Pace

McGriff
Julia Ellis
CJ 1010
December
10, 2014

ePortfolio Link:
http://pacelds.weebly.com/cj1010---intro-criminal-justice.html

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Cyber Crime
Not until very recently in human history has the technology existed for
advanced computer devices. In fact, merely 150 years ago if you were to
explain to a person that you could hold in your hand a Smart Phone with WiFi, camera, video, music, and GPS capability all in one device, they would say
that you are crazy. Modern computer science and technology is accelerating
at breakneck speeds, and becoming ever more sophisticated. In just the past
ten years alone computer technology has increasingly evolved, and has
spread throughout the entire world. Computer technology is available to a
vast amount of people, and is therefore vulnerable to be exploited by
criminal activity.
For this Criminal Justice Term Paper, I have chosen to write about a
modern form of criminal activity, known as Cyber Crimes. This topic is of
great interest to me because I have chosen to pursue a major in the
Computer Science/Information Systems Degree, and will be focusing on
information technology for my future career. I will present the definition of
various Cyber Crimes, tactics of cyber criminals, and strategies to combat
these crimes. All of my sources for this paper are from academic journals
found in the Salt Lake Community College Online Library, and from this
courses textbook, Criminal Justice in Action.
From the textbook, there are three categories for computer crimes: (1)
The computer is the object of a crime, such as when the computer itself or
its software is stolen. (2) The computer is the subject of a crime, just as a

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house is the subject of a burglary. (3) The computer is the instrument of a

crime, as when a person uses a computer to invade someones privacy.
Therefore, cybercrime, occurs online, in the virtual community of the
internet, as opposed to the physical world (p. 583). Now days, the majority
of computer criminals are using their computers as instruments to steal
someones personal information, or sabotage their programs. In simple
terms, computer hackers manipulate the computer programs and their codes
so that the program does not work as it was intended to. By this method,
criminals can steal your personal information which is on your computer,
such as your full name, address, bank account information, credit history,
credit card number, or other personal information that could be valuable.
When a person visits a website there are pieces of code which are
downloaded onto your computer that allow the web servers to track your
content, and this is known as Cookies.
As with any form of technology people have the choice to use it for
good or bad. Unfortunately there are people who choose the bad, and these
criminals are known today as Hackers. In order to use computer technology
for criminal activity, a hacker must first become competent with information
technology skills. The more knowledge a hacker has about using computer
technology the more potentially dangerous they become. From an academic
journal, there is an article written by the three authors, Xu, Hu, and Zhang
who talk about the type of people which choose to become hackers. They
say that Computer hackers start out not as delinquents or as social outcasts

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but as talented students, curious, exploratory, respected, and most

important, fascinated by computers. In a case study which they performed,
they also found that subjects developed an interest in computers early in
life, some as early as elementary school also, our subjects were
exceptionally bright compared to their student peers (Why Computer
Talents Become Computer Hackers). So, we can see that cyber criminals are
very educated with computer technology, and they have learned secrets that
an average person is ignorant of.
In some cases, in order for a person to commit a computer crime they
must tamper with the equipment. For example, from the academic database,
there is a case study written by John McMullan and David Perrier, which is
about criminals tampering with gambling machines. They write, Gambling
machines software and hardware [have] to be disassembled and this
necessitated especially advanced criminal technologies and a criminal
organization capable of executing frequent fraudulent acts. Thus, we can
see that these computer criminals are also organizing themselves into
groups. McMullan and Perrier write that The first criminal technology
required an extensive knowledge of microprocessors, micro-controllers,
hardware, mathematics, and computer programming languages
(Technologies of Crime). In fact, in their article, they explain that the only
way investigators were able to learn these criminal tactics was to get the
details from two perpetrators themselves, after they were taken into custody.
And this is just an example of criminals who target gambling machines.

