crimes were not looked upon as a serious issue with far-reaching effects. In
1996, computer 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
knowledge 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
consequences of their actions. Most young hackers feel that they are bright,
and therefore should be able understand the results of their actions on other’s
computers and computer systems. The laws should treat these young offenders
like adults, because they realize what they are doing is wrong, and should
suffer the consequences.
Some of the computer crimes listed in the criminal code are only
summary offences; thus are not considered very serious. This spreads the
message to hackers that the crimes are not serious, but they are. Since the
hackers don’t view the crimes as serious, they are likely to commit more of them.
If the consequences of breaking any laws referring to computer crime were made
tougher, hackers would realize what they are doing is wrong. They will also see
other hackers being charged with offences under the criminal code ans figure out
that they may 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 to
discuss the need for consistent enforcement of the law referring to computer
crime. This is because computer crimes are truly international. A hacker in
Canada 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.
The authorities must have special operations to stop computer crimes,
just as they do for drug trafficking. Much time must be devoted to stopping
these crimes, before it leads to disaster. The problem is getting out of hand
and the public must actively participate in cooperation with the authorities in
order to bring the problem under control.
Security is one matter that we can take into our own hands. Until new
laws are created and enforced, it is up to the general computer-using public to
protect themselves. The use of passwords, secure access multiports and common
sense can prevent computer crimes making victims of us all.
Passwords can add a remarkable amount of security to a computer system.
The cases where pass words have been cracked are rare. Included with the
password program must be a access restriction accessory. This limits the number
of guesses at a password to only a few tries, thus effectively eliminating 98%
of intruders.
Secure access multiports (SAM’s) are the best protection against
computer crime making a victim out of a computer user. When joining a network,
the user calls in and enters password and access code. The user is then
disconnected from the network. If the network recognizes the user as a valid
one, it will call the user back and allow he/she to log on. If the user was
invalid, the network will not attempt to re-connect with the user (see figure 1).
This prevents unwanted persons from logging on to a network.
Common sense is often the best defense against computer crime. Simple
things like checking and disinfecting for viruses on a regular basis, not
sharing your password or giving out your credit card number on online services
(ie: Internet). Also, employers can restrict access employees have to computers
at the place of employment. This would dissipate most computer crimes executed
by employees.
If new laws and enforcement of those law are not soon established, along
with heightened security measures, the world will have a major catastrophe as a
result of computer activity. The world is becoming increasingly dependant on
computers, and the crimes committed will have greater and greater impact as the
dependancy rises. The possible end of the world was narrowly averted, but was
caused by a computer crime. The United States defense computer system was
broken into, and the opportunity existed for the hacker to declare
intercontinental nuclear war; thus leading to death of the human race. Another
event like this is likely to occur if laws, enforcement of the laws and security
of computers are not beefed up. The greatest creation of all time, the computer,
should not lead the destruction of the race that created it.