Crime is a mutual or a common term that people have always heard throughout the global period. It refers to any commission of an act that is prohibited by law, or violation of law.
Crime is a mutual or a common term that people have always heard throughout the global period. It refers to any commission of an act that is prohibited by law, or violation of law.
Crime and criminality have been allied to an individual since long time ago. An offense is an enemy of development and growth. Thus, it contributes to negative impacts in terms of economic and social development (Hartel, Junger & Wieringa, 2011). Consequently, cyber crime is a type of delinquency that occurred during science and technology era, threatening to jeopardize computer operations. Its source can be drawn or traced to the growing reliance on computers in the contemporary life. It involves any criminal activity that may incorporate or deal with computers and computer networks. Computers can be used either as a tool or as a targeted victim (Hartel, Junger & Wieringa, 2011). They are considered targets when crime is directed to them, and they are considered cybercrime tools when individuals are the main targets.
Cyber crime that involves the interaction of computer networks is generally known as hacking. Hacking is the act of acquiring unauthorized right of entry into a network or within a computer system, and, in most cases, making illegal or unauthorized use of the access. It can also be referred to as the act, by which different forms of cyber crimes, such as terrorism, fraud, and money laundering, are committed (Hartel, Junger &Wieringa, 2011). This is an illegal intrusion into a computer system without the permission from the owner or user.
In the contemporary era, the world is moving towards a direction where everything, beginning from healthcare, banking, stock exchanges, telephones and electric power, traffic control, education, and welfare, depends on software. This exponential progress has increased the aptitude and accessibility of computers, which, in turn, have brought about innovative variations in every facet of human civilization, including crime. As an outcome, the improved and increased capacities of data systems in the present day come at the cost of amplified vulnerability. Information technology has created criminal prospects of a variety of the brightest cyber criminals (Kshetri, 2005).
According to Kshetri (2005), most countries are experiencing thousands of cyber crime cases, which increase day-by-day. There are numerous factors that lead to cyber crime. To start with, the aggressive growth and development of today’s technology make it quite hard for cyber crime to be detected. Law enforcement officials lack the necessary technical and practical expertise to curb or deal with criminal activities, where technology is concerned. Once criminal activity has been detected, most people tend to be reluctant to instigate a report since they are afraid of adverse publicity, investor loss, embarrassment, or economic repercussions (Kshetri, 2005). Therefore, owing to these factors, actual cyber crime cases tend to have no accurate records or go unpunished.
Cyber crimes can be classified into three different categories, which include crimes against an individual, property, or the government. Cyber crimes committed against individuals include transmission or broadcast of child-pornography and provocation of anyone with the employment of a computer, for instance, through e-mail. The dissemination, posting, trafficking, and distribution of explicit resources, including pornography and licentious exposure, are the most significant cyber crimes recognized nowadays. The latent damage of such an offense to humanity can barely be intensified. This is a sole cyber crime, which impends to damage the progression of the younger cohorts. Similarly, it leaves irreversible scars and harm towards the younger group if not stopped or controlled (Hartel, Junger & Wieringa, 2011).
Cyber crime can be carried out against all forms of property, which include computer vandalism and transmission of harmful programs to other computers that are connected to the Internet. For instance, the U.S. based Manufacturing Corporation lost a lot of money in the trade when the competing company industry manager stole the technical records from its workstations with the assistance of a corporate cyber spy (Kshetri, 2005). A different category of cyber crime is whereby the crime is committed against the government. Cyber terrorism is the most serious offense whereby government websites are hacked, particularly military sites.
