in turn would give them a significant advantage in case of an attack(CNN).” “The attack highlights the problem of security on the Internet, a transnational attack using commercial services and tens of thousands of personal computers. To fight the attacks would take strong local and international laws on cyber security, a great deal of cooperation among commercial providers and effective systems to report the crimes, none of which is happening today (CNN).” Do to the increasing popularity in the IPhone, cybercriminals are now targeting the owners of these IPhones and the private information stored within them (CNN). Another important category of cyber crime is drug trade over the Internet. Buying and dealing illegal drugs over the Internet are more secure and safe compared to meeting face to face. In addition some drug recipes that in the past were kept secret are now readily available for anyone that has access to the Internet (Wiki). Harassment is also a problem over the internet. This includes cyber bullying, stalking, hate crime, online predators and pedophiles. When on the computer and making any untruthful distortion of fact deliberately intended make another person do something that would cause themselves loss. For example somebody steals your identity and withdraws money from your bank account which is identity theft a small category of fraud. In general cyber crime is you do over the internet that illegal any crimes committed that targets a person’s personal information and any crime that is carried through over the Internet such as drug trade. [| To view more proof of cyber crime click here.]

Causes of Cyber Crime

Over the past few years many crimes have occurred, but one with many victims is cyber crime. Cyber crime involves suspects to partake in the ability of filching small information from victims without them even knowing until afterwards or not even at all. One of the most famous cyber crimes is identity theft. Identity theft is when someone engages in unlawful activities in another name by doing things such as credit card fraud or even stealing the entire identity. The FBI has been so frustrated they even took it into their own hands.

On November 4, 2004, Washington Post wrote an article on the FBI pursuing more cyber related crime cases. Stated in the article the FBI acknowledges the fact that a suspect of a technology company was convicted of hiring hackers to attack a competitor’s Web site. In a recent case, a federal grand jury indicted Saad ‘Jay’ Echouafni, 37, the former chief executive of Sudbury, Mass.-based Orbit Communication Corp., on charges of hiring the hackers to take down the Web sites of a large television services company called weaknees.com. (Krebs) These attacks made the FBI evaluate the case some more and concluded that the company’s Web site temporarily shut down allowing no one to access anything. This attack was devastating to the economy causing almost $2 million in damage. The FBI also says that the suspect disappeared and was never found.

Stated in an article from Bizjournals.com certain people actually believe that cyber crime rapidly grows constantly. There are some people who know the malfunctions of using technology. Becoming a technology user someone puts themselves at fault for danger with such a statement as:Like everything, computers, and the Internet have their drawbacks ranging from fears resulting from a lack of human contact to the inability to protect our children from the outside world, the association says on its Web site (www.naiw.org). Cyber Crime is becoming increasingly prevalent. Cyber thieves attempt to assume identities, commit credit card fraud, alter Web sites and maliciously destroy online users by setting loose viruses aimed at destroying hardware and software. (Schmitt)Cyber crime has become a major threat to our society. Such crimes are exploited everywhere on the internet exposing illegal actions. Certain illegal actions can be anything ranging from cyber pornography to encryption e-mails. The growth of technology has flip side to it causing multiple problems in everyday life. Internet has provided a medium for the facilitation of crimes like pornography.(Sadha) Pornography is spreading worldwide through the internet. So many people enjoy watching porn for the sole reason that it is easier to download onto a CD or hard drive. Pornographic materials can be reproduced more quickly and cheaply on new media like hard disks, floppy discs and CD-Roms. The new technology is not merely an extension of the existing forms like text, photographs and images.(Sadha) Such a demise to our society exists solemnly in shadows. A crime like this cannot be stopped by just one group but we must all work together to solve the problem.Many people might assume the reason a computer is used could be because of a school project, Facebook, Myspace, e-mail, or sometimes hold data. These may be opinions but the only capable reasons for a computer are storing memory, computers are easy to access, computers are complex, negligence, and loss of evidence. Certain things are curious to the minds of young children and teenagers and when things get too curious crimes are committed. The simple reason for this type of delinquent behaviour pattern in children is seen mostly due to the inquisitiveness to know and explore the things.(Pati) Pakistanis commit cyber crime all the time just to prove a point about politics. The Pakistanis are said to be one of the best quality hackers in the world. They mainly target the Indian government sites with the purpose to fulfil their political objectives.(Pati) Cyber crime has even gone to the peak of trying to expose a person to anger or hatred. Defamation is consistent in the cyber world and this explains why. It is an act of imputing any person with intent to lower the person in the estimation of the right-thinking members of society generally or to cause him to be shunned or avoided or to expose him to hatred, contempt or ridicule. Cyber defamation is not different from conventional defamation except the involvement of a virtual medium.(Pati)

(new)

In conclusion, the computer might be one of the most profound technological instruments in modern time, but it also has its downfalls. People are capable of creating new worlds through technology. By giving information to a certain site could put a life in danger and possibly many people may suffer from one unpredictable decision. As of right now, cyber crime is an issue that can only be solved in the mere future. The only real thing we can do is try to sustain such a tragedy as long as we can.

