Cyber Crime and Security

Abstract

Cybercrime is becoming ever more serious. Findings from the 2002 Computer Crime and Security Survey show an upward trend that demonstrates a need for a timely review of existing approaches to fighting this new phenomenon in the information age. In this paper, we define different types of cybercrime and review previous research and current status of fighting cybercrime in different countries that rely on legal, organizational, and technological approaches. We focus on a case study of fighting cybercrime in India and discuss problems faced. Finally, we propose several recommendations to advance the work of fighting cybercrime. Cybercrime falls into three categories: (1) a computer is the target of criminal activity; (2) the computer is the tool used or is integral to the commission of the crime; and (3) the computer is only an incidental aspect of the crime. Cybercrime is a relatively new phenomenon. Services such as telecommunications, banking and finance, transportation, electrical energy, water supply, emergency services, and government operations rely completely on computers for control, management, and interaction among themselves. Cybercrime would be impossible without the Internet. Most American businesses maintain WWW sites and over half of them conduct electronic commerce on the Internet. The rise in popularity of the Internet for both private persons and businesses has resulted in a corresponding rise in the number of Internet-related crimes.