Nuisance Business (virus-Spread and Other Internet Crimes)

Table of Contents

Executive Summary............................................................................................................3

Introduction.......................................................................................................................4

Threats to security……………….............................................................................................5

Computer-crime laws.........................................................................................................6

Criminal law and civil law..................................................................................................6

International developments..............................................................................................7

Jurisdictional problems......................................................................................................7

Computer & Internet Crimes.............................................................................................8

Viruses, Worms and Trojans..................................................................................8

Early viruses……..........................................................................................8

Worms…….................................................................................................11Trojans…….................................................................................................15

Fraud.................................................................................................................................18

Counterfeits of documents, money.................................................................................18

Extortion...........................................................................................................................19

Industrial espionage.........................................................................................................21

Theft of intellectual property..........................................................................................24

Pornography.....................................................................................................................24

Gambling..........................................................................................................................25

Denial of Service and Jamming........................................................................................26

Counterfeit Software.......................................................................................................28

Glossary……………..............................................................................................................29

Bibliography.....................................................................................................................30

Executive Summary

In today’s world of the internet and ecommerce, many companies lack the expertise and training to secure their critical network infrastructure and data. Because of this fallacy, many companies’ infrastructures are subject to being compromised. With extortion, cyber theft, malicious attacks and internal theft occurring at an unprecedented pace, many companies are just becoming aware of the aforesaid problems. While a few companies and corporations awaken to a new world of problems, many continue to sleep, totally oblivious to what is happening as they go about their daily work. This paper reviews the most important types of crimes involving computers and networks. Computers and computer networks are tools for obtaining, storing, manipulating and transmitting information. Like any other tool, they can be used for social good or for social ill. Criminals have used every technological innovation in history as the basis for new or variant crimes, and the criminal subculture has been active in turning computers and networks towards its ends. Computers and networks play a role in crime both as mediating instruments of crime and, in contrast, as the