Access To A Computer example essay topic

More definitions of computer fraud: any traditional crime that has acquired a new dimension or order of magnitude through the aid of a computer, and abuses that have come into being because of computers; o any financial dishonesty that takes place in a computer environment; o any threats to the computer itself, such as theft of hardware or software, sabotage and demands for ransom. The reason for not classifying the computer crime as a "Crime" 1. It could be argued that computer crime is not a unique offense but rather a novel means of committing a more traditional offense. Consequently, many computer crimes are prosecuted under such traditional criminal statutes as wire fraud and destruction of property. 2.

While existing criminal statutes are sufficiently generic to prosecute many computer-related offenses, these statutes are incomplete. For example, some offenses - such as unauthorized access to a computer to permit "electronic browsing" - are unique to computers and difficult to prosecute 3. Under traditional criminal statutes. These offences typically target the computer in which proprietary information is stored and generally can be accessed, altered, stolen, or sabotaged without the perpetrator being physically present or without resorting to the use of force. Preventive measures: 1. Difficulties in prosecuting computer-related criminal activity arise because much of the property involved is intangible (in the form of magnetic impulses) and does not mesh well with traditional theft or larceny statutes.

This problem was compounded by "the advent of hackers & who have been able to access (trespass into) both private and public computer systems, sometimes with potentially serious results". Extension of computer-related crime beyond the traditional notions of fraud to other "related activity in connection with computers" by establishing six new offenses: 1 knowingly accessing a computer without authorization to obtain national security data 2 intentionally accessing a computer without authorization to obtain certain confidential financial information 3 intentionally accessing a government computer thereby "affecting the use of the government's operation of such computer 4. improperly accessing financial information. Review of the case documents indicates that ten cases involved 5. credit card fraud or altering credit histories to obtain bank loans improperly. The remaining two cases involved the theft / embezzlement of monies from a financial institution. Again, because the pecuniary loss in these cases was readily quantifiable, the Working Group found that the existing fraud guideline adequately addressed the offence conduct. Some reports from which confirm the severity of computer fraud: Of the remaining 12 defendants, five were convicted of accessing a government computer and affecting its use improperly accessing a computer to obtain criminal history information from the National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) system for re-sale; improperly accessing a computer to monitor an ongoing criminal investigation; improperly accessing a computer to use e-mail; and programming a computer to delete personal information upon the defendant's resignation from organization. government computer information to browse the system, a violation of subsection six defendants were convicted of trafficking stolen telephone access passwords Of these latter defendants, the Loss caused by the use of the stolen telephone access passwords was readily Quantifiable.

Punishments: . Finally, the Working Group found that the penalty imposed generally was proportional to the type of offense committed. The sentences imposed according to the defendant's motivation. While the average sentence imposed was 6.8 months imprisonment, the data indicate that defendants who committed the least serious offenses (i. e., browsing computer systems, demonstrating computer prowess, or committing minor vandalism) were placed on probation; defendants who committed fraud, theft, or embezzlement were sentenced to an average of seven months imprisonment; and defendants who affected the administration of justice or committed industrial espionage were sentenced, on average, to 17.3 months imprisonment.