NCJ Number
197384
Journal
Crime & Justice International Volume: 18 Issue: 65 Dated: September 2002 Pages: 5,6,24,26
Date Published
September 2002
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the types of cybercrime.
Abstract
Cybercrime falls into three categories: (1) a computer is the target of criminal activity; (2) the computer is the tool used or is integral to the commission of the crime; and (3) the computer is only an incidental aspect of the crime. Cybercrime is a relatively new phenomenon. Services such as telecommunications, banking and finance, transportation, electrical energy, water supply, emergency services, and government operations rely completely on computers for control, management, and interaction among themselves. Cybercrime would be impossible without the Internet. Most American businesses maintain WWW sites and over half of them conduct electronic commerce on the Internet. The rise in popularity of the Internet for both private persons and businesses has resulted in a corresponding rise in the number of Internet-related crimes. Since January 2002, InterGov has received 1.4 million criminal and civil complaints concerning cyber crime related activities. Global cybercrime is not a priority for most police departments because of scarce resources, insufficient training, fear of technology, lack of public outcry, and the police culture itself. The types of cybercrime involving computers as the target of criminal activity include computer network break-ins, industrial espionage, and computer sabotage. The types of cybercrime involving computers playing an integral part in the commission of the crime include cyberstalking, cyberfraud, software piracy, identity theft, and child pornography. Cybercrime is a global problem that costs an estimated $50 billion annually. The number of victims and cost of cybercrime is sure to rise with the number of Internet users expected to reach 900 million by 2004. 27 endnotes