Digital
Computer Crime

                                                           
Brandon Passer

                                                       
Professor Neal Basta

                                                         
CIS170 1/16/2018

                                                         
Strayer University

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        Abstract

            The
most challenging type of crime to combat today is computer crime or otherwise

known as cybercrime. Cybercrime is essentially an act
of crime that involves the use of a

computer. In society today, this could involve many
different types of computers since almost

everything that we use has computer that allows it to
function.  There are several different

motives of why someone would want to use a computer to
commit a crime. Their motives are

also, not as simple as one would might think.  Often what a criminal is seeking is some type
of

information. 
This is what makes up information warfare.  According to Taylor (2015), there are

four categories of cybercrimes; infrastructure
attacks, information attacks, technological

facilitation, and promotion (p.24).  However, one of these categories presents
what can be seen

as a major issue for many government agencies within
the U.S. There are also some very

common forms of computer crimes that can cause
problems for many people, including the

government. 
Each government agency has its own plan or strategy to combat such types
of

crimes.

 

Types
of Cybercrime

           

There are four categories
of computer crime: infrastructure attacks, information attacks,

technological facilitation, and promotion.  Each one of these has a specific function and
presents

a specific problem for combating it.  Infrastructure attacks are essentially
focused on destroying

a computer system or network that keeps a countries
infrastructure intact. The United States has

many examples of infrastructure that can be exposed
which can then cause the infrastructure to

be compromised. According to Taylor (2015), one such
type of infrastructure attack could be

compromising a computer system that controls passenger
and freight train routing systems which

could cause trains to collide (p.28). This could lead
to death or injury to people involved.

Another, more frightening type of infrastructure
attack, could be compromising the nuclear

power supply system of the United States. This type of
attack could cause a meltdown

and a crisis in which many people could die due to
exposure to nuclear radiation.  The next

category of computer crime is information
attacks.  This type of attack tends to be
more focused

on destroying and changing data files.  According to Taylor (2015), This type of
attack can cause

the most economic and financial loss (p.29).  A type of this form of attack are viruses and

worms. These are essentially computer programs that
can make copies of themselves which can

cause harm or damage to a computer system.  Viruses and worms have differences as
well.  A

virus is a type of coding that infects a computers
ability to give instruction. It can cause such

damage such as completely deleting files from a hard
drive or corrupting data to the point where

it can no longer function.  The most frightening aspect about a virus is
that it can lay in wait

within a computer program for a long period of time
and a victim may never know that it was

ever present. 
Worms are programs that can reproduce through a computer network by

compromising other computer systems.  They essentially act as a digital form of a
hacker. They

often work more faster and more direct than a virus
does and can cause larger amounts of

damage.  Another
form of attack is through technological facilitation.  This form of attack is

more of an indirect one.  It involves the use of technology to organize
potential attacks through

the use of online communication.  A type of attack is through the organization of
“flash mobs” or

“smart mobs”. 
These types of attacks involve the mass gathering of people at a
specific place

and time.  This
can be done through the simple use of text communication or social media
outlets

such as Facebook or Twitter.  The final form of attack is also indirect and
that is through the use

of promotion. 
This involves websites that are structured to specifically benefit a
criminal

organizations cause or agenda.  Examples of promotion include websites that a
geared towards

gaining numbers or websites that can be used to
collect donations to help fund a criminal or

terrorist organization.

 

Most
Threatening Form of Cybercrime

           

Now, the most dangerous
and threatening category of cyber crime is through information

 attacks.  Information attacks can cause significant
harm and can cost billions of dollars in loss. 

According to the FBI’s website, one such dangerous
form of information attack is Ransomware.

Ransomware is a type of malware that takes data that
holds value hostage.  Hackers that use

ransomware essentially ask for some type of currency
in return for the data.  Most common way

that this form of attack is usually spread using
email.  Usually someone who is

unsuspecting will click on these emails and open files
that are attached to the email which

carry the harmful ransomware.  Once the ransomware infects the computer, it
spreads to every

aspect of the computer including file folders, hard
drives, back up drives and any drive that is

attached to the computer physically.  It can even spread to other computers that
are sharing the

same network. 
The FBI sates that this type of malware is becoming more
sophisticated.  A large

scale computer attack like this could cause victims to
lose millions of data as well as millions of

dollars.  The
FBI also does not recommend that any victim that suffers such an attack
actually

give in and pay the ransom.  Even if a victim does pay the ransom they are
not necessarily

guaranteed to receive their data back.

 

            There
are several government agencies within the United States that are constantly
trying

to combat cybercrime. 
These agencies include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),

Department of Homeland Security(DHS), the Federal
Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. Secret

Service, US Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE)
and The U.S. Department of Justice

(DOJ).  The role
that the FBI plays in combating cybercrime is that it conducts investigations

into cybercrime as well as making arrests. The
Department of Homeland Security also conducts

investigations into cybercrime as well as working with
other government agencies. They also

create tools in fighting cybercrime and share those
tools with other government agencies.  The

Federal Trade Commission is tasked with protecting
consumers from potential attacks.  The
U.S.

Secret Service essentially controls the Electronic
Crimes Task Force.  This special task
force was

created to locate and track down international cyber
criminals who are involved in many forms

of cybercrime such as data breaches and bank
fraud.  The US Customs and Immigration

Enforcement are tasked with creating anti cybercrime
techniques to support in the protection of

borders. They are also tasked with investigating into
the exploitation of children.  The U.S.

Department of Justice investigates child pornography
and is tasked with prosecuting cyber

criminals. 

 

Conclusion
and What Can the U.S Government Do Better?

 

The one way that law
enforcement agencies can better counteract computer crime would

be to work with foreign governments to increase their
level of jurisdiction. These agencies only

have a certain level that they can reach in stopping
cyber criminals.  For instance, if a data
breach

was to occur from another country and it affected our
security over in the United States, these

law enforcement agencies may be limited in what they
can do to bring the perpetrator to justice

because of jurisdiction lines.  By increasing a level of jurisdiction, this
can act as a potential

deterrent for cybercrime.  A potential cybercriminal may realize that
there could be harsh

penalties for such an act at an international level,
thus he or she may not feel inclined to commit

the act.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Taylor, R. W., Fritsch, E. J., & Liederbach, J.
(2015). Digital Crime and Digital Terrorism (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson

 

Cyber Crime. (2017, March 22). Retrieved January 18,
2018, from https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/cyber

 

Brain, M., & Fenlon, W. (2000, April 01). How
Computer Viruses Work. Retrieved January 18, 2018, from https://computer.howstuffworks.com/virus.htm

 

Combating Cyber Crime. (2017, June 20). Retrieved
January 18, 2018, from https://www.dhs.gov/topic/combating-cyber-crime

 

Wolf, U. (2009, January 27). Cyber-Crime: Law
Enforcement Must Keep Pace with Tech-Savvy Criminals. Retrieved January 19,
2018, from http://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/Cyber-Crime-Law-Enforcement-Must-Keep-Pace.html?page=1

 

Brown, J. (2016, August 17). 5 Federal Agencies with a
Role in Ensuring Enterprise Cybersecurity. Retrieved January 19, 2018, from
https://www.ciodive.com/news/5-federal-agencies-with-a-role-in-ensuring-enterprise-cybersecurity/424557/