Keywords: Computer crime, viruses, pornography, hackers, phone phreaking

Hackers, phreakers, crackers, nuts, snoops, spammers, spoofers, jammers, trojan horse dealers and weirdos. All of these names apply to individuals who commit computer crime. The FBI has estimated that as much as $5 billion dollars every year is lost to computer crime (Cohen, 1995, p. 2). It is also estimated that 900 million attacks take place on the internet each year. When an individual chooses to commit computer crime he or she breaks federal as well as some state laws. The two main laws in the United States against computer crime are the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, also of 1986 (Judson, 2000, pp. 13-14). The Computer Abuse Amendments Act expanded both of these acts in 1996. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service both serve responsibility for enforcing federal computer crimes. Loss, in a dollar amount, must total at least $5,000 in damage before the FBI will get involved (Conry-Murray, 2002, p. 44), Arkansas state laws on computer crime can be located at Ark. Stat. sec. 5-41-102, 5-41-106 (Boni & Kovacich, 1999, p. 64).

It is amazing to believe, but computer crime began before the internet. The first reported case of computer crime occurred back in 1958, and the first prosecution dates back to 1966 (Judson, 2000, p. 36). So, what exactly is computer crime? Computer crime can be defined as using a computer to unlawfully and willingly breach security to access or steal classified information. It can include unauthorized entry to classified or private websites, the illegal viewing or sharing of child pornography, creating and threatening to send viruses to other people or businesses and scamming people out of money. With the increase of modern day technology, computer crime has also increased. To many, computers serve as a vital part of our daily lives. People often take for granted the convenience it provides. But what people do not realize are the darks shadows lurking in the background.

Perhaps one of the most famous computer crime cases involved David Smith of Monmouth County, New Jersey. He created the well-publicized "Melissa" virus in March of 1999. A virus is defined as a computer software program that attaches itself to one or more other computer software programs to accomplish a result normally outside the common operation of the infected computer software program (www.cybercrime.gov/meliinfo.htm, 2002). This particular virus was created to evade anti-virus software and infect computers that used certain word processor programs. It lowered the security components of the word processing programs making them more vulnerable to virus infection. It also caused computers to send e-mails with the "Melissa" virus to the first fifty addresses in the computers address book. Starting an infected program only generates more copies of the virus. The virus code often causes a lot of damage including erasing files or the entire hard drive (Denning & Denning, 1998, p. 83). This virus infected over one million computers and caused over $80 million in damages (www.cybercrime.gov/meliinfo.htm, 2002). Mr. Smith was sentenced to 20 months of jail time and fined $5,000. He was also ordered to stay away from computer networks or the internet unless authorized by the court.

The terms hacker and cracker have similar meanings, but they differ in motivation. They are simply defined as a person who illicitly breaks into other people’s computer systems (Wall, 2001, p. 61). Hackers usually work underground, while crackers choose to mainly work in the security industry. Hackers are thrill seekers who spend the majority of their time learning how systems work at a deep level. They then use this information to surf the information superhighway and find some excitement. Hackers are not a very secretive society. In fact, they have bulletin boards for sharing information, regular meetings, and a quarterly hacker magazine (Cohen, 1995, p. 59). Crackers are professional thieves and criminals who steal through illegally accessing information. Crackers actually break into the systems that they have learned how to penetrate. Good examples of crackers include stealing credit card numbers or telephone access codes for resale.

Recently, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill that would allow life prison sentences for malicious computer hackers (http://new.com.com/2100-1001-944057.html, 2002). This bill, which is called the computer crime bill, allows the police to eavesdrop on telephone conversations and internet use. In response to increasing electronic intrusions and cyber-terrorism, the Bush administration has asked congress to approve the Cyber Security Enhancement Act or CSEA. This bill also promises life sentences for computer intrusions that would recklessly put others lives at risk. The CSEA would only allow limited surveillance of telephone lines and internet usage to the times where an immediate threat or ongoing threat to national security is present. This bill is not expected to encounter much opposition.

