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Trends in Computer Crime

NCJ Number
176585
Journal
Journal of Financial Crime Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Dated: October 1998 Pages: 157-162
Author(s)
R E Overill
Date Published
1998
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Computer related crime and computer-assisted crime are discussed with respect to their historical development, examples in the areas of financial and commercial information systems and institutions, the motivations of computer criminals, and lessons for today's financial and commercial information technology communities.
Abstract
Developments in the 1970s and early 1980s laid the conceptual and practical foundations for future tools for computer crime. Computer crime includes viruses, hacking, software bombs, worm programs, breaches in information security, and fraud. Both computer-related crime and computer-assisted crime are continuing to develop. The existence in the United Kingdom of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 has not stemmed the tide of computer crime; at times it has proved difficult to operate. The potential weakness of the human component of all security systems is not always adequately recognized or effectively managed. Therefore, financial and commercial information systems and their network infrastructures remain disturbingly vulnerable to increasingly globalized, focused, and concerted modes of attack. 35 reference notes