The Effects of Cyber Crime

Cyber crime also known as cyber terrorism has been on the rise since the invention of computers. The economy has been affected by the crime severely. Computers that have been damaged beyond repair have to be replaced. Extra protection has to be added to prevent lose of valuable information. This has effected the technological community financially, emotional, and physical. If you do not alert authorities at the first indication of cyber crime you could be put in a large financial predicament. “Victims of cyber crimes have spent years paying for the actions of a cyber criminal. The idea of your identity being taken can cause emotional harm such as shock, depression, and other conditions along these lines.” (Krisfalusy)

The emotional effects fraud can have on a victim are perhaps the most troubling. In comparison to victims of violent crimes, they're susceptible to many stress-related complications and psychological problems. When fraud evolves into an even more damaging crime such as identity theft, many victims find it difficult to recover from the financial loss. If they were baited into a scam, they may feel as if they not only lost their money, but their sense of security, self-esteem and dignity as well. “ Not in all cases does Cyber crime take place on the keys of a com puter, some Cyber criminals steal information from the victim ’ s belonging s in their homes, garbage and physical contact. When Cyber criminal s are in your house there is a possibility that they are equipped to commit more than one crime leaving you vulnerable for physical harm.” (McConnell International) As a computer user you are at risk of cyber crime no matter how you look at it, the only prevention would be to not use a computer.

(winning)

“Having to buy extra protection for computer and monitor the websites you visit has terrified those who need a computer to do business and carry out their rituals. Companies and organizations have to hire extra Internet Terrorism Specialist or ITS to help prevent cyber criminals from hacking into computers to steal information and or putting fatal viruses on computers.” (Chai) Cyber crime can also affect internet-based businesses. Like brick and mortar retailers and service providers, most websites that produce income (whether by advertising, monetary exchange for goods or paid services) could stand to lose money in the event of downtime created by cyber criminals.

Steve Krisfalusy says that “Employees are 95% of the problem when it comes to cyber crime.” Without protection, any business is likely to fraud especially common forms of online check tampering, credit card abuse, database, and personal information theft. Employees have access to a wealth of company information that can be used for theft. They can use this information to steal your customers and/or steal their information and then use that information for their own personal gain. For instance they can use the credit cards for personal purchases and sell that information to others. There is a problem with website altering that compromise website’s credibility. Cyber criminals gain access to a company’s databases allowing them to create and control the information that the customer sees and the information that the company receives. (DeWalt) Many people come in contact with these criminals, give personal information, and fall victims to identify theft. Some common types of fraud include automobile insurance, ' insurance, medical insurance, the welfare system, government contracts, used cars, prize drawings, and social engineering.

media type="custom" key="5462807"

The fact that computers are being infected to this degree means that companies must have to replace these wrecked computers with new ones putting them in a financial set back. People enter the black market involuntarily by file sharing and illegal downloading, despite it being free. In reality this black market is growing and the more often you enter these website the more your computer is in danger. Cyber crime can weaken a whole country’s economy and resources, making it easy for a military attack. “According to Niccolai (2000) hacking is cost $ 1.2 billion of the global economy. Also, hacking caused many bankruptcy of many companies because they loss the customer trust in the security ability of the company.” (McConnell International)

