Professional Practices
CS 625
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Computer Misuse & Criminal Law
Introduction:
The media and popular computing press abound with tales of
multi-million pound computer frauds and of the dangers to
commercial companies, governmental data banks, financial
institutions and national security from the activities of computer
hackers
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Computing and criminal activity
Modern business process is done through utilizing computer
software and hardware, i.e. some form of computer system is
used in it.
There has been a sharp rise in the number of crimes involving
computing; and the Internet has undoubtedly created new
security risks
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Categories of misuse
Under the study of the English criminal law, the Law Commission highlighted
a number of categories of misuse of computers
Computer fraud
Unauthorized obtaining of information from a computer
Computer hacking
Eavesdropping on a computer
Making unauthorized use of computers for personal benefit
Unauthorized alteration or destruction of information stored on a computer
Denying access to an authorized user
The unauthorized removal of information stored on a computer
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Computer Fraud
The Law Commission defined computer fraud as conduct which involves the
manipulation of a computer or internet, by whatever method, in order dishonestly to
obtain money, property, or some other advantage of value, or to cause loss
Computer fraud is further divided into three categories
Input frauds
e.g. intentionally entering false data or amending data into the computer
Output frauds
Output fraud involves stealing or misusing system output
Program frauds
Program fraud involves the dishonest alteration of a computer program
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Obtaining unauthorized access to a
computer
The second form of misuse identified by the Law Commission
was unauthorized obtaining of information from a computer. It is
sub-divided as:
Computer hacking:
Accessing a computer without the authorization of the owner. In
this case the person accesses the computer secretly for stealing
information, data or manipulation of data for diverse purposes
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Continued…
Eavesdropping
Literal meaning listening or spying secretly
Unauthorized use of a computer for personal benefit
Using computer’s authorized information for personal benefits. In this
case, the person misusing the computer is usually employee or authorized
user of the company
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Thank you!
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