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Law enforcement officials have the difficult task of fighting these cyber
criminals. As computer hackers get smarter and more sophisticated, so also
must the investigators. From the academic database, the author Dennis
Fisher has written in his article: While obstacles remain, those involved in
the cybercrime fight say there are growing reasons for optimism. Law
enforcement agencies are sharing information more often and more widely
than ever before. Investigators are more experienced. Fisher also talks
about how hackers are advancing in their tactics, saying The schemes are
getting more sophisticated with attacks that plant Trojan horses and
backdoors on users PCs as soon as users open malicious e-mail messages.
These crimes are effecting citizens, businesses, and the criminal justice
system. Fisher says, in 2005, The FBIs budget called for $60 million in
funding to fight cybercrime (Fighting Back). Although, the cybercrime
agency is probably underfunded, and does not have the attention that it
needs. Perhaps there needs to be more people who have training in
information technology skills, but how will they be funded? I believe the FBI
still needs to figure out how to recruit enough people to help combat
cybercrime.
There have been other efforts to combat cybercrime between different
countries. From an academic journal, authors Laura Huey and Richard
Rosenberg have written, On 23 November 2001, the Council of Europe and
non-member states Canada, Japan, South Africa, and the United States
signed the Convention on Cybercrime (CC), an agreement that requires

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participating nations to enact legislation that facilitates investigation and

prosecution of crimes committed through the internet. They also say,
Online, law enforcement agencies employ programs to monitor activities on
the internet. A notable example is the FBIs use of an online surveillance
system called the Carnivore to monitor, intercept, and store e-mail and other
electronic communications of targeted individuals. They explain that some
countries have established databases for law enforcement and national
security agencies to obtain, without court order, internet subscriber and
service provider information Thus, we can see that there are both cyber
criminals, and government agencies, which have access to your personal
online information.
It seems that there is no more privacy on the internet. A person or
business that uses the internet on a daily basis (like most people do) just
have to hope that they are not targeted by a hacker whose intention it is to
violate your information. A person should be careful about the sites they
visit, and the information they give out. You should not give out your
personal information to a website that you are not familiar with, because you
do not know who is on the other side. You would not just give out your
personal information to a total stranger on the streets, but that is actually
what you are doing online. Hackers create fake websites that look like legit
websites, and they trick people into believing it is a safe place, when it is not.
In the future, there have been rumors of cyber warfare, where one country
will try to hack into another countrys database and shut them down. Or who

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know what computer hackers will come up with next to use the internet for
their own motives.
In conclusion, advanced computer technology is rapidly increasing, and
becoming accessible to almost anyone on earth. Because there are so many
people who use computer technology, the exploitation of this technology for
criminal activity is inevitable. Hackers are people who are very educated in
computer technology, and use their education to commit crimes on innocent
people or businesses. There are many sophisticated forms of cybercrime,
which are being combated by FBI agencies, and the cooperation of different
countries. As a result, there is no personal information on the internet that
cannot be viewed by other people, and online privacy is almost non-existent.
It is a good idea to gain a basic education on how to be safer while using
computer technology. The future battle between cyber criminals and law
enforcement has unknown possibilities. We will just have to wait and see
where the technology takes us.

Works Cited

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ZHENGCHUAN, XU, HU QING, and ZHANG CHENGHONG. "Why Computer

Talents Become Computer Hackers." Communications Of The ACM 56.4
(2013): 64-74. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
Fisher, Dennis. "FIGHTING BACK As Cyber-Attacks Soar, An Industry
Mobilizes; Authorities Hone Communications." Eweek 21.23 (2004): 21-22.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
McMullan, John L., and David C. Perrier. "Technologies Of Crime: The CyberAttacks On Electronic Gambling Machines." Canadian Journal Of Criminology
& Criminal Justice 45.2 (2003): 159-186. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10
Dec. 2014.
Huey, Laura, and Richard S. Rosenberg. "Watching The Web: Thoughts On
Expanding Police Surveillance Opportunities Under The Cyber-Crime
Convention." Canadian Journal Of Criminology & Criminal Justice 46.5 (2004):
597-606. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.