Hacking Computer Crimes Essay

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Almost every major political candidate in recent history has used, and often exploited, on of the many facets of crime to attempt to convince American voters that they can feel secure and safe with the candidate at the leadership helm, coveted feelings in a tumultuous world. As a result, we have more policemen patrolling the streets, laws such as the death penalty and “three strikes your out”, proposed increases to defenses spending for both the latest weapons and more armed service men, beefed up airport security measures, and catchy candidate slogans such as “tough on crime”. And yet, the one facet of “crime” that no one is talking about is the one issue that has the potential to destroy the American economy, the American political system, and the lives of the American citizens. As new cops patrol the streets at night and technology’s most advanced weapons sit ready to deploy in order to protect our land, some of the worlds most vicious and dangerous criminals invade our homes and our country’s borders each day almost without a trace. Computer crime and terrorism are plaguing our nation, and our “leaders” continue to march the nation into the criminal’s hands.

Today, more and more, computer crime has made its way into the headlines, the evening news, and major newspapers. In recent years, we have seen attacks on major websites such as Yahoo, America Online, the FBI’s home page, and many others. These attacks, known as “hacking”, have ranged from defacing web pages to shutting down entire sites, costing thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars each time (Quinn, 1). In other areas of computer crime, individuals use credit card fraud to buy items online in an environment where they are not checked by anything more than a card number, expiration date, and billing address. In a one year period, it is estimated that computer crime causes hundreds of millions of dollars in damage (Carter, 3). These crimes and attacks have become so prevalent that a name has been given to the perpetrators: “hackers”. Hackers, and the crimes that they commit, have become a very serious threat to the well being of society in the United States.

Hacking is defined by the CCI Online Computer Dictionary as using “ingenuity and creativity to solve computer-programming problems,” and “to overcome the limitations of a system and expand its capabilities” (CCI Computing). Though by this definition, hacking seems harmless, and maybe even useful, the act is more commonly associated with negative actions and aggressive crimes. The PC Webopedia defines hacking as “modifying a program, often in an unauthorized manner, by changing the code itself” (PC Webopedia). The term “hacker” references the latter definition, and refers to the person who invades the affected computers. Perhaps the most threatening aspect of hackers, though, is that anyone with more than a cursory knowledge of computer programming can quickly begin wreaking havoc.

The average person tends to think of hackers as malicious, professional computer criminals who spend all of their time writing destructive computer viruses to break into the most secure and important computer systems to steal information or money (Hayward, 2). However, hackers are more often the guy next door, young teenagers or college students, or men and women that work for technology’s leading firms. Even more frightening is the fact that home computers are just as susceptible to becoming the next victims of computer crime as the Pentagon’s computer systems.

David Dunagen, a resident of Dallas, Texas, knows this threat all too well. Dunagen, a computer security expert, was a victim of computer hacking fraud. A computer criminal stole his identity and credit card number, and then used them to order a notebook computer over the Internet. The Dallas police refused to look into his case, claiming that they did not have the time or the resources to track down the individual (Riggs, 1). Dunagen was left without recourse for the damages of the disconcerting crime (2).

The most concerning groups of hackers are those that are using computer crime as a terrorist tool. As American society grows closer to complete computer and technological dependence, terrorist groups have begun to discover new ways to attack organizations and countries without using physical means. Terrorist groups can bring this country’s economy to a total standstill simply by hacking into the computers that control the major commerce and trading systems. Even our national defense and security systems are not invincible to attacks by hackers. Worse yet, computer terrorists are virtually untraceable; they can invade American computer systems without setting foot in the hemisphere, while never disclosing their location. In fact with portable computer technology, terrorists can commit their crimes literally “on the move.” This makes it extremely difficult for organizations like CERT, the FBI, the CIA, and other state and local crime fighters to track down, let alone prosecute, the criminals or terrorists involved.

The United States’ Government seems to be taking the threat seriously; already the FBI is working hard to keep up with technology’s top criminals. The U.S. Department of...

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