The Future of Cyber Crime

The crime on the internet is going to be a horrible issue in the years to come. This is not only a problem in the United States but is also a worldwide issue. In Taiwan, “the average length of time Taiwanese spend on the internet is at least two hours each day, which leaves a lot of time for hackers to steal confidential information.” (“Hicks”) This will become more of a problem with the advancement in our society’s technology. Today this problem is already detrimental enough with the technology we have now and our knowledge will become greater in the future. Many problems might rise in the future, which may cause a conflict between countries from anywhere in the world. This could cause a war or hatred between different countries. Cyber Crime can happen anywhere where there is connection with an internet or wifi. This crime can be used on many different devices, such as cell phones, computers, lab tops, pagers, and much more. (“Paller”) These devices can do this because they have the ability to get connection with the internet. A hacker is, “a microcomputer user who attempts to gain unauthorized access to proprietary computer systems.” (“Hacker”) These are the people who cause many of these problems to happen. Many of these people are highly educated and have a lot of knowledge about computers. The hackers are also most likely young in-between the ages 12 to 17. (“Hicks”) They know how to trick people to get what they want from them. Many times they steal others identities from them or others organizations. Hackers can cause problems in the world that should never be cause but due to people’s ignorance it could happen in the near future. According to Hicks, China’s administrative web in Maoming City has received many cyber attacks. These attacks have a high cost and shut down the systems which causes down time. “Hackers hack into operating systems and expose vulnerabilities in control servers. They have been able to crack the system password, launch denial-of-service attacks, take over the server upload process and tamper with databases and page codes. We have been tackling the problem in the following ways. The first is to strengthen the information security system. Second, to increase user awareness of information security. This involves training network administrators regularly, so that we know how to cope with an attack. We also ensure that we have the most up-to-date security settings and that users change their passwords regularly.” (“Hicks”) This is an example of how cyber crime have even effected major administrations. These problems can be prevented in the future. Many organizations are already formed to prevent cyber crime issues from happening. There are groups already involved and trying to prevent cyber crime but that is a select few. If more countries get organizations, such as CSIS in Canada (“Meekis”), HKCERT in Hong Kong, NCERT in Taiwan, and the CICT in the Philippines (“Hicks”), the cyber world will be much safer and the crime rates would go down tremendously. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is an FBI based unit. This unit has many issues based on cyber crime but is not only for cyber crime. (“Canada’s”) In the Philippines they are trying to prevent cyber crime. “The Commission on Information and Communications Technology is pushing for the passage of an Anti-Cybercrime Bill patterned after the Convention on Cybercrime by the Council of Europe.” (“Hicks”) The organizations in the close future should try to start to teach and update how to prevent people from hacking in on people’s computers. One major thing these organizations need to do is to inform hackers that if they get caught the punishment will be dreadful. (“Meekis”) (cyber-terrorism) The future is not very bright if the world does not react to the crimes now. Much worse events and crimes can happen if the preventing of cyber crime does not end. An example would be if someone stole another countries internet. The Baltic countries had cyber attacks executed by Russia. This happened right after the Soviet Union gave those countries up, so they wanted to give them a little hell because of it. (“Estonia”) Luckily nothing terrible happened in attacks that happened. There can be a point it the future which there would be a power of the internet. That could be very dangerous for the rest of the countries that do not control it. The cyber world is turning in to a new battle field and will stay if not prevented. The world can change drastically if the intelligence and technology gets higher. (“Paller”) If no one tries to put an end to these criminal activities, there will be many more laws and organizations against cyber crime. The penalties and punishments will be much worse and society will crack down on these types of activities. The government and all nations should make laws against cyber crime before it happens. They prevent the sources from succeeding criminal activities. There should be defensive strategies to give knowledge to the people in that are getting hacked to promote prevention. (“Meekis”) The NAC is helping to inform people on how to prevent cyber crime to today’s society. We need to stop this from happening and try to make the best of the world’s society. Cyber crime is a horrible issue and knows how borders it will not stop without strict measures.

media type="custom" key="5462797"

The Solution of Cyber Crime

Cyber crime is a vast category of computer crimes that are easy to perform and almost impossible to detect. Since it is such a new issue, the matter of classifying what is a cyber crime and what is just a moral injustice makes it difficult to set up a legislative system to process these crimes. To complicate matters even more, detecting these crimes after they're done is almost impossible. Some hackers have discovered that they can easily erase the evidence of the crime by use of illegal software after the act is performed (Carter). Cyber crime develops just as quickly as modern technology, and detection and persecution of these criminal acts are becoming increasingly difficult and rare.

Putting a total and complete stop to cyber crime can only mean infringements on public and private computer use, causing controversy all over the world. High security on a computer rarely coincides with easy accessibility, and most users opt for accessibility, essentially setting themselves up for hackers (Carter). Even entire governments are being put at risk, as a new type of warfare has emerged: "Electronic or 'cyber' warfare- hacking into an enemy's computers, jamming radio transmissions, and the like- holds that promise.It can destroy an army's- or even a whole nation's- ability to function, but does not harm human life. (Stauffer)."

