NCJ Number
203364
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 30 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2003 Pages: 22,24,27
Date Published
November 2003
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article addresses the problem of cybercrimes and computer terrorism.
Abstract
Computer worms and viruses often command much attention from the media but are far less serious than are targeted attacks on private enterprise computer systems. Cybercrime, a form of organized crime, often results in Fortune 100 companies losing millions of dollars through malicious computer hacking. Funding to fight cybercrime often amounts to less than 1 percent of the Federal law enforcement budget, the article notes that computer experts predict that the law enforcement community is largely unprepared for a wide-scale cyber-attack. Describing an attack on national computer networks or the power grid as a nightmare scenario, the author maintains that most individuals do not realize how dependent they are on computers. Citing the experiences of individuals throughout the Northeast and Midwest who lost power for several days during the summer of 2003, the article contends that a cyber-attack could bring the Nation to a standstill. Although there are no confirmed acts of computer terrorism yet, the FBI and Secret Service are already taking steps to thwart cyber-attacks. State and local police agencies can best combat cyber-terrorism by periodically removing all data from live corporate business system computers and managing it elsewhere. Following a discussion of the weakness of computer crime investigation because of a lack of knowledge of what comprises digital evidence, the author states that training individuals against cyber-attacks is critical and that there is good news in that computer hackers are caught in the United States at much higher rates today, than in the past.