After highlighting the history and basic elements of computer technology, the book describes its pitfalls, which range from billing errors to invasions of privacy and job displacement. Individual chapters focus on specific types of abuse: high school and college students who tap into sophisticated computer networks for 'fun;' fraud and embezzlement by white-collar criminals; organized crime's use of computers in its illegal operations as well as a growing interest in counterfeiting money cards, pirating data bases, and stealing or counterfeiting computer chips. The author also explores the Soviet Union's efforts to steal the West's high technology and the extreme vulnerability of the Federal Government's computer systems to abuse and theft. The inability of law enforcement to cope with computer crime is discussed, along with the need for new laws, training, and international cooperation. The author contends that computers are replacing political and business leaders as terrorist targets and emphasizes the potential for fraud and theft in a cashless society. Threats to civil liberties posed by police and corporate data banks are addressed. Among the steps suggested to remedy these problems are developing and teaching new codes of ethics, improving security for valuable data bases and developing new investigatory techniques. References and index.