Understanding the Computer Criminal

• NCJ Number: 150176
• Journal: Security Awareness Bulletin Issue: 1-94 Dated: (March 1994) Pages: 13- 16
• Author(s): N S Hibler; J Christy
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 4 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: A paper presented at the Department of Defense Computer Crime Conference, Monterey, Calif., 1993.

Annotation

This article explains the formation of a nationally based study of computer crime, the nature of information collected, and the nature of computer criminals in four case examples.

Abstract

The research committee for Project Slammer decided to establish a research base from cases that showed intentional malice and those that manifested the newest violation technologies. The research effort is a collaboration between a variety of disciplines, each working closely with the other to build a better understanding of computer crime, how to prevent it, and how to investigate it. Case summaries show some of the information that has been assessed. One case is an example of low-tech computer crime, in which a U.S. soldier with little computer knowledge defected to a foreign nation, taking a standard lap top computer and two floppy disks that contained sensitive information. The second case involved a youthful offender who was able to conduct sophisticated computer violations that resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage. The major reasons for this offender's illegal activity included curiosity and intellectual challenge. The third case involved a co-conspirator of the subject in the second case. He had a history of delinquent behavior and was proud of his disruptive computer penetrations that resulted in cancellations of garbage and water services, passing along telephone numbers of those targeted to other hackers, and interrupting operating systems by removing entry access to authorized users. The fourth case also involved a youthful offender who illegally penetrated computer systems. Ego needs were apparently the main motive for the computer crimes, although he professed the hope that his computer penetrations would yield fraud opportunities or recruitment by some foreign or domestic power for his computer talents. These case studies are important because of what they reveal about offenders' motives and situational factors that facilitate or deter computer crime.