Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Computer Crime 5
Computer Crime 5
While most hackers claim curiosity and a desire for profit as motives fo
r cracking computer systems, a few "dark-side hackers" seem to intentionally har
m others. For these individuals, computers are convenient tools of wickedness.
One crazed hacker broke into the North American Air Defense computer system and
the U.S. Armies MASNET computer network. While browsing the files, officials s
ay, he had the ability to launch missiles at the USSR. This could have led the
a nuclear war, and possibly the destruction of the world.
There are more than 1200 bugs out there, and the infections spread put t
he victim out of action until the healing process begins (if there is a healing
process). This may sound like a description of the common cold or flu virus, ex
cept that the virus does not attack people. This bug is made by human hands and
it attacks computers. It is spread though shared software, almost as easily as
a sneeze, and it can be every bit as weakening as the flu. Around the world on
March 6, 1992, computer users reported for work only to find that their compute
rs didn't work. The machines had "crashed" due to Michelangelo. This was a com
puter virus that was set to destroy all infected computers because it was set to
go off on the renaissance artist's 517th birthday. Approximately 10,000 comput
ers were hit world wide. The virus disabled the computers causing millions of d
ollars worth of down-time and lost data.
Computer crimes are becoming more and more dangerous. New laws and meth
ods of enforcement need to be created; the evidence is above. An effort is bein
g made by governments, but it is not enough. The problem is a international aff
air, and should be treated as such.
Current Canadian laws are some of the most lenient in industrialized cou
nties. They were also in place much later than other countries put their laws a
bout computer crime into effect, when compared to the United States and Japan.
The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1985 included a number of specific computer crim
e- related offences. Now, for the first time, Canadian law enforcement agencies
can lay charges relating to cybercrime. The following text is an excerpt from
the Martin's Annual Canadian Criminal Code, 1995 edition:
326. (1) Every one commits theft who fraudulently, maliciously, or without
colour of right,
(b) uses any telecommunication facility or obtains any telecommunication
service.
(2)In this section and section 327, "telecommunication" means any transm
ission, emission or reception of signs, signals, writing, images or sounds or in
telligence of any nature by wire, radio, visual, or any other electro-magnetic s
ystem.
342. 1 (1) Every one who, fraudulently and without colour of right,
(a) obtains, directly or indirectly, any computer service,
(b) by means if an electro-magnetic, acoustic, mechanical or other devic
e, intercepts or causes to be intercepted, directly or indirectly, any function
of a computer system, or
(c) Uses or causes to be used, directly of indirectly, a computer system
with intent to commit and offence under paragraph (a) or (b) or an offence unde
r section 430 in relation to data or a computer system
is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exc
eeding ten years, or is guilty to an offence punishable on summary conviction.
430. (1.1) Every one commits mischief who willfully
(a) destroys or alters data;
(b) renders data meaningless, useless or ineffective;
(c) obstructs, interrupts or interferes with any person in the lawful us
e of data; or
(d) obstructs, interrupts of interferes with the lawful use of data or d
enies access to data to any person who is entitled to access
thereto.
These Canadian are already outdated, and they are only eleven years old.
They need to be amended to include stiffer penalties. At the time of the crea
tion of the laws in 1985, they were deemed adequate, because computers crimes we
re not looked upon as a serious issue with far-reaching effects. In 1996, compu
ter crime has become a damaging and dangerous part of life. It is now necessary
to revamp these laws to include young offenders.
The young people committing some of these crimes have very detailed know
ledge of computer systems and computer programing. If they can handle this type
of knowledge, and commit these crimes, they should be able to foresee the conse
quences of their actions. Most young hackers feel that they are bright, and th
erefore should be able understand the results of their actions on other's comput
ers and computer systems. The laws should treat these young offenders like adul
ts, because they realize what they are doing is wrong, and should suffer the con
sequences.
Some of the computer crimes listed in the criminal code are only summar
y offences; thus are not considered very serious. This spreads the message to h
ackers that the crimes are not serious, but they are. Since the hackers don't v
iew the crimes as serious, they are likely to commit more of them. If the conse
quences of breaking any laws referring to computer crime were made tougher, hack
ers would realize what they are doing is wrong. They will also see other hacker
s being charged with offences under the criminal code ans figure out that they m
ay be next on the list to be punished for their actions.
Not only do these laws need to be made tougher, they need to be enforced
consistently. The Authorities must from all countries must have a conference t
o discuss the need for consistent enforcement of the law referring to computer c
rime. This is because computer crimes are truly international. A hacker in Can
ada may break into a bank in Switzerland. Does the criminal get punished by the
laws of the U.S. or by the laws of Switzerland? This needs to be decided upon.