Cyber crime is becoming one of the Net’s growth businesses. Today criminals are doing everything from stealing intellectual property and committing fraud to unleashing viruses and committing acts of cyber terrorisms.
Computer crime is a growing threat to society caused by the criminal or irresponsible actions of individuals who are taking advantage of the widespread use and vulnerability of computers and Internet and other networks. It thus presents major challenges to the ethical use of information technologies.
Computer crime poses serious threats to the integrity, safety, and survival of most E-business systems, and thus makes the development of effective security methods a top priority. Computer crime is defined by the Association of Information Technology Professionals as including:
1. Unauthorized use, access, modification and destruction of hardware, software, data, or network resource
2. Unauthorized release of information
3. The unauthorized copying of software
4. Denying an end user access to his or her own hardware, software, data, or network resources
5. Using or conspiring to use computer or network resources to illegally obtain information or tangible property
This definition was promoted by the association in a Model Computer Crime Act, and is reflected in many computer crime laws.
Computer Crime in E-Business
