Computer Crime, also known as cybercrime, is the use of a computer as an instrument to commit illegal acts, such as committing fraud, trafficking in child pornography and intellectual property, stealing identities, or violating privacy.
Three (3) common types of computer crime are child pornography, credit card theft and identity theft.
Child pornography is a form of child sexual exploitation. Federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (persons less than 18 years old). Images of child pornography are also referred to as child sexual abuse images
“The expansion of the Internet and advanced digital technology, can be traced to the explosion of the child pornography market. Child pornography images, are readily available all over the Internet even without searching for it through a search engine. Child pornography are strewened all over Internet technology, including social networking websites, file-sharing sites, photo-sharing sites, gaming devices, and even mobile apps. Child pornography offenders can also connect on Internet forums and networks to share their interests, desires, and experiences abusing children, in addition to selling, sharing, and trading images”.
An typical organization that was impacted by child pornography is the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), created in May 1998 with headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, USA; which purpose is to protect children from child sexual exploitation, child pornography, and child abduction. A common occurrence is sexting and filming among minors.
Credit card theft or Credit card fraud refers to using a credit card to obtain money or goods fraudulently. Thieves may steal a credit card, copy the number off a credit card, or take over a victim’s account and have the credit card mailed to their (the criminal’s) address.
“Credit card fraud can occur when unauthorized users gain access to an individual’s credit card information in order to make purchases, other transactions, or open new accounts”.
An example of one organisation that was impacted by this crime, is the United States banking system which fell to one of the biggest credit card fraud committed by a gang of eighteen criminals from New York, who managed to steal $200 million before being stopped. They exploited the banking loan facility system and did a three (3) step scam against America’s major credit agencies by creating 1) false profiles, and using black market businesses to provide fake credit histories for these false profiles. 2) With perfect credit scores for their fake identities, they would apply for large loans and credit cards with high limits. 3) Monies from these cards were spent on sham companies who laundered the cash.
“The FBI shut the scam down in 2013 and 18 people were jailed on charges of defrauding both banks and the United States. The longest sentence handed down was 30 years”.
However the technology and security measures behind credit cards are now more sophisticated, making it harder for criminals to steal money.
Another popular case was the hacking of the TJX organisation (TJ Maxx) in 2007, with about 40 million credit cards details stolen, resulting in about $1 billion theft. The TJX system, didn’t have any firewalls.
The third type, is Identity theft which occurs, when a criminal uses someone else’s personal information to assume their identity or access their accounts for the purpose of committing fraud, receiving benefits, or gaining financially in some way.
“Identity crime can also be defined as the crime of obtaining the personal or financial information of another person to use their identity to commit fraud, such as making unauthorized transactions or purchases. Identity theft is committed in many different ways and its victims are typically left with damage to their credit, finances, and reputation”.
An example of one organisation that was impacted by this crime was a large software company in Reno, Nevada, Texas. Kenneth Gibson worked as an IT professional for this organisation between 2012 – 2017 and he ended up stealing $3.5 million from his victims.
He stole people’s identities and opened a fake PayPal account for about 8000 identities with a program he designed. He would then use the stolen identities to apply for credit accounts linked to the established accounts and then make transfers to those fake PayPal accounts and make withdrawals from his ATM debit card.
The impact of computer crime, quantified in all these three situations, could be very devastating for businesses which in turn affects the economy of any nation where these crimes are commited.
The cost of researching and upgrading, to modern techniques of combating the risks associated with cybercrime, is an evolving science. Data protection and reducing cybercrime impact have become one of the biggest challenges private companies, organisations and governments face. Research shows that the global cost of cybercrime is approaching $600 billion every year.
The major impact of cybercrime on the economy, can be global in scale and affect those countries that are targeted adversely. Cyber crime’s most significant impacts include financial and economic hardship, loss of critical intellectual property and sensitive data, and loss of revenue from diminished international trade
“Cybercrimes can cause major financial damages in various forms: Breached security may result in the loss of businesses since your customers no longer trust you as a security brand. Loss of competitive advantage, for example, if your pricing strategy is leaked to competitors”.
Since the global pandemic in 2020, an increase in cyberattacks was noticed, and reported by FBI to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3); that a spike in cyber-incidents has occurred although cybercrime was already on the rise over previous years.
From the above, you can note that an evolving threat landscape, adoption of new technologies, and a lack of experience is what puts most companies at risk.
These challenges are by no means a contemporary problem, but the way organizations reacted and worked to improve their cyber response is yielding results. The only draw back is the huge cost to counter these rising menace in terms of software, man and machine!
References:
i) justice.gov
ii) wikipedia.org
iii) Google.com
iv) uswitch.com
v) investopedia.com
vi) phonexia.com
vii) kensington.com
