Trends in Cybercrime

Trends in Cybercrime

Introduction

Everyone is aware of the enormous influence that has reached computers in the daily life of people and organizations, and the importance of progress in the development of a country. Business transactions, communication, industrial processes, research, safety, health, are all aspects that depend increasingly on proper development of computer technology. Today computers are used not only as auxiliary tools to support various human activities, but as an effective means to obtain and gather information, which also places them as a new means of communication, and conditions its development of informatics, technology the essence of which is summarized in the creation, processing, storage and transmission of data. The computer is now present in almost all fields of modern life. With more or less rapidly all branches of human knowledge succumb to technological progress, and begin to use information systems to perform tasks that once performed manually.

Today computerization has been implemented in almost all countries. Both the organization and management of business and government and in scientific research, industrial production or in the studio and even in leisure, the use of computers is sometimes necessary and even desirable. However, with the unquestionable advantages of starting to be some negative aspects, such as what is known as "computer crime" (Cyber citizenship, 2012). Cyber crime is among the fastest developing areas of crime. An increasing number of criminals are taking advantage of the swiftness, ease and secrecy that contemporary technology allows to commit a number of varied criminal activities. Cybercrime comprise of a varied range of illegal activities such as attack against computer systems, data theft, distribution of illegal content, fraud over the internet, intruding financial services, as well as the spreading of viruses to get illegal access to other systems. Criminals are now able to commit almost any type of unlawful activity where ever they like around the world due to the global nature and the world wide outreach of internet. Internet is also used by terrorist groups especially for recruiting terrorists and carrying out communication among their groups, poses a serious danger to national and international (Interpol, 2012)

Discussion

The spectacular development of computer technology has opened the door to new possibilities previously unthinkable crime. The rigging computers for profit, destroying programs or data and access and misuse of information that may affect the area of privacy, are some of the procedures related to electronic data processing by the which is possible to obtain large economic benefits or cause significant property damage or moral. But not only the amount of the damage caused is often so infinitely higher than usual in traditional crime, but are also much higher chances of escape detection. It is a crime specialist often able to erase all traces of the facts (Adamson, 2003).

In this sense, the computer may be the object of attack or the means to commit other crimes. The computer meets certain characteristics that make it an ideal means to commit many different types of crimes, especially of an economic nature (fraud, embezzlement, ...