【单选题】

ComputerCrime

A、computer crime is generally defined as one that involves the use of computers and software for illegal purposes. This doesn’’t mean that all the crimes are new types of crime. On the contrary, many of these crimes, such as embezzlement of funds, the alteration of records, theft, vandalism, sabotage, and terrorism, can be committed without a computer.But with a computer, there offenses can be carried out more quickly and with less chance that the person responsible for the crime will be discovereD、Computer crimes have been on the rise for the last twelve years. Just how much their computer crimes cost theAmerican public is in dispute, but estimates range from $ 3 billion to $ 5 billion annually.Even the FBI, which attempts to keep track of the growth or decline to all kinds of crimes, is unable to say precisely how large a loss is involved; however, it estimates that the average takes from a company hit by computer crime is $ 600,000.
A、number of reasons are given for the increase in computer crime: (a) More computers in use and, thus, more people who are familiar with basic computer operation; (b) more computers tied together in satellite and other data-transmission networks; and (c) the easy access of microcomputers to huge mainframe data bases.Examples ofComputerCrime Computer crime or e-crime is a kind of crime related to computer.Exactly what is illegal varies greatly from territory to territory.Consequently, the growth of international and in particular the Internet has made these crimes both more common and more difficult to police.Examples of computer crime are:-Fraud achieved by the manipulation of records.-Spamming where this is outlawed completely or where regulations controlling it are violateD、-Deliberate circumvention of computer security systems.-Unauthorized access to or modification of programs or dat
A、-Industrial espionage by means of access to or theft of computer materials.-Identify theft where this is accomplished by use of fraudulent computer transactions.-Writing or spreading computer viruses or worms.-Salami slicing — the practice of stealing money repeatedly in extremely small quantities.TheCriminalMovies and newspaper stories might lead us to believe that most computer crimes are committed by teenage "hackers" —brilliant and basically good children who let their imagination and technical genius get them into trouble, but a realistic look at the crimes reveals that the offender is likely to be an employee of the firm against which the crime has been committed, i. e. an "insider".Difficulty ofDetection and PreventionGiven the kind of person who commits a computer crime and the environment in which the crime occurs, it is often difficult to detect who the criminal is. First of all, the crime may be so complex that months or years go by before anyone discovers it.Second, once the crime has been revealed, it is not easy to find a clear trail of evidence that leads back to the guilty party.After all, looking for "weapons" or fingerprints does not occur as it might be in the investigation of more conventional crimes.Third, there are usually no witnesses to the computer crime, even though it may be taking place in a room filled with people. Who is to say if the person at the next terminal, calmly keying in data, is doing the company’’s work or committing a criminal act Fourth, not enough people in management and law enforcement know enough about computer technology to prevent the crimes.Authorities have to be familiar with the computer’’s capabilities within a given situation to guard against its misuses. In some large cities, such as LosAngeles, police departments have set up specially-trained computer crime units. But even when an offender is caught, the investigators, attorneys (律师). judges, or juries may find the alleged crime too complicated and perplexing to handle. More attorneys are spe