Another huge issue of computer crime involves the use of pornography. The internet offers its viewers with an enormous amount of unlimited free pornography offers. The online pornography industry is one of the fastest growing segments of internet business, but it is also one that includes the most fraud (Schwartau, 2000, p. 207). The internet requires no zoning laws, so pornographic sites may be viewed anywhere internet access is available. Perhaps, the most commonly used method to catch sexual predators on the internet involves the use of law enforcement officials posing as young children in chat rooms and luring adults to sting operations. In an effort to stop pornography, the United States passed the Communications Decency Act in 1996 (Boni & Kovacich, 1999, p. 55). The law basically states that it is illegal to display, comment, request, suggest, propose, image, or communicate in text anything that is lewd or sexual in nature to someone under 18 years of age. The motto of the porn online community simply says if you build a porn site, they will come. Pornography had also been credited with helping the internet grow. In many ways it has helped advance real-time audio and video streams. Back in 1998, there were more than 70,000 active pornographic sites on the internet (Schwartau, 2000, p. 207). Now the number can’t even begin to be estimated.

Pornography is considered the red-light district of the internet. It’s only a click away. It’s also one of the fastest growing segments of the internet. Congress steadily passes legislation concerning pedophiles. Some of the latest laws enacted are geared towards prosecuting adults who knowingly contact children under the age of 18 through the internet for the purpose of sexual activity or sending obscene material (Boni & Kovacich, 1999, p. 56). The United States Customs Service plays a major role in investigating child pornography. Child pornographers use 2 distinct ways to evade the law. Many pedophiles use software to morph or design virtual children. Since this morphed picture isn’t a real child, they figure they aren’t breaking any laws. Actually, this issue has been addressed in some anti-child pornography laws and is against the law in many states. A second method child pornographer’s use is the elusive technique of encryption (Boni & Kovacich, 1999, p. 57). This is a well known technique that allows the hiding of images. The most common form of this is sending someone a picture of a normal object such as a house. Certain parts of the picture can be enlarged enough to reveal child pornography pictures that a normal person wouldn’t even think to look for. This technique dates back hundreds of years.

Another interesting aspect of computer crime is called phone phreaking. People who commit phone phreaking stay busy breaking into telephone switching systems and making phone calls around the world without paying much for them (Boni & Kovacich 1999, p. 81). Before there were hackers, there were phone phreaks. They specialize in telecommunications hacking. John Draper, a.k.a. "Cap’n Crunch", is credited as the first phone phreak. He discovered that a whistle that came with his box of Cap’n Crunch cereal was a perfect match for the 2,600-hertz tone used by the telephone companies switching board (Hafner & Markoff, 1991, p. 19). Blue boxes, a device that mimicked the phone switching system’s 2,600 hertz tone, could release phone circuits and free long distance calls could be made to anywhere in the world. Steve Wozniak and Steven Jobs, the founders of Apple computer, made homemade blue boxes in their undergraduate years and sold them at the price of eighty dollars each (Judson, 2000, p. 67). By the mid 1970’s, AT&T estimated that it was losing $30 million a year to telephone fraud (Hafner & Markoff, 1991, p. 19). By 1998, telephone fraud was estimated at costing between $4 and $8 billion annually (Judson, 2000, p. 67). Another prevalent form of phreaking includes wireless phreaking. The act of thieves stealing exact duplicates, or "clones" of cell phones is called cloning. When you make a cell phone call, your voice is broadcasted with identifying information. People professionally scan these calls, store the information, and then phreak engineers program new chips with your information on it. The end result is huge phone bills that are billed directly to you (Schwartau, 2000, p. 42).

