The Effects of Computer Criminals on Society
The Effects of Computer Criminals on Society
Recently the world or more specifically the Western society has been dominated by something sophisticated enough to throw a civilization into a new era, a piece of hardware we call a computer. Computers have become an irreplaceable part of our lives and we end up dealing with them no matter where we go and what we do. Today computers control pretty much every aspect of our lives. They store and manipulate our funds, property, and personal information. As our society entered computer age, and so did crime. Why risk your life breaking into a store with a gun for few thousand dollars when now you can steal millions and even billions without getting up from a sofa in your own basement? It is obviously not as easy as it sounds, however combination of computer hardware and software makes it possible. Computers play a "double role" in today's world. Just like weapons they are used in both ways - to protect, and to attack. Attackers, victims, and security are the three major groups of people involved in today's cyber-struggle.
An attacker in a digital world is called a hacker or a cracker. But who are these people and where do they come from? What motivates them and how serious of a threat are they today? Since the beginning of computing and early networking there has been a continued and increasing threat of information destruction, and theft of services. This threat has been identified as being a hacker threat. The original definition of a hacker was less negative. Hackers were the programmers who could get the most efficiency out of computers. Hackers, frequently writing programs in machine code, would minimize resource requirements delivering the maximum efficiency and utility out of systems that were memory bound. As computers evolved and basic networks were implemented through telecommunications companies, some hackers turned to unauthorized access of computer systems as a way of exploring technology. Today, the world of hacking is extremely large and it is difficult to divide it into categories. The criminal hacker or "black hat" hacker probes systems for unauthorized and illegal purposes. The majority of hackers are young people who are attracted to computers and to the underground outlaw image of hacking. They populate warez and hacker web sites searching for information, "how to"...