Computer crime may involve financial theft, the stealing of merchandise, the unauthorized use of data for personal profit, the use of company computer services for private gain, and costly destruction of aspects of a computer system. Computers are vulnerable to these types of crime at any one of the following stages: programing, central processing unit, input, output, and transmission. There are certain system characteristics or practices which signal vulnerability to crime. These include loose control of data-preparation equipment, access to the computer system by other than those with a 'need to know,' no separation of key system functions and, loose supervision of after-hours data processing operations, also, the personnel department does not subject candidates for positions in electronic data processing to indepth screening. A comprehensive computer security program should (1) clearly defines the duties and responsibilities of personnel, (2) outline the program's safeguards, (3) define data controls, and (4) provide for the security of transmissions. A significant problem in deterring potential computer offenders is prosecutors' reliance on outdated laws that fail to deal with the specific character of computer crime. This places an added burden on companies to develop computer security programs that can effectively prevent criminal use of the system. Five references are listed.