Computer crime
By Michael Fraase
Thursday, 02 September 1999 12:29PM CDT
Section: 09 Computer crime
Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady hitchhiked the highways of America during the 1940s and 1950s. Computer hackers of the 1980s, 1990s, and beyond are now travelling the byways of the electronic frontier. Computer hackers, with their determination to know and understand the vast recesses of the net, are creating the beat generation of the new millennium.
A 1986 study by the Office of Technology Assessment found that, while much attention is focused on computer hackers, more significant security problems are posed by individuals who are authorized to access compromised systems. Similarly, the National Telecommunications and Information Security Committee found that most of the crimes against government computers were committed not by hackers, but by people with authorized access to those computers.
A May 1996 report from the Senate’s Permanent Investigations Subcommittee states that banks and large corporations lost an estimated US$800 million due to hackers in 1995. Citing “fear of the marketplace,” most losses were not reported to law-enforcement agencies.
Because it is impossible for any computer system to be free of risk of potential intrusion, our society’s cultural norms and mores emerge as critical components in computer crime. As you review the three following accounts of high-profile computer crimes, consider which of our laws and cultural norms are best applied.