Computer Crime is one of the world's leading crimes for today, as it affects not only civilian population, but also industry and governments. Understanding some of the areas of concern can assist enforcement of the law and apprehension of the criminal element that utilize computers and networks to perpetrate criminal activity.
"Computer Crime also known as Cyber crime, E-crime, Electronic crime and Hi-Tech crime"("Computer Crime", n.d.), is defined as "criminal activity were a computer or network is the source, tool, target or place of a crime." ("Computer Crime", n.d.) The majority of computer crime is conducted from some type of information technology infrastructure. Common types of cyber criminal activity include; cyber attack, child pornography, internet fraud, cyber terrorism, cyber stalking, and identity theft.
Cyber attacks have been increasing at an alarming rate since the rapid growth of the Internet. "Cyber attacks can take many forms, including malware, phishing, and denial of service, hacking and information warfare." ("Computer Crime", n.d.)
"Malware is a portmanteau of the words "malicious and software", and is designed to infiltrate and damage a computer system." ("Malware", n.d.) Common examples of malware is viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, adware and root kits
Phishing is another cyber attack that has been a continue menace to the public and industry. "Phishing is an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information." ("Phishing", n.d.), Criminals use spam, fake websites, instant messaging and emails masquerading as trustworthy sources to obtain sensitive information, such as usernames and passwords. This information is then used to open bogus bank accounts, credit cards and PayPal accounts and defraud the victims monetarily as well as ruining credit ratings.
Denial of service attacks, also known as, "DoS attack", "is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users." ("Denial-of-Service...