Every modern nation is trying to protect their valuable information systems, not only from local hackers, but also from other governments across the world. Russia and China are the most common suspects of hacking into other nations' systems, and they are also the most counteractive when it comes to protecting their own systems. China is taking the intiative, and a proposal is being passed through committee, promising, "...enacting a Network Information Security Law, a basic law that adjusts network information security relations; setting up special network security bodies; creating special technical platforms; and developing online survey and electronic patrol, prevention, and investigative functions ("China")." It is only a small step towards effectively preventing cyber crime, as it is fully possible for hackers to continue their work, despite new laws and restrictions. (mcgruff) Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDOS) attacks are commonly used, even among governments, to shut down multiple computers at once, rendering a system as useless and temporarily without function ("Chinese"). This happened to Estonia, the perpetrator suspected to be its former ruler, Russia. "'Denial of service' attacks, when huge numbers of visitors overwhelm public websites, crippled Estonian government computers ("Mouse")." Cyber warfare can go undetected, despite obvious suspicions, allowing countries to attack weaker nations into subordination. It will require the banding together of countries to prevent this unfair treatment of developing countries, but not all countries are willing to work together to stop this common issue.

It seems almost unfathomable to imagine the end of cyber crime, as it can be seen as naturally going hand-in-hand with developing technology. Systems will have to become much more secure, even at the cost of accessibility and convenience, to prevent unwanted hackers viewing and possibly interfering with your files and information. As Dr. Carter sufficiently states, "Protocols must be developed for law enforcement to address the various categories of computer crime...Without question, law enforcement must be better prepared to deal with the many aspects of computer-related crimes and techno-criminals who commit them." Here is a video of how companies protect themselves from cyber crime.

media type="custom" key="5462763"

Work Cited

Carter, David L. "Computer Crime Categories: How Techno-Criminals Operate." FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, July 1995:21-26. SIRS Governement Reporter. Web. 08 February 2010.

Chai, Ben. "Cyber Crime: The Effects Of Cyber Crime Today." 19 Aug 2009. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.

"China To Introduce Information Security Regulations To Combat Cyber Crimes." Jan 29, 2010. BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Web. 09 Feb 2010.

"A Chinese Ghost In The Machine? Cyberwarfare. (Chinese Cyberwarfare Uncovered)" Apr 4, 2009. The Economist (US) Web. 6 Jan 2010

Crime And Detection. 2 Nov. 2007. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

Cybercrime And Effects On Economy. Purdue University, 25 Aug. 2008. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.

Cyber-Terrorism Threat Rises In Everyday Of Our Lives. July 2009. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

DeWalt, Dave. "No Line Between Cyber Crime And Cyber War." 12 Feb. 2009. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.

Dhaka Plans 10 Years’ Jail For Cyber Crime. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

Ed Gibson- The Future Of Cyber Crime. Computer Weekly Video, 13 May 2008. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.

Global Centre For Securing Cyberspace. Kathy Mac, 29 Sept. 2008. Web. 23 Feb. 2010. 'Hacker." The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing. Denis Howe. web. 19 Jan 2010 Dictionary.com

Hicks, Robin." Winning The War Verse Cybercrime." futuregov. 22 09 2010

"History Of Latvia."Wikipedia. Web. 19 Jan. 2010

Krebs, Brian. "FBI Pursuing More Cyber-Crime Cases." Washington Post. Washington Post, 4 November 2004. Web 21 January 2010.

Krisfalusy, Steve. "CyrberCrime: Part Two -The Effects Of CyberCrime On Your Business." Web. 9 Feb. 2010. "Cyber Crime . . . And Punishment?" McConnell International, Dec. 2000. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.

McGruff, Crime Dog, Goes Cyber. Oliver Ryan. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

Meekis, Laurie."What Does The Future Hold For Cyber Crime And Punishment?" AC

"The Mouse That Roared: Assessing The Threat From Cyber Warfare: How Serious Is The Threat of Cyber Warfare?" Sep 5, 2007. Global Agenda. Web. 6 jan 2010.

New Spam Uses Bomb Hoax And Location Lookup To Spread Malware. Sue Walsh, 9 Mar. 2009. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

Paller, Alan."Predicting The Future Of Cybercrime And Security." The Charted Institute For IT. 2010

Pati, Parthasarathi. "Cyber Crime". Naavi.org. Naavi.org, 3 March 2003. Web 11 February 2010

Sadha, Anusuya. "The Menace Of Cyber Crime." Legalserviceindia.com. Web 11 February 2010

Schmitt, Jane. "Crimes In Cyber Space." Bizjournals.com. Bizjournals.com, 28 May 2008. Web 21 January 2010 (spendonlife.com)/ Identity theft statistics / 2002-2009/Web. January 15 2010 Stauffer, Don. "Electronic Warfare: Battles Without Bloodshed." Futurist Jan/Feb 2000: 23-26, SIRS Researcher. Web. 09 Feb 2010 Vought, Kevin/ (cnn.com)/ cybercrime /December 14, 2009 7:45 p.m. EST/Web. January 15 2010

(wikipedia.org)/ Computer crime /13, January 2010 at 00:58. / Web January 15 2010