Stealing credit information also encompasses a lot of computer crime. Crackers who steal credit card numbers are referred to as carders (Judson, 2000, p. 69). All it takes to place an order online is the card number, expiry date, name and address. This information can be easily obtained by a thrown away credit card voucher. A wise man once said, a fool and his money are soon parted. A writer to Wired magazine added that the internet just makes it quicker and easier (Wall, 2001, p. 22). Credit reports are supposed to be very private, but credit companies will sell your information to sellers of just about anything. In 1997, Visa reported $490 million lost to fraud (Judson, 2000, p. 69). Smak, the code-name of a man who arranged to sell a CD-ROM encrypted with 100,000 stolen credit card numbers, was indicted on three counts of computer crime and two counts of trafficking in stolen credit cards. He pleaded guilty on four counts and Visa estimated that he caused over $1 billion in damages (Judson, 2000. pp. 69-70). The average American and some kind of information about him or her is stored within about 50,000 computers everyday and is bartered, exchanged, sold, or updated about ten times a day (Schwartau, 2000, p. 87). It takes a tremendous effort to steal credit card numbers, expiration dates and the name of the card off the internet. Most thieves just prefer the old dumpster diving method. Most experts recommend people buy stuff off the internet. The encryption techniques that most companies use are enough to ward off most hackers. Credit Master, a free downloadable program, generates endless streams of credit card numbers for hundreds of banks worldwide (Schwartau, 2000, p. 209). The only thing this program will not do is generate expirations dates or names. This is ok though, because many institutions do not check the validity of the card. They just want the number. Generally, the victim of credit card fraud is only liable for $50.

One study estimated that an unprotected computer on a broadband connection to the internet will be taken over within 24 hours, with over a dozen more attempts registered in the same time period (Dolinar, 2002, p. A46). It is scary to think about how vulnerable your personal information is. Anyone with a little hacker experience can completely ruin your credit, as well as your life. Constant legislation is being passed which tries to protect you, the consumer. Current estimates conclude that there are currently 2.2 million direct service lines and 4.7 million cable modems with an annual growth rate at around fourteen percent (Dolinar, 2002, p. A46). Experts advise homeowners to install personal firewalls, use anti-virus software and update the virus definitions often and be on the lookout for your operating systems security fixes and patches. They also advise homeowners not to stay connected to the internet for extended periods of time. Also, try to use nonstandard e-mail programs that are typically not targets for hackers. Some experts have stated that the security risks for home personal computers have gotten so bad that it threatens the future of the internet. Internet surveillance and restricting the free flow of information on networks will probably be some of the first steps in combating computer crime. Whatever the case, computer crime will only continue to increase. The wealth of information available to anyone on the internet teaches individuals how to hack, invent worms and viruses and steal credit card numbers and information. The first amendment protects these web pages and can not attempt to censor them. Simply stated, the worldwide web is and has been a great addition to human society. It has almost become a household necessity. To restrict access, or simply put an end to the internet due to computer crime would not only hurt our economy, it would also hinder human civilization.

References

Boni, William C., & Kovacich, Gerald L. (1999). I-way robbery: Crime on the internet. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Cohen, Frederick B. (1995). Protection and security on the information superhighway. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Conry-Murray, Andrew. (2002, April). Deciphering the cost of a computer crime—Security breaches cost money, but just how much can be a guessing game-Especially if you take the perpetrator to court. Network Magazine, 44.

Denning, Dorothy E, & Denning, Peter J. (1998). Internet besieged: Countering cyberspace scofflaws. Berkeley, California: ACM Press.

Dolinar, Lou. (2002, January 15). Hackers turn to the home front; Experts: More Believe individuals being targeted. Newsday, p. A46

Hafner, Katie, & Markoff, John. (1991). Cyberpunk: Outlaws and hackers on the computer frontier. New York: Touchstone.

Judson, Karen. (2000). Computer crime: Phreaks, spies, and salami slicers. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers.

McCullagh, Declan. (2002, July). House oks life sentences for hackers. Available: http://news.com.com/2100-1001-944057.html

Schwartau, Winn. (2000). Cybershock: Surviving hackers, phreakers, identity thieves, internet terrorists and weapons of mass disruption. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press.

Wall, David S. (2001). Crime and the internet. New York: Routledge.

(2002, September). Information in United States of America v. David Smith. Available: http://www.cybercrime.gov/meliinfo.htm

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