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Artificial
intelligence, laptops, PCs, vaxclusters, local area
networks, cobol,
bits, bytes, viruses, and worms. Most people recognize
these words as computer terms. As computers have become
a vital part of the American way of life, computer terminology
has crept into the vernacular. There is no doubt that
computers touch every
aspect of our lives. Well over 80 percent
of daily financial transactions nationwide take place
via electronic
funds transfers. However, many computer systems are
highly vulnerable
to criminal attack. In fact, computer- related
crime costs American companies as much as $5 billion
per year.
When
Bill Gates described computer crime, he likened computer
networks to neighborhoods
and small communities. He said cities and towns are
tied together
by streets, roads, highways, and interstates. Likewise, communities
of computers are linked through local, regional, and
national networks.
Rather than transport food and equipment like highways
do, computer
networks move ideas and information.
Unfortunately,
just as American communities are threatened with drugs
and violent
crime, the Nation's computer networks are threatened
as well. They are
threatened by thieves robbing banks
electronically; they are threatened by vandals spreading
computer viruses;
and they are even threatened by spies breaking into U.S. military systems.
White-collar
crimes in general--and computer crime in particular--are
often difficult
to detect and even more difficult to prosecute because
many times they
leave no witnesses to question and no physical evidence
to analyze. And,
because computer technology is such a rapidly evolving
field, law enforcement
has not yet developed a clear-cut definition of computer
crime. Nevertheless, two manifestations of computer
crime are
obvious:
The first is crime in which the computer is the vehicle
or tool of
the criminal, and second, crime in which the
computer and the information stored in it are the targets
of the criminal. |
