§ 7.01 Introduction to Computer Crime

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Publication year: 2020

§ 7.01 Introduction to Computer Crime

There is no universally accepted definition of "computer crime" or "cybercrime." Certainly not every crime committed with a computer or that involves the use of a computer can or should be labeled as such. Indeed, given the almost ubiquitous nature of computers in modern life if the definition of computer crime simply included the use of a computer then almost all crime could be defined as computer crime. It is generally agreed, however, that computers can be used in criminal activity in three ways.¹

First, a computer may be incidental to the crime, for example, where the defendant uses a computer to write a threatening letter or where a drug dealer uses a computer to keep a record of his transactions. In these instances, a computer may provide law enforcement with valuable evidence of the crime.

Second, a computer may be used as the instrument or tool to offenses that occur in the physical world. In these instances the computer is often being used to further some form of more traditional crimes such as fraud, extortion, intellectual property violations, identity theft, child pornography, harassment, mail and wire fraud and various other crimes. While these are not new crimes, the use of a computer may make the commission of such a crime much more easy and the prosecution more difficult under existing laws. For example, a criminal can make an infinite number of counterfeit copyrighted works which can be transmitted anywhere in the world instantaneously. Similarly, a child pornographer no longer has to be concerned about smuggling the illicit images through customs but can simply download copies of such images from the Internet.

Third, a computer may be viewed as the subject or direct target of criminal activity. This occurs when a criminal acts to illegally acquire information stored on the target system, to control the target system without authorization or payment, to alter the integrity of data, or to interfere with the availability of or damage the computer, server or communications device. Examples of such crimes include "computer hacking or cracking,"² "computer viruses," "worms," "logic bombs," "sniffers," "denial of service attacks" and "trojan horses." The individuals committing these crimes range from disgruntled insiders,³ hackers, virus disseminators, organized crime groups, terrorists, foreign intelligence services and foreign militaries.⁴

While it may be argued that